Life drawing room

I had a lovely afternoon with Sarah, who was visiting from Glasgow for the weekend. We had tea and cake on a sun terrace in Hyde Park, then wandered to Piccadilly. It started raining hippos and giraffes so we ducked into Fortnum & Mason for some window shopping. Of course, we headed for the stationery department first where a very nice chap taught us about different types of pens and we both had a go writing with fountain pens. It was doubly nice because at no point did he give us the hard sell - he's just a fountain pen enthusiast and wished to impart his knowledge.

After admiring lots of expensive and lovely things (the shower caps were particularly fantastic and we were tempted by gin and tonic sorbet), we dashed across the road to the Royal Academy. The queue for the Degas exhibition was a bit daunting so we explored a couple of areas that were open to view through Open House: the John Madejski Fine Rooms and the Life Drawing Room. I particularly enjoyed the latter where there were life-size casts of horses, cats and men with beards.

That was our lot for Open House - it had been a bit of a dreich day for wandering around. It was a fabulous day for chatting to Sarah, though, and it was fantastic to catch up with her. She shares my joy for drinking copious amounts of tea, which is always to be admired.