Blowing Away The Cobwebs

Yesterday I was really very glum about my work situation, and today I did not expect to feel a lot better. Yesterday I needed not to wallow, but to feel bad and understand how I was feeling. I was so upset that someone close to me was trying to solve the problems...they were trying to help but it made me feel like my feelings were just being brushed away, under the carpet. I know that really he was just doing what men do which is solve problems, while I was doing what women do, which is just want to be heard and acknowledged. I was still slightly disappointed though...and then today he quietly put a parcel on my desk at work, and smiled. The hip flask that I gave him for Christmas! I told him that it was part of the gift (I had given them out filled with fruits of the forest rum) and he smiled again and said he knew, and there was something in it for me. Imagine my delight to find it not only filled with brandy, but finest armagnac! What a sweet thought, medicinal brandy!

From there on, today has got better. I still have my worries, but I feel better able to cope with them. It was my half day, and when I left work I was buffeted and blown about by the wind. Sometimes I find the wind tiring, but walking into it with my hair streaming out behind me and my coat flapping, I found it really invigorating, and felt my cobwebs being blown away. My afternoon proved to be a real tonic.

I hurried to the market first, where I bought a little bag of green lentils for an aubergine and lentil chilli mole (from my new cook book, Appetite For Reduction), a bunch of daffodils for the living room, sol narcissus for the bedroom, and from there to the grocers stall in the high street where I bought a bunch of pink baby rhubarb, and a single, huge, juicy globe of an orange. With my bag of parcels under my arm, I decided to have some lunch before I went home, and walked to Marks and Spencer.

Lunch was a little box of their selection of sandwiches and a pot of tea. The tea was perfect; steaming hot and fragrant. The teapot was a tiny bit dribbly but kept the tea hot while I sipped one cup, so the second was just as warm. As I sat and ate, I finished reading 'The Case Is Closed' by Patricia Wentworth. Just before work, I had got to the point where the heroine was hiding in a wardrobe as the villain threatened to murder his wife if she did not write a false confession to another murder! I was pleased for the chance to finish it off, and I will definitley be reading more Patricia Wentworth. If you like Agatha Christie, give her a try!

When I got home i threw open all the windows, and they were nearly rattled off their catches by the wind, but it was so lovely to fill the flat with fresh air. After a cup of tea, I baked a Battenburg cake. I have wanted to for a while, and with it being Dad's birthday tea tomorrow night, and having a spare afternoon, it seemed the perfect time. I am really pleased with it, although when I make it again, I am going to try very hard not to make it so lopsided, and whilst the instructions said to add plenty of red food colouring to make the cake very pink, I think I added a bit too much!

Puttering in the kitchen and baking put me in the mood to cook, so I set a pot of the aforementioned aubergine and lentil chilli mole to bubble away (it has cocoa powder in it!!) and then baked a loaf of bread too. Phew! Lots of cooking but I really enjoyed it. There is something really soothing about kneading and stirring and brushing with jam.

After that, I decided to put clean sheets on our bed, and although the duvet was terribly heavy I am really glad I did it. Whilst I was in Marks and Spencer, I bought myself a new duck feather pillow which I have put on the bed. I do like a nice fluffy pillow, and mine have been feeling rather flat of late. Carl loves a flat pillow, and doesnt get on with feather pillows, so I did not get one for him, which feels very odd!

Then an afternoon bath, one of my favourite things to do. Water scented with Johnson's Baby Bath and little tea light candles twinkling around the edge of the bath, and a new magazine to read. A happy hour spent amongst the bubbles, then just time for a cup of tea before dear Carl came home.

All in all, a pretty blissful afternoon, and restorative to the spirits. This evening holds a little bit of knitting, and a chapter or two of my new book, which I may not persevere with. I ordered a Denis Mackail, but it has made me worry about money, which I don't like at all. It is about a brother and sister who are forever borrowing from their father, and although that isn't me at all, it just set me to worrying. If I get the same feeling after another chapter or two, I will take it back to the library tomorrow, and get another Patricia Wentworth out!

I hope that wherever you are, you have had a similarly lovely afternoon, and have a weekend of happiness to come!