For any readers overseas who haven’t come across this lovably silly English folk dance with its hankie waving and stick bashing, here’s a closer look at their jigging feet.

“Hot Rods, Hula Girls, Hairy Beasts, Himalayan Head Hunters and the Holy Bible are just some of the subjects under discussion by illustrators Linzie Hunter, Allan Sanders, Rod Hunt and Nishant Choksi.” Great premise huh? It only runs from today till 4 October though, so if you want to see it, get yourself down to the Coningsby Gallery by Tottenham Court Road pronto.

www.hotrodsandhairybeasts.co.uk

I caught up with her last weekend at London’s Slow Food Festival and enjoyed a strong shot of Venezualan hot chocolate and a devilishly good chocolate fudge brownie sundae. Oh yum!She’s coming to the end of her tour soon, and looking for invitations in London. Oh, I’m so sad that I lack a spare room and an ice cream van parking / charging space. Maybe you do?

www.chocstar.co.uk

These fellows above were protesting at the pagoda in China Town. Here’s the long shot that shows their tiny size.

Other tiny people that day were making tiny roadworks, having tiny picnics and cordoning off a tiny crime scene around a severed fingertip. There’s something real and human about these little people, I find them so arresting. I love the fact that this is street art that could be so easily missed. I think my favourites have to be his inner city snails. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find one by chance, slithering across the pavement?

It’s your last chance to catch the show at Cosh this week as it finishes on Saturday. (Cosh is at 69 Berwick Street, Soho, London, W1F 8SZ T. 020 7287 7758).

You could also check out Slinkachu’s brand new book or see more pics on his blog.

This year I am saving up my carbon karma and holidaying without any flying, and it has turned out so far to be no sacrifice. We took the Eurostar to Bruges and Provence, and loved it. Somehow the old fashioned glamour of train travel, generally now all but lost, is revived when you can whizz along in comfort and end up in Avignon by lunchtime. Keeping local, we’ve got a weekend planned in Dorset, and one picking apples and making cider on a farm in Herefordshire. In my head I have planned and imagined countless more, if only I had the time and money!

Here’s a selection of my favourite ethical travel picks:

Taste the Wild – foraging, wild food and bushcraft courses, in probably my favourite part of the country, the North Yorkshire coast.

Cider making – this is an article about a cheap (and boozy) weekend, camping for free at a cider farm in exchange for helping with the harvest and cider making. This is Broome Farm in Herefordshire, but I’m sure many farms do a similar thing.

National Trust working holidays – learning to build dry stone walls, planting trees, maintaining footpaths in some of the UKs most lovely spots for the good old National Trust.

Green Traveller – great site full of ideas for green and ethical holidays

Intrepid Travel – excellent, responsible adventure travel company.

Under the Thatch – the most amazing, charming self catering accommodation, from Romany caravans to retro Scandinavian forest cabins. A great ethical company, with all profits used to preserve historic buildings.

The Man in Seat 61 – amazingly helpful site all about how to travel the world by train and boat.

Fforest – possibly the best campsite in the country?

Nothing to see here – I love this blog some of the world’s lesser-signposted places to go. It has lots of my favourites: Shipley Glen Tramway, the Keswick Pencil Museum, Saltburn-on-Sea. Not ethical travel in the usual sense, but it’s important to value and preserve these odd little places.

I can’t decide my favourite; Thanks for being our “Dad”, the life size cake bride, or the one pictured above which I’d hope is for a gardener, but is actually, tragically, someone’s wedding cake.

Just a quick note to tell anyone reading this in London today that the annual wonder that is the V&A Village Fete is taking place tonight and tomorrow afternoon. Not your average fete, this one is filled with games and bizarre activities laid on by London’s funnest creative people. Stalls this year include a tatt off, a beard tent and helioke (karaoke + helium).

I do love a tombola, so I will be cycling over after work tonight. See you there?

The fete takes place in the garden at the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington. It’s on tonight Friday 25 July 18.30-22.00 & tomorrow Saturday 26 July 13.00-17.00. Can’t find any info on the website about tickets. I think it’s free or cheap to get in, but will be busy so arrive early.

If you can’t get enough fetes, tickets are also on sale for the Innocent Village Fete, which is 2nd and 3rd August. Ah, I do love London in the summer.

Luckily it’s getting easier as more and more labels with watertight ethical credentials are appearing, and getting more publicity. Gradually I hope, it will become normal and we won’t have to do so much detective work before we can shop worry free.

So, it’s time to share a few of my favourite ethical shopping picks with you – nice timing at the moment as there are quite a few summer sales going on. Each month or so I’ll be posting more picks.

Fashion Conscience – the picture above is from this UK based online boutique, a great one stop shop.
Howies – most days I am wearing something from Howies! They do great organic jeans, t shirts and laid back clothing and they are awfully nice.
Annie Greenabelle – Very cute retro themed clothing in organic, fairtrade and reused fabrics. Stocked at Equa and the Topshop Oxford Circus concession.
Toms – I bought the loveliest pair of simple summer shoes from Toms. They work with communities in Argentina and South Africa and for every pair sold, they give a pair to a child in need
Enamore – very glamorous label with fancy underwear and vintage styled dresses in organic and sustainable fabrics.

A lot like a UK based Etsy, this is a place to buy and sell items by crafters and small designers. There’s also a making section which will showcase how to guides and stories about the making of items on the site. Currently there’s a good showing of work for sale from design graduates. Here’s my picks:
Saturday Morning screenprinted tote bag by Mr.PS, 300 plate by CJ O’NeillAlice in Wonderland moleskin notebooks by Champignons, Laminated chair by Jamie Ward, all on Folksy.

However, having stumbled across this blanket tutorial over at Purl Bee, I have found a rather charming way of using it. Instead of just stitching it on as zig zag trim, it is sandwiched between two layers with the tips pointing out. I guess that doesn’t take a huge leap of imagination, and it’s simple enough to do, but I wouldn’t have come up with it, so I thought I’d share the idea.

My blanket is for the soon-due baby of a friend. She’s going to be called Poppy, and will have a very stylish mother, so it seemed the perfect opportunity to use this lovely bold fabric from Marimekko. Oh how I love their prints! Add some orange jumbo rick rack, and a very well matched yellow green fleece from Ikea et voila. I’m thinking of quilting around the flower outlines. Good idea?