Chasing The Blue Beyond

Oxford is known as the "city of dreaming spires", a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold.Visited here today.

Visited  Bath, today a city so beautiful and special that it has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. 

Stepping back in time,, a perfect retreat in the beautiful North Wales countryside...Another lucky day in England Holy Cow

London Field Notes · September 2015 Foreign Land Learning London Above and Below The city made sense when I stopped following the blue dot and began connecting river, road, pavement, and Tube for myself. The Thames Water Taxi The Underground Spatial Memory Ordinary World The Call Answer the Call Foreign Land Trials The Elixir London had been a collection of famous names. The water taxi turned those names into a place. The London Water Taxi is another way to get around the city. It may not be the fastest, but today it was certainly the coolest. Seeing the landmarks and place names I had known only from the London Underground became a connect-the-dots experience. The city gained shape. I also took a few buses. Combined with the water taxi, they added to my relational memory of “Where am I?” spatially. I get L...

Annual September fair dating from 1261, The Findin Sheep Fair is sooooooooooo English-I Love it. Here are some photos and a video of the days events. Rare Breeds Going For The Blue Ribbon First Place Ram Tough- The Symbol of DetermiNATION! Looks like my old Windows XP Desktop background-Findon Valley Here is the Sheep Sale of 1938

Sitting down with  with Britain's First Fair Trade Gold Importer, Alan Frampton The Independent has a great article about the initiative Alan Frampton is passionate about Fair Trade Gold.   I had the good fortune to speak with him yesterday in Chichester, and he really owns the story of how his jewellery is sourced, made and eventually sold at his CRED brand stores. They have many first in the business and Monica Garcia, (who won a Sales Award at The International Jewellery London Trade Show earlier this week mentioned them to me- "We have had many firsts in this business: the first jeweller to use known origin gold; the first to have a fully open and transparent supply chain; the first website dedicated to the sale of ethical jewellery; the first boutique jeweller to do the same. The first jeweller to use Fairtrade silver The first jeweller to disclose the contents of the jewellery and the provenance of the main precious metal" Kenya's makeshift goldmines: Can Fairt...

Aiming  to trade in a manner which supports a sustainable global  environment and economy, fair trade gold and ethically sourced diamonds is a simple idea with profound consequences for all involved.  Knowing where you diamonds and gold come from is called  provenance; and when you are wearing a piece of jewellery, wouldn't it be good to know that it was done with consciousness!  Saying I Do to Fair Trade Here I am  (Above)  with Judith Lockwood, Dir of Arctic Circle, Fair Trade Gold, Ethically - Sourced Diamonds; and Gary Wroe, CEO of Hockley Mint, and President of The British Jewellers Association.  I first started following their twitter  and instagram feeds from Tanzania-whilst I was in, ironically, The Arctic Circle selling Tanzanite on board the MS Prinsendam(July)--- We were 1000 of miles apart- Me  On Top of The World 71°10′21″ and they, at The Equator---  but on the same wave length. ( A diamond jewellery brand using ful...