In another go at our eternal decluttering we have just sorted through our entire recipe collection torn out of magazines, newspapers and scribbled down on scraps of paper. At least half of it has now been consigned to the recycling bin but we did find some recipes that brought back memories, including my sister-in-law's tartiflette recipe. She made ( Read more... )

The only exciting thing that has happened since my last post is that we have bought a bread maker. Our kitchen is really not big enough for many gadgets and up until last year we hadn't bought any new ones for about 10 years. Since Lockdown 1 we have purchased a soup maker (brilliant and worth every penny), an air fryer (less useful according to me ( Read more... )

I've just been pottering about in the garden digging up more of our ever present weeds. We have a particularly persistent one which I think is green alkanet that springs up every year in all sorts of tricky places and every year I dig masses of it up. The problem is that it is impossible to eradicate as it grows wild in the alleyway behind our ( Read more... )

Trying to get back to doing this.

What I Just Finished Reading
The Shortest Way to Hades by Sarah Caudwell. I was actually in the mood for a Dorothy L. Sayers but I had this book by Sarah Caudwell on my Kindle. I have read it before but it was so long ago that it was like rediscovering it for the first time. The best way I can describe it is as an ( Read more... )

As predicted I haven't finished The Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin yet. I'm absolutely loving it and would have finished if a migraine at the end of last week hadn't knocked out two reading days. Very annoying ( Read more... )

I've had a dodgy stomach for a large chunk of this week but yesterday I actually felt better and rather madly decided to bake something. I'm a keen fan of "The Great British Bake Off" but I'm not the best at it myself but these were a) easy, b) tasty and c) seasonal. J wolfed down two in quick succession and even my mother after the first doubtful ( Read more... )

I've discovered an unexpected side benefit of watching Doctor Who. A few weeks ago I was about to hack away at the brambles in my garden when I noticed they were a) in flower and b) covered in bees. Bearing in mind that bees are disappearing I left the brambles alone and now we have an absolutely bumper crop of blackberries. J made an apple and ( Read more... )