Brrr! SOOO Cold!

I have chosen this tiny item as an  symbolic reminder   that I have now arrived in Europe. It seems  to me a most European item: it is a MUSHROOM BRUSH, and it is in my friend Cressida's kitchen. Cressida is a foodie and a great cook. She has never been to Ma1i to see me: one of the reasons is that she thinks the food in Mali can't be any good. I believe she is wrong there,  although there is certainly not much use for mushroom brushes in Djenné at least since there are no mushroms there and of course I have a rule at the hotel to only use what is found locally.

Meanwhile in Bamako the temperature was 46 degrees today but  here I am wrapped up in whatever sweaters I can lay my hands on ( this happens every year!) I never remember how unbelievably COLD London is!

And to make matters worse I have chosen to take part in something called the Clerkenwell Design Week with Malimali's fabrics in  a  couple of weeks. I went to see my space yesterday: the show is held in Victorian dungeon called the Detention Centre- freezing cold and dripping with humidity! That would all change the organizers assured me, and indeed there seemed to be big 'hoovers' and other equipment working on the  unpromising premises to 'mop up' the water. How on earth did any of those Victorian prisoners survive?? Pictures to follow of the space changed into something chic hopefully...