It really felt like summer had decided to muster all it's strength and go out with a bang on Saturday. We woke to blue skies, sunshine and hot, hot heat. A chance to give those summer frocks and sandals a last gasp before autumn boldly steps in. And what a lovely day we had.
We took Olive to see a production of the Judith Kerr book The Tiger Who Came to Tea at the Bloomsbury Theatre. This is one of my all time favourite children's books. I was given my copy by my aunt who was a primary school teacher and always brought us books, crayons etc whenever we saw her and who I inherited my love of books from. I just love the illustrations and the 'sing song ness' of the words. It's a much loved bedtime favourite of O's too so she was really looking forward to it. And it didn't disappoint. From the stage set to the costumes everything cleverly mirrored the style of Judith Kerr's illustrations. Even the tiger costume was like a real life version of the drawing. They faithfully followed the original story, just adding in a few devices to give context, for example they used a clock on the wall to show the day going past with the Mummy adjusting the hands and all the children in the audience counting the chimes. There was lots of singing, and a wonderful bit when the Tiger put the radio on and everyone got up to dance with him. And of course all the favourite lines were there "Once there was a little girl called Sophie, and she was having tea in the kitchen with her mummy" and "and he drank all of daddy's beer" (always makes me laugh!) At that wonderful bit at the end when they have bought a big tin of tiger food in case he should call again, Olive stood up and shouted out "But he never did!" Enchanting! Look out for it as I think it's touring.
We then went for lunch at the Peyton & Byrne cafe at the Wellcome Collection. I wish I had taken some pictures of the exquisite cupcakes on offer there, and of the beautiful eau de nil coloured packaging that we took some home in.
Then the rest of the day was spent at a birthday party at the Hackney City Farm where Olive enjoyed a treasure hunt in the woods and was captivated by a friendly calf who happily let her stroke her for ages.
When we got home we eked the day out for as long as possible, playing bubbles with Olive in the garden and drinking a bottle of pink fizz from our French holiday at the beginning of the summer.
And just as quickly as that hot summers day had arrived, it went. We woke to rain and a chill in the air on Sunday and it was as if Saturday's sunshine could not have been. So after a quick romp round Victoria Park and a purchase of a joint of beef from The Ginger Pig, we watched movies on the sofa and stayed indoors.
2 comments:
What a perfect day!
My 4 year-old niece has Tiger on CD which she plays as she is going to sleep. My sister said one day she woke up in the middle of the night and Grace was listening to it!
Oooh, I wish this would tour to Australia - I'd love to see it! There is a 40th anniversary edition of The Tiger Who Came To Tea which has velvety embossed tiger stripes (touchy-feely style) on every page. It sounds strange, but it is actually very fun.
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