Welsh Countryside on a London Street

Where I left you on Columbia Road in London, not so long ago, was Vintage Heaven and Cake Hole. Oh to be there today, nibbling cake and sipping tea. I am, however content to be here this morning. There is a dusting of snow on the hillside and animals waiting at the fence for breakfast. I am drinking tea. And there is good work to do.

This doesn’t stop me from a memory stroll on a Sunday morning in London.

Come along please.

Further along Columbia Road—past the drifts of tulips, hibiscus, and heather in the flower market (that filled that Sunday street)—I came upon Jessie Chorley and Buddug Humphrey’s treasure trove. Their shop, J&B, is self described as ‘A little bit of the Welsh Countryside in the city’.

Indeedy.

These two friends hale from Snowdonia, Wales, and bring the character of the place into everything they do. And then some.

The doorway was an arbor of handmade cardboard letters flanked by clothing embroidered in wonky letters and marvelous enameled jewelry, wall plates and sculptural cups adorned with words and whimsy. The characters of Jessie and Buddug (pronounced bu-th-ig) slowly came into focus. Jessie, the gal with needle and floss took hold of any scrap of cloth and turned it into art to wear or gaze upon. Buddug was the one who crafted enameled metal into jewelry and artwork adorned with handwriting and sketches.

I was struck speechless. I wandered around like a blithering idiot and I think I met Jessie. I mumbled incoherently and she probably took me for a simpleton.

{Struck simple by works of creativity, resourcefulness, good heartedness, beauty.}

Jessie gives sewing workshops! If you’re in London, check it out. Both women have interesting websites, blogs, on-line shops.

Jessie Chorley site.

Buddug’s website.

Photo credits: all images in this post are from Jessie and Buddug’s various websites.