Trying out hipstamatic...

A latecomer to the retro cool that is Hipstamatic... now I just need my ageing iPhone to behave.

Lava and Icicles: The Blue Lagoon, Iceland

Rejkjavik, by the Viking ship, looking across the bay to where the sky meets the sea. Ice blue, everywhere. Saturday afternoon, halfway through a unique and surprising break.

Back to Friday morning, Charles de Gaulle airport. I don't know where I am going, so I have a case carefully packed for town and country, high heels and Converse, sun cream and snowboots. The snowboots were a suggestion late the night before, I think I may be going to Scandinavia... we check in at the Islandair desk, on a flight to Rejkjavik Keflavik airport.

I am delighted, thrilled and excited. Looking up Rejkjavik on my iPhone, reading about its history, what we will eat and drink, what we can look at, the fire and ice extremes for which it is famous.

The smiling taxi driver eventually gives the game away, with 'Will you be staying at the Blue Lagoon for your whole holiday?'. We roll on through the snow-covered lava rock in the sunshine, towards the natural thermal pools and the Blue Lagoon Clinic, a tiny hotel and treatment centre a five-minute walk through the snow to the lagoon itself. There is a volcano in the distance.

The Lagoon was formed in the early seventies, by operations for the geothermal heating company that still has a plant nearby. Public bathing opened in 1987, after people with psoriasis noticed an improvement in their condition after bathing in the water and using the natural silica mud at the bottom of the lagoon. The Clinic has been open since 2005, with just 15 rooms and a private pool, for true peace and quiet.

Four days of bathing and soaking, dozing and reading to unwind from urban life. After a morning in-water massage - like being in the bath, and massaged all at once and undoubtedly the best treatment I have had to date - we took the bus into Reykjavik for an afternoon and evening in the capital. Icicle removal by the fire service was a highlight.

The city lake had iced over, people were skating, sledging and playing on the ice, feeding the ducks at the edge and enjoying the winter sunshine. Life in Europe's tiniest capital felt cosy and laid-back, bustling but not too busy. We had Icelandic beer and warming spirits in a little yellow shabby chich vintage corner house, then moved onto an organic dinner at Icelandic Fish and Chips near the harbour, before jumping in an extortionately priced taxi to retreat back to the Lagoon.

Arriving back just in time for a bedtime bath in the Clinic's private Lagoon, we looked up to find the North Lights dancing across the sky for us, green and red and purple.

Found! Mid-century espresso set

A surprise sunny Sunday morning brocante in the quartier. I popped out for mince meat and came back with a six-piece mid-century porcelain espresso set for €5. Must find a prominent display position before husband comes back...

Back last weekend from a wonderfully peaceful trip to the Hebrides... photos to come.

Trouvé: table récup'

Last Sunday, we picked a table up off the street, and brought it home. I have never done this before, it felt a little like stealing, a little like virtuous recycling. It was quite heavy, and I was bright red with exertion and embarrassment stemming from a feeling of doing something slightly naughty, and the sneaking suspicion that someone was going to come running up the street after us, demanding their table back.

They didn't, in Paris it is quite usual to leave out objets encombrants, big items that you are getting rid of, in the street for the council to pick up the next morning. So we saved them the trouble, and are very pleased with our wide, solid, hardwood coffee table. It may not quite go with the mid-century aesthetic of the lounge, but it fits the size of the sofa and will be great in our next, bigger space.