…hello, hello and hello! Do pour yourself to a cup of tea in your prettiest cup, and sit with me while I tell you all about my wonderful week off!
As you know, Monday saw me having lunch and a thoroughly delightful day with my dear friend Anna, and you know, such a delicious day really set the standard for the whole week.
Tuesday was a hot, hot day, and I went into town early so I could get all my little errands done before it got too hot. I started the day at Café Rouge, where I breakfasted on a Croque Madame and a latte (how I wished for an iced coffee, but alas, they do not do them) to the gentle sounds of French Café Music. As I read the paper, I noticed a coupon for £1 off Grazia magazine. A nice trashy magazine for cheap? Of course I had to buy it! Imagine how pleased I was when I found in Grazia a coupon for a jar of Salt Body Scrub by The Sanctuary from Boots, free! And happily, I had found out early enough to be able to go and get one. Other purchases for the day included a new purse (apple green! I spotted it right away amongst a sea of serviceable black purses. I felt very much like Mrs Miniver when she bought her diary) and also a new dress (a simple blue patterned summer dress from Peacocks) and some soft-dried pears that are oh-so-squishy like a fudgy toffee. After all that shopping, I was very hot, so I had an iced vanilla latte before catching the bus home again.
Wednesday was a day that dear Carl had been looking forward to very much indeed- a day at Thorpe Park, courtesy of the Tesco vouchers that I have been hoarding. I was pleased because it was a free day out (which should have cost us £70 in entrance tickets!) and he was pleased because he got to go on all manner of fast and scary rides. It will probably come as no surprise to you to know that I am not such a fan of big fast rides, so there were quite a few that he went on while I had a cup of tea! One ride that I did like very much was one aimed at older children- a log flume that was set in Pioneering American times, and it really made me feel like I was in the middle of little House in the Prairie!
Thursday was one of those delightful days of drifting happily together. We wandered into town and enjoyed a coffee together. On the way home, I tried to buy some fabric for an apron, some wool for a hot water bottle cover,and some sugar paste to make icing flowers. Alas, despite being in the county town, I was thwarted at every turn, and went home empty handed. However, there was time to drop into a charity shop, where I found a wonderful 'make and do' book from the 60s. There is a fabulous idea for a 'get well train' that I want to try my hand at!
Friday was utterly fabulous. Despite the rain, Mum and I had a great day together. There is a marvellous craft shop a few villages away which is a veritable Aladdin's Cave, and there I found very easily the perfect fabric and trimmings for my apron, the exact wool that I wanted, and a whole host of other little bits besides! We had lunch together at a plant nursery, which is one of my favourite places to eat. There is a conservatory you can sit in, and look out over the fields. It is picturesque even when, perhaps even especially when, it is raining, and there is a tiny house nestled behind some trees which you see as a flash of white that I like to imagine living in one day.
Once home, we made the first of many cups of tea, and I set out to make my first apron. When I post pictures, I will also look out the title of the book, because the pattern came from a wonderful book full of apron patterns, that I found in the library. The apron I chose to make has polka dot fabric, a little heart pocket and a frill all around the bottom, which according to the book will call to mind the passion of Andalucian Gypsies dancing the polka!! I found some parts tricky, such as gathering the long ruffle by hand, and making the heart shaped pocket. Once or twice I felt like giving up in vexation, but with Mum on hand to help me, I kept going, and I am so proud of my apron I have even taken it to work to show the girls! While I was making a celebratory cup of tea downstairs, Mum whipped up a little lavender bag out of some left over fabric, which just fits in the pocket! I really felt so snuggly and at peace, sitting in my old bedroom which is now the craft room, making something with my Mum while rain spattered at the window pane.
On Saturday, I could hardly believe that I had only 2 days left of my wonderful week. I had invited a friend for dinner with the intention that he should stay the night, so I spent the afternoon getting ready for dinner. I took the opportunity to do some real cooking, and when evening came we had quite a feast laid out! We started with strawberry bellinis and some little bruschetta, topped with brie and caremelized onions, tomato mozzarella and pesto, or home made guacamole. For our starter I made lemon and rosemary risotto, then we had spaghetti bolognese. We finished with a cake that is so simple but looks stunning. I have to find a good name for it! You make a victoria sponge mixture, but bake it in a pudding basin, and when it is cold, pour over a cup of hot sweetened coffee laced with brandy. Then when that is cool, you turn it out, and cover it with slightly sweetened whipped cream! Definitely calorific, but so lovely, especially when served on a glass cake stand and eaten with vintage cake forks, you really dont mind! Before you think we were terrible gluttons, I did serve teeny tiny portions of each course!
After a much later night than I have had for a long time, I made smoked salmon scrambled eggs and freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast. We waved goodbye to Adrian at lunch time, and then set about our few little chores. Washing was done, the place was straightened up and aired out, and then we spent our last hours of the weekend knitting and reading (me) and reading and computering (my lovely husband). Oh yes, although I had not mentioned it in my daily summaries, somehow I read 8 Hamish Macbeth novels this week!
Well that is my wonderful week, over and done. I am definitely not going to leave it so long again!
Showing posts with label Marvellous Mondays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marvellous Mondays. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Monday, 1 June 2009
My Wonderful Week Off, Part The First
Before I start, I love my job, I really do. I love the bustle of working in the county library, and I love the responsibility of running my own little branch library. I love the staff, the customers, the books....but it has been a long time since I had a proper break. I don't think I have had a whole week off since Christmas...and as it is now June (how I love starting a new month on a Monday!) I am really ready for a break.
And how scrumptiously it has started! Now summer is not my favourite season- I burn easily, wilt in the heat, and find myself longing for the crisper days of autumn. But the sudden glorious sunshine and excellent clothes-drying weather we have been enjoying has been a balm to my spirits. I find I have a spring in my step, and an overwhelming urge to wash everything I can get my hands on, and put it out on the line to blow dry.
This Saturday (to labour a point, my first Saturday off in three weeks!) I was not initially thrilled to hear that we were going to spend it with dear Carl servicing our car with his Dad...but it turned out to be a wonderful day. My lovely in-laws live in the middle of the countryside in a tiny village, surrounded by green fields and other little villages...you could be in the middle of Midsommer Murder country! We took our washing with us, and I pegged everything out to dry in the warm breeze as Carl and his Dad saw to our car. I sat and sipped tea and chatted with my Mother in Law, and then we shared a lovely lunch in the conservatory (she does a lovely thing where she puts out salads and dressings and french bread, crackers and cheese, pate and ham, and other such goodies from the fridge, then lets everyone help themselves). The afternoon disappeared as we caught up on family news, planned gifts to take to an up-coming family wedding, talked about outfits and so on.
When the men came in, rather tired and hungry, a plan was formed- to the pub for a quick drink, then off to get a Chinese takeaway, then home for a film. The local pub is in the next village, and is called The Swan. It is a lovely little pub, all oak beams and cask ale, and the very essence of what a country pub should be. I sipped half a perry, as I am not much one for drink, and we spent a happy hour listening to some music they had playing, and trying to remember who it was. (No, not Michael Buble...the one that is like him but not....has brown hair...YOU know, the one that isnt Buble....oh you do know, you DO....) As we drove to the next little village (dear Carl never drinks and drives...his tipple was a grapefruit juice!) it suddenly came to me, and I shouted 'Jamie Cullum' which somewhat startled everyone else in the car!
After our Chinese dinner, we watched Red Eye together (I should have spent more time enjoying the tense atmosphere of the film, but I was actually wondering where the lead actress got her gorgeous cardigan from, and which brand of eyeshadow she was wearing, and which shade of lipstick!) and then Carl and I left for home....tired but happy.
Yesterday seemed to just fly past. We went into town together, and had a picnic lunch in the park. I am amazed still at how summer seems to be winning me over. I love how the dappled shade of the trees shifts and shimmies in the breeze. We purchased a wedding gift and the newspapers, then returned home where time just seemed to slip away, and suddenly, it was time for bed....
Today has been blissful. My lovely friend Anna came for the morning, and we chatted nineteen to the dozen, exclaiming over the loveliness of Miss Pettigrew Lives For The Day which we had on in the background, ate lunch, and I unwrapped some utterly delightful birthday gifts. Amongst them was a red and white polka dot oven glove- I hadnt mentioned it (but Anna and I share such close taste, we always seem to be in synch!) but I have a real thing for polka dots recently, particularly red and white ones! I have been coveting a toadstool money box that I spied in town a while ago, and have an urge to make fairy toadstool salds, like my Mum made for me when I was a little girl.
Fairy Toadstool Salad
Tie on a polka dot pinny, and flick on some toe-tapping music
Pick out a pretty vintage plate for each person
Boil one egg for each person
Hopefully you will be having 2,4,6 or any other multiple of 2 guests for lunch, as you will need to cut a tomato in half, and use one half for each guest.
Shred some lettuce finely, and strew over the plate to be the grass (you can dress it before you strew it should you care to)
Peel the hardboiled egg, and slice a tiny bit off of the fatter end, so that it will stand up on the plate.
Make a little clearing in the salad 'grass' and place the egg there.
Squeeze some tiny dots of salad cream, mayonnaise, or primula cheese over the tomato half
Sit the spotty tomato half on top of the egg to make the toadstool
If you like, you can make a little clearing from the toadstool to the edge of the plate, and fill it with grated cheese to make a path
Depending on how much time and inclination you have to play further, you could make cucumber flowers or radish roses or carrot curls to sit in the grass.
Enjoy!
I have to confess that I did not serve up Fairy Toadstool Salads for lunch today, instead I whipped up a little lunch dish of my own invention, and was rather pleased with how it turned out:
Summer Salmon Lunch Dish To Share With A Good Friend
Tie on a pretty apron, and play some Harry Connick Jr
Put a handful of Jersey Royals on to boil, until they are just tender. I like to rummage through the bag and pick out the tiniest ones.
Meanwhile, lightly poach a little salmon fillet in a pan of simmering water
Finely chop one spring onion, and mix with the cooled potatoes and flaked salmon
In a blender, mixer, or food processor (or you could use a bowl and fork) mix together a big dollop of cottage cheese, and a smaller dollop of mayonnaise, and several sprigs of parsely. You want enough to coat the potatoes and salmon, but not so much that it is swimming in it, so use your own judgement here.
When it is mixed together, fold into the potato-salmon-spring onion mixture, and put in the fridge to chill
I served this with a serve-yourself salad of watercress, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and celery.
Enjoy with a friend, serve with several cups of tea, and lots of gossip!
I hope that the first of June brings you sunshine and happiness and the start of many happy summer adventures!
And how scrumptiously it has started! Now summer is not my favourite season- I burn easily, wilt in the heat, and find myself longing for the crisper days of autumn. But the sudden glorious sunshine and excellent clothes-drying weather we have been enjoying has been a balm to my spirits. I find I have a spring in my step, and an overwhelming urge to wash everything I can get my hands on, and put it out on the line to blow dry.
This Saturday (to labour a point, my first Saturday off in three weeks!) I was not initially thrilled to hear that we were going to spend it with dear Carl servicing our car with his Dad...but it turned out to be a wonderful day. My lovely in-laws live in the middle of the countryside in a tiny village, surrounded by green fields and other little villages...you could be in the middle of Midsommer Murder country! We took our washing with us, and I pegged everything out to dry in the warm breeze as Carl and his Dad saw to our car. I sat and sipped tea and chatted with my Mother in Law, and then we shared a lovely lunch in the conservatory (she does a lovely thing where she puts out salads and dressings and french bread, crackers and cheese, pate and ham, and other such goodies from the fridge, then lets everyone help themselves). The afternoon disappeared as we caught up on family news, planned gifts to take to an up-coming family wedding, talked about outfits and so on.
When the men came in, rather tired and hungry, a plan was formed- to the pub for a quick drink, then off to get a Chinese takeaway, then home for a film. The local pub is in the next village, and is called The Swan. It is a lovely little pub, all oak beams and cask ale, and the very essence of what a country pub should be. I sipped half a perry, as I am not much one for drink, and we spent a happy hour listening to some music they had playing, and trying to remember who it was. (No, not Michael Buble...the one that is like him but not....has brown hair...YOU know, the one that isnt Buble....oh you do know, you DO....) As we drove to the next little village (dear Carl never drinks and drives...his tipple was a grapefruit juice!) it suddenly came to me, and I shouted 'Jamie Cullum' which somewhat startled everyone else in the car!
After our Chinese dinner, we watched Red Eye together (I should have spent more time enjoying the tense atmosphere of the film, but I was actually wondering where the lead actress got her gorgeous cardigan from, and which brand of eyeshadow she was wearing, and which shade of lipstick!) and then Carl and I left for home....tired but happy.
Yesterday seemed to just fly past. We went into town together, and had a picnic lunch in the park. I am amazed still at how summer seems to be winning me over. I love how the dappled shade of the trees shifts and shimmies in the breeze. We purchased a wedding gift and the newspapers, then returned home where time just seemed to slip away, and suddenly, it was time for bed....
Today has been blissful. My lovely friend Anna came for the morning, and we chatted nineteen to the dozen, exclaiming over the loveliness of Miss Pettigrew Lives For The Day which we had on in the background, ate lunch, and I unwrapped some utterly delightful birthday gifts. Amongst them was a red and white polka dot oven glove- I hadnt mentioned it (but Anna and I share such close taste, we always seem to be in synch!) but I have a real thing for polka dots recently, particularly red and white ones! I have been coveting a toadstool money box that I spied in town a while ago, and have an urge to make fairy toadstool salds, like my Mum made for me when I was a little girl.
Fairy Toadstool Salad
Tie on a polka dot pinny, and flick on some toe-tapping music
Pick out a pretty vintage plate for each person
Boil one egg for each person
Hopefully you will be having 2,4,6 or any other multiple of 2 guests for lunch, as you will need to cut a tomato in half, and use one half for each guest.
Shred some lettuce finely, and strew over the plate to be the grass (you can dress it before you strew it should you care to)
Peel the hardboiled egg, and slice a tiny bit off of the fatter end, so that it will stand up on the plate.
Make a little clearing in the salad 'grass' and place the egg there.
Squeeze some tiny dots of salad cream, mayonnaise, or primula cheese over the tomato half
Sit the spotty tomato half on top of the egg to make the toadstool
If you like, you can make a little clearing from the toadstool to the edge of the plate, and fill it with grated cheese to make a path
Depending on how much time and inclination you have to play further, you could make cucumber flowers or radish roses or carrot curls to sit in the grass.
Enjoy!
I have to confess that I did not serve up Fairy Toadstool Salads for lunch today, instead I whipped up a little lunch dish of my own invention, and was rather pleased with how it turned out:
Summer Salmon Lunch Dish To Share With A Good Friend
Tie on a pretty apron, and play some Harry Connick Jr
Put a handful of Jersey Royals on to boil, until they are just tender. I like to rummage through the bag and pick out the tiniest ones.
Meanwhile, lightly poach a little salmon fillet in a pan of simmering water
Finely chop one spring onion, and mix with the cooled potatoes and flaked salmon
In a blender, mixer, or food processor (or you could use a bowl and fork) mix together a big dollop of cottage cheese, and a smaller dollop of mayonnaise, and several sprigs of parsely. You want enough to coat the potatoes and salmon, but not so much that it is swimming in it, so use your own judgement here.
When it is mixed together, fold into the potato-salmon-spring onion mixture, and put in the fridge to chill
I served this with a serve-yourself salad of watercress, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and celery.
Enjoy with a friend, serve with several cups of tea, and lots of gossip!
I hope that the first of June brings you sunshine and happiness and the start of many happy summer adventures!
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