Shoot that poison... erm, laser to my heart

With apologies to ABC, but for some reason each time I've looked at these photos I can't get their 1982 hit out of my mind. I'm not sure why, as lasers as aren't arrows but even so I've enjoyed it running through my head. And have surprised myself with how many lyrics I seem to have remembered. The lasers that prompted the song's revival were the grand finale of our recent visit to the Enchanted Woodland. 

But before the lasers I'm sharing some shots of the house lit up, that too went through a colour sequence which highlighted some of its architectural detail and turned it into what was probably the funkiest house in Brentford. Probably.  

I'm sure these arches look great in the daytime in natural light but for me the coloured lights really enhance them.  I think the number of pictures I took is testament to that, and here I'm only sharing a few.  Having prised me away from the arches - it took MOH several attempts - we headed to the exit, or so we thought...

As we turned the corner we stumbled upon the Great Conservatory, which is... well pretty great. And it was lit up too - it looked fantastic, and this is one of the reasons I want to come back here during the day.  

The architect - Charles Fowler - specialised in large industrial buildings and at Syon he's used metalwork to create a delicate structure using the new technologies of the 1830s - this was the first to be built of metal and glass on such a scale. It housed exotic plants from all over the world and by the 1880s the palms and giant bamboos reached the top of the Dome. Then like many of the great houses there was a period of decline after the First World War.  It was restored though in 1986/7 and is an important historic structure.

We saw people entering a door on the right, so being ever inquisitive and wanting to get a look inside this fabulous structure, we followed them. And we weren't disappointed.  

The Dome was hosting a full on laser show, and had a great party atmosphere. You know the sort of party where kids are dancing in front of the disco and the adults are hanging back around the edges and at the bar. Except there was no bar, but the lasers made up for that. 

And then looking up you saw the structure of the Dome. Wow. Just wow. 

Ok. And wow. 

But the lasers weren't done yet. On they went shooting away accompanied by music - I've no idea what, maybe there really was some ABC, but perhaps not.

It was about now that MOH nudged me, reminded me of the time and that we had at least one, maybe two train journeys between us and dinner and a bottle of wine. Having made his point well this time we really did head for the exit and retrace our steps back to the station and catch our train to Waterloo. 

The lasers were a really great ending to a fab evening and I'm totally smitten by the Great Conservatory. So who's coming back with me in the daylight sometime next year? ...In the meantime I've found the CD I was looking for and I'm about to spend some time dancing around my kitchen...!

An enchanted woodland

Last Saturday evening we ventured over to South West London (from South East London!) for a mile and a half walk around the Enchanted Woodland in Syon Park, Brentford. This is its ninth year, but the first time I'd heard of it...

We bought our tickets online (£7 each for adults) and clutching our printed copy we set out for Syon Lane station. The journey wasn't too bad: Blackheath to Waterloo East (approx 20 mins) and then Waterloo to Syon Lane (approx 35 mins), followed by a 10 minute walk. The enchanted woodland is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings for three weekends in the run-up to Christmas. Clearly it's only an evening thing, doors open at 5pm and shut at 8pm.

We weren't quite sure what to expect, but once in the grounds this was our first view:

We set off along the mile and a half route, with cameras in hand and amid the "oohing" and "ahhing" which wouldn't have been out of place at a firework display. The paths were mostly gravel and wet, and although muddy in places given the amount of rain there'd been they weren't that bad. 

I'll warn you now, this is quite a photo heavy post, you won't believe how many photos I took (or maybe you would) so getting them down to just these has been quite a feat!

It's amazing how different the trees look with the lights - coloured or otherwise - shining on them. 

And the lights accentuate all the gnarly trunks, wispy branches and spiky leaves.

And after a while you start to wonder if you'll ever look at a tree in the same way again! Along the route there's different themes and sections with lots to keep the kids interest levels up too. There were lanterns in trees, a dragon, teddy bear's picnic plus music and smoke and a couple of other fun things too...

This was one. Who could resist not following the instructions? Each tap moved a section of the lighting through a sequence. And there was some very enthusiastic tapping going on by the kids standing next which meant I only just about managed to keep up with the light changes! Beautiful and a fun idea too.

We had many stops along the route for photos, as did many others. Although the route is relatively short it isn't something we wanted to frogmarch around. 

At times I started to wonder if I'd ever look at a tree in the same way again. And then turning the corner we saw the "plain" lights on these and - phew, yes that's what trees are supposed to look like!

My interest was piqued though and now I'm keen to go back in the daylight to see what the park and house look like. 

Another of the fun ideas was this area for silhouette photographs - it was entertaining to watch the at first tentative kids get braver as they realised what was going on - and it'd make a cute Christmas card shot!

Syon House too was lit up, with a laser display bouncing off the grass outside. We stood and watched those for a while before heading towards the exit and we thought home. 

But there was a final surprise as we followed people inside the Great Conservatory (and boy was it a great conservatory!) for a neon laser show set to music. That was great fun and I plan to share some pictures from that and some of Syon House soon, so stay tuned!

But until then - have you been to an enchanted woodland or are trees near you regularly lit up?  I'm curious..

West Elm dreaming

Earlier in the week I found myself in central London with some time to explore, and as luck would have it I was close to Tottenham Court Road so there were two places on my list to visit. One of those was West Elm, I'd seen brochures and browsed heavily online but had never quite made it to their flagship store in the UK, that is until now. 

The in-store living wall

The large cardboard Christmas decorations went well with the "neutrals" colour scheme on the ground floor, and I was particularly taken with the stag!

This felt wreath would look great almost anywhere and it's "handcrafted of 100% wool by skilled artisans in Nepal" - I love those birds just nestling in there. 

As you'd expect there were many Christmas decorations out - I particularly liked the bottle brush animal ornaments and there's a llama, snow leopard, swan, duckling, artic fox and I'm sure that's a seal I've photographed below. 

And to complement all the white decorations, there was glitter - it just works - in fact that's especially true at Christmas, glitter always works. The glitter burst ornament below looked good hung on the tree, but would look equally good hung in a window or from a shelf. 

I'd seen West Elm's flameless candles online and wasn't really sure about them. Now having seen them in person I think they'd be a great alternative for real candles and don't look overly plasticky and fake as they have a wax exterior. They're battery-operated  with LED lights and what's more there's an automated shut-off timer.  What candle has that, hey?

I liked the little vignettes around the store and moving downstairs it was clear that this had a blue, grey and yellow scheme - which was pleasing (and useful) as I'm still looking out for some new bedding for our new black-grey-yellow bedroom and I discovered some possibles. 

Throughout the store I was aware of the use of textures, something it's all too easy to forget in our own homes. I'm a typical magpie and am drawn to the bright, shiny, glittery things... But adding softer textures can add warmth and interest, and if your house is anything like ours they can help absorb some of the echoes, or what MOH would call boom...

I may be making a return visit for one of these...

Back upstairs and I ventured into the kitchen area and immediately realised it was another place I should give a very wide berth! These Jimbobart bone china mug sets look great fun. 

And I was in bowl heaven.  Next time I'm in the market for bowls I'm definitely coming  back - I've no idea which colours and patterns I'd go for and would no doubt spend too much time deliberating, then realise I could only have ten or so and so try and negotiate that number upwards by at least double!  What do you mean, what would I need twenty bowls for? ...I'm sure I'd find a use for each and every one of them, and it's a good point, I'll work on my case...

OK I've moved away from the bowls. But I've made a mental note of these cube tissue box covers, I like their simplicity and because you never know when you might need this kind of information...

So before I left there was just a final opportunity to admire these boxes again, and - hint, hint - one of these would make a great gift and it may just be going straight to the top of my Christmas list (...ok it's already there!)

This is definitely on my Christmas list!

So while I didn't make any purchases on this visit, I've a feeling it's only a matter of time and I know I'll be back!  And next up was Paperchase just down the road, where I knew I was unlikely to leave empty handed (and I was right!)