Loving London

When we heard in October that our daughter was expecting our first grandchild, we knew we'd have to make plans for an April trip to London. We padded the days before and after the due date and a month seemed about right. Little Harvey Jefferson arrived on April 12th. Just in time for spring to come to London.

Sketching a baby is really hard. Most of my attempts made poor little Harvey look a bit alien. Here is the only one I can share and it's from a photo. He is precious in every way.

When we weren't busy holding Harvey,we tried to be helpful in Annie's shop, The Village Haberdashery.
Even Harvey made his appearance and will be a huggable feature there.

The rest of the time, Jeff and I explored London. There were innumerable sketching opportunities that I had to pass up. It is an awesome, fascinating city. Besides the classic sites, which are overwhelming anyway, there are wonderful, charming neighborhoods.

We had found a tiny, affordable garden flat in Belsize, in the northwest part of London. (near Hampstead Heath)
These huge homes are mostly divided into flats but are still very elegant. There are many curving streets with rows of uniform houses, Georgian, Victorian, Kensington.

The neighborhood shops are separated by being offset and central. That way, it doesn't break the lovely architectural symmetry.

We read that other parts of Belsize experienced heavy damage during WWII. I was surprised to find this former air raid shelter on the main street near the tube stop.

We love London and having a new reason to visit often!