The Star Heart Cafe

I have loved spending time alone in cafes since the 1990s. Pubs have taken over a little in the past few years, but the call of cafes is never far away. I have run two imaginary cafes in my life. The first was The SubVerse Poetry Tea Room which ran for five years from 2000 to 2005. The second is The Star Heart Cafe which is both my blog and my craft stall which both started in 2013. There is generally something civilised about a cafe, hopefully something comforting; it's social but not intimate. Hopefully you can just relax, be yourself and not get bothered too much by anything or anyone.

Five Healing Places

I have been reading a lot about rest, ecotherapy and mindfulness and have incorporated what I have discovered into five LMOs (Local Mindful Outings) which I have been trying to do on Mondays with my daughter. Below are pictures and descriptions of these five healing places, which I have been enjoying since late last summer.

1. The Walled Garden

    

I discovered the Walled Garden in August 2019 and consider it to be the first and most important healing place we visit. It is surrounded by a bigger garden area which has a cafe, lots of trees and a stream, which we also enjoy contemplating. We take our time in the walled garden, daydreaming and being mindful. This space often makes its way into a bedtime guided meditation.

    

2. The Memorial Park
 

    

I used to walk past this park wondering what it was like inside. When I did finally venture inside, in October 2019, I found it was quite lovely. We now go in here quite often, it has tall trees, a large pond, an art gallery, museum and a very pretty cafe with a lovely view, where we often enjoy a very slow cup of coffee.

    

3. The Lido

 

I forgot how great the lido and surrounding woodland area is, but now I make a point of regularly visiting them. It is good just to contemplate the vast stretch of water, the trees and the clouds. Our visits to the lido also include visiting the garden centre next door (and its resident cat), a walk through the woods and a slow coffee.

4. The Manor Farm

   

This recreational space features a barn-like library, a duck pond and a pleasant walk to the river. It is quite an open space and very countrified. It is a nice place to sit and contemplate the trees and the sky. Our visits here also incorporate a visit to the local church, graveyard and cafe.

5. The Gravel Pits

    

The Gravel Pits was the last LMO I discovered, in December 2019. It is a pretty place, with lots of trees and fresh air. The local Costa is also one of the nicest I have encountered, with an enticing view out of the window. It would be good if the place also had an accessible body of water included, like a pond or a stream, however we do often visit it when it's raining.

Our trips to the five LMOs are therapeutic for a number of reasons. They involve slow travel (by bus), walking, reflection, nature and slow coffee drinking, among other restful aspects. I would recommend anyone to find their own local healing place; a place to slow down, stop, pause, reflect; a place that enhances wellbeing for yourself, others and the world.

Aspects of Tea

There is something special about a cup of tea. Whenever I sit down to read, write, reflect, plan or just have a really good think, I like to have a nice cup of tea handy to enhance the experience. I think that has been why contemplating 'Aspects of tea' has been a big creative idea in my life and has carried on from the SubVerse Poetry Tea Room to the Star Heart Cafe. Some of my tea related memorabilia can be found on my Pinterest Board 'Aspects of tea' and also via a musical montage on YouTube, 'Aspects of tea' is accompanied by me playing Gnossiennes 1 and 3 by Satie on my electirc piano.

Let's talk about death

My new piece of flash fiction on Wattpad, 'The Discomfort Zone', explores what happens to Jenny, one grey afternoon, when she visits the Death Cafe.

I first heard of the concept of 'Death Cafes' a few years ago. They were thought of as friendly places you could go to confront your own mortality, with other interested souls, over a cup of tea or a latte.

I think Jenny is also accompanied by the spirit of Edgar Allan Poe as well as the other seven guests she encounters. I hope you enjoy reading my work as much as I enjoy writing it. You can read my story here.

The accompanying picture for 'The Discomfort Zone' is called 'The Last Latte', it is my latest picture on DeviantArt.

The Chapel Cafe

In the Good Mothers Club my heroine, Alice Plummer, stumbles across the Chapel Cafe, while there she meets other troubled mothers with whom she shares dark secrets and disturbing tales. this is a description of her first venture into the establishment.

'It certainly was worth the walk. The Chapel Café was my dream coffee shop; it boasted a polished wooden floor, tall and colourful stained glass windows featuring motifs of a heart, an anchor and a cross, thick round wooden tables, red velvet cushioned armchairs and the kind of intricate carved wood and stone features you would hope to find in an old church. I walked up to the coffee counter to order a drink; there was no queue and only the minimal conversational murmur coming from the other customers. Looking around further I noticed something else unusual about the café, it was a gadget free zone: no laptops, no mobiles, not even a kindle or an ipod. I took my mobile phone out of my pocket, switched it off and put it back into my bag.

‘Um, regular, no, medium, latte please,’ I heard myself saying, I obviously intended to stay for a while.

‘You’re here for the Good Mothers Club,’ the barista was a young, intense man dressed in black and white. He had fine, strong features and clear eyes that seemed to stare into the heart of me.

‘Am I?’ I asked.

‘They’re at the back.’ The barista nodded to the back of the chapel, to a slightly raised area, I guessed that that was where the altar used to be. There stood an oval table, around which sat an array of brightly coloured women. At the head of the table sat a pretty, young woman in pale grey with a white headdress, a nun. She smiled at me with such a warm generous smile that I smiled back.

With my freshly made Latte in my hand I headed over to the table of women, taking in more details of the other customers as I went. There was an unkempt young man in an Edward Munch ‘The Scream’ t-shirt, a group of business men in suits, teenage Goths, an older couple, an elegant 1950s style starlet, a couple of disheveled high school students and a group of international tourists, from various remote corners of the world.

There were two vacant spaces at the table, one next to the nun and one opposite her. I made my way past a woman in blue, who was having an intense conversation with the woman in red who sat by her side, in order to sit in the vacant seat nearest the nun.

‘Hello, come to make up the numbers,’ smiled an attractive, bubbly woman, dressed in a big, bold, mauve dress, as I sat down opposite her, ‘You’re just in time, the meeting starts at six.’

I glanced at my watch, six o’clock, and then I looked at the nun, she began speaking and the small conversations that were taking place around the table died down.'

Pop Up Craft Stall

 
'ALF Creations at the Star Heart Cafe' took part in a summer fun day in Willow Tree Marina, Yeading. We were out in the open, so the wind became a bit of an issue, but we were otherwise blessed with a sunny day. We were one of two craft stalls there and were in competition with live music, a bouncy castle, a barbecue and a fire engine. It wasn't terribly successful for us, but I enjoyed the experience.

      

 

    

 
It was also a rare occassion where I had the other half of ALF Creations, Amy, with me. She had the idea of drawing bespoke pictures of interested customers, but things being what they were, at the end of the day she had just produced a rather fetching picture of me.

Secret London Part Three

On 11th June 2015 mum and I visited three more Secret London locations.

The Rudolf Steiner House really did feel like a secret location. I was following an obscure map and got lost two or three times on my way there. When I had finally found the right place, mum and I found ourselves in a near deserted, lovely, curvaceous building going up and down the flowing stone, spiral staircase trying to find the discussion group debating what's wrong with the modern world. With the help of the finance manager we did eventually find the room where four older intellectuals were discussing doomsday like scenarios, I think mum and I cramped their style a bit, but they were quite gracious and mum and I remained polite and grateful.

It was an extraordinary place, all about the singular philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, and the house reminded me of Gaudi in Barcelona. After tea in the self service cafe and a browse in the library and bookshop we moved on.

Number 2 Willow Road is a surprising National Trust gem. It was built by the post war industrialist architect Erno Goldfinger, the famous James Bond villain is named after him. I don't think Goldfinger, the architect, was very villainous, after my visit to his house, I ended up rather admiring him.

The house was built in 1939 and the architect was also responsible for post war developments in social housing like Trelick Tower. I live in a post war ex-council house and I could see some elements of 2 Willow Road in my humble abode. It was particularly pleasing to see the tiny kitchen, rather plain living room, early flat pack furniture, built in cupboards, DIY bookshelves and small entrance hall. However the house is still impressive with its capacity to be 'opened up' for cocktail parties, practical balcony and the master bedroom's exquisitly hidden en-suite bathroom.

I was feeling tired by the time we reached the 'Wellcome Cafe'. so it was a case of 'for this relief much thanks.' It was a light filled, busy space and mum and I spent over half an hour enjoying our tea and cake and discussing the plusses and minuses of the Rudolph Steiner and Erno Goldfinger buildings.

After our refreshment we had a look round the Wellcome Museum properly, visitng the Medical Man and Forensics exhibition and the sumptuous library reading room.

In the cafe

Amy and I discovered the fun of animation after a visit to the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green in 2007 and having a go on the magic lantern, creating a mermaid swimming and a girl eating soup. I translated these moving images onto the computer using GIF animator and then put the images together using movie maker, adding my songs in the soundtrack. The mermaid swimming formed the basis of 'Gone Swimming' featuring 'River Child' and Amy's 'girl eating soup' features in the above short film 'In the Cafe' which is set to my song 'Island of Happiness'.

Cafe Pictures

 

 

Over the years Amy and I have produced many pictures inspired by café culture; people in cafes, menus, café food and a variety of tea and coffee related paraphernalia. I looked through our café collection and chose five of my favourite pictures to feature on my blog banner. The first picture is from a drawing by Amy and the others are a pencil drawing, a painting, a digital collage and a more abstract design by me.