Picking Violets on a Wednesday Afternoon

Many years ago now, when I was working in the second library I had ever worked in, and the one I was to stay with for longest, I worked with a lovely, lovely lady called Angela. Angela is tall and willowy with curly hair and an innate sense of style, who ate bread and honey and understood. One day, when I had had a bad week - nothing was really wrong, but I was just quite blue, she left an envelope on my desk. Inside was a Winnie the Pooh card, the original illustrations, not the Disney version, of a scene of Piglet picking violets. The caption was 'Piglet Picking Violets'.

We decided that some days, you just want to pick violets. It was a kind of recognition that some days you just have to be gentle to yourself, throw over your usual routine, and pick violets instead.

I suspected today was going to be a Violet Picking Day, so I arranged to go home early in the afternoon, after a team meeting. It has been a drizzly Wednesday, and it has been lovely hugging that early finish to myself all day. The violet picking started with lunch in the tea shop with the same lovely Angela who first gave me the card - it was heavenly to catch up, and linger over a pot of tea.

At our team meeting, I had to bite my lip at one point, because the announcement was made that I am leaving the Cabinet Office. In a week and a half. This is one of the winds of change that has been blowing through my life lately. The maternity leave contract I was covering is coming to an end, and I have been lucky enough to secure a post until the end of March as a team leader in Business Support. There is a big part of me that is going to be very sad to leave a job I adore, and colleagues I have become close to, but I am also looking forward to new challenges, and will be keeping an eye out for jobs in the Cabinet Office in the future.

But even so, I was still sad to hear my leaving formally announced. I was pleased to be able slip away afterwards, and go home. I got home around half past three, and did one of my favourite things in the world - took an afternoon bath by candlelight. To my mind it is the perfect Picking-Violet-Day activity. Laying in the hot water reading by candlelight and sipping tea, I felt my mind start to relax and the tension slip away.

I changed into my nightie and cardigan combination, and slipped into the kitchen to cook dinner. My favourite kind of cooking, simple ingredients from scratch, therapeutic stirring and simmering. I made a lentil dahl and flatbreads - I just adore making flatbreads at the moment. They are so simple, and yet delicious, and it feels so satisfying to have made them. The magic secret to them is to sprinkle black onion seeds into the flour before adding the water and oil.

I was lucky enough to pass the evening with Midori Green, who is teaching me a gloves routine she has choreographed herself, and from that we went on to burlesque class, where we are learning another gloves routine. It is slow with lots of stretching, and I am really enjoying it.

And now, back home, eyes heavy with sleep. Smiling sleepily, glad I broke my normal routine, and came home early to pick some violets - it is the kind of tonic that makes me smile for days afterwards.

Winds of Change

Just as we had been enjoying some glorious days of sunshine, when spring had come at last, the winds are blowing clouds scudding across the skies again. Carl and I very, very rarely have arguments or disagreements, but he has pointed out gently, more than once, that when we do have the occasional word, I go very, very quiet and tend to bottle things up.

And so it has been here. Winds of change are blowing through my life again, some good, some that I find it harder to see as good, although hopefully in time it will be so...but I find that I do go quiet when I have too much to think about. I do have some gloriously lovely things to tell you about, I know I haven't told you about my lovely birthday and all my other adventures yet - I must sit down with a pot of tea and blog properly.

But I find when I have been away for a while, I need to just post once or twice first, and then get down to 'proper' posts, sharing news and catching up. And so this is that.

I brought a new nightie several weeks ago now - by FrostFrench, a navy-grey with pink roses all over it, trimmed with cream lace. It is my favourite thing at the moment to come home and slip into my nightie, and a thin grey cardigan that I cut the buttons off and replaced with little violet ones. It just feels gentle and soothing. I get in, I change, I make a pot of tea, and I am home.

I have been reading a lot recently. I have read the first in the Beautiful Creatures trilogy, Lace by Shirley Conran, The Night Circus which was utterly enchanting, and The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris. I am now reading The Ingredients of Love which is translated from French. It is a pretty little tale, of Aurelie who comes across a novel which features her very own restaurant, and the description of a girl remarkably like her. She wants to talk to the author, so contacts the publisher...but unbeknown to her, the author doesn't actually exist...

I feel so sleepy this evening, I can hardly wait to get to bed and read a bit more of my story, and then sleep. I was late in the office this evening, and when I got home I made macaroons for a charity cake sale at work tomorrow. I have the lights on low, and Midsomer Murders in the background, and everything is gentle, and quiet. I love home, I love it. It feels almost like autumn outside these past few days, and there is a bit of me that longs to just stay at home with a blanket and my tea. But I have lunch tomorrow with an old friend who I haven't caught up with for a long time, so out I must go!

I will be back though, I will be back. Love Mimi xxx

Weekend Taster

I am feeling very contented this evening. I have enjoyed vegetable bean chilli with millet and oven roasted broccoli for dinner, eaten in front of The Great British Sewing Bee. A peaceful evening, with many ideas for things to make bubbling through my mind. Having looked at Mum's copy of Vintage Stitching by the wonderful Jane Brocket, I want to make a Suffolk Puff quilt, and when I have finished knitting my Miss Marple Scarf, I want to start a granny square blanket.

While I was searching google for 'Jane Brocket Suffolk Puff' to see if anybody else had been inspired to make one, and get some ideas, I came across some of the most delightful blogs:
Teacups and Buttercups http://teacupsandbuttercups.wordpress.com is the kind of blog I will want to sit and read all the archives of. (I also did a little gasp of surprise followed by a big smile, when I noticed my own blog linked to in the blogroll! I am always in slight disbelief that anybody reads my little blog at all, let alone links to it! Surprised but very, very pleased!)
This led me to The Pyjama Gardener http://thepyjamagardener.wordpress.com/ whose first post I read was about Sarah Addison Allen, who is one of my favourite authors - how can I not love that blog?

I have much to sit and post about properly. On Thursday I spent a heavenly day with my Mum, including taking tea in a well-named tea shop (Truly Scrumptious!) and a visit to Morrison's supermarket which left me amazed at the variety, quality, and low prices...and with a basket overflowing with red chicory, sourdough bread and other lovely things!

On Saturday it was my birthday, and I had a wonderful day - ended up having a little cry in the morning at how lovely and thoughtful my wonderful family and friends are. I had a visit to a vintage fayre at a Castle, a trip to the bookshop, and a heavenly dinner out.

Sunday saw us going for a long walk around a Royal Horticultural Society Garden, and Monday took us to my family for the day. So many adventures, I must sit down and write about them soon! But for now, the washing up is calling, and then I am planning to get into a warm bed (we still have the electric blanket on!) with my book.

I hope your evening is similarly lovely! Love Mimi xxx

Three Cups of Tea and a Hot Cross Bun

This morning was one of those days where I woke up in the dark just a fraction of a moment before the radio alarm came on. Our radio alarm clock is very old indeed - my husband had it when he was about 6, I think. It is tuned into Radio 4, and if you have to wake up at ten past six in the morning, then I can't think of a better way.

We always lay together for a few minutes before Carl gets up and makes the first cup of tea of the morning. Then I go into the kitchen and make our breakfasts and packed lunches, and then we always sit together for a few minutes before he has to leave for work.

Oftentimes, I will just get ready for work and head out of the door myself, but some mornings call for another cup of tea - and this was one of them. From our kitchen window, I could see that the light had that slight hazy quality which accompanies a chilly morning.

One of the reasons I have not posted for a while has been that I have been slightly jaded by all this cold - it makes me want to just hibernate under piles of blankets and drink pot after pot of tea. I have been have been dealing with a distressing work situation also, which has been draining me of a surprising amount of energy.

But even though it is, apparently, the longest winter we have had for 50 years, there are signs of spring coming, everywhere I look. We have had the snowdrops, and now the crocuses are out. There are daffodils in the shops. Easter is at the weekend. The days are getting longer. The promise of spring is almost, but not quite, as good as spring itself.

This evening I have been snuggled up on the sofa with a cup of tea, a blanket, a very indulgent box of Laudree Macarons (thanks to my lovely sister-in-law!) and watching the Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood Easter Bake Off Masterclass. When the programme started, I was struck by how beautiful the kitchen they are cooking in is - all lemony-cream walls, a great big dresser, and pots and bunches of golden daffodils everywhere you look. How utterly heavenly. It has left me wanting to do a great deal of baking, to crystallise primroses, make lemon curd, and candy lemon zest. I think I need an extra-long Easter weekend to fit it all in to! I think next year, rather than give Easter eggs or chocolate bunnies, I would like to make jars of lemon marmalade to give as little gifts.

Normally, I am very strict with myself about not eating Hot Cross Buns before Easter. I can't decide if I am going to make my own or buy them this year, but we won't be eating them until Friday. But I did eat one of those Marks and Spencer's chocolatey ones today at work. It was a charity cake morning, and I really fancied one - they definitely don't taste like hot cross buns, but they are scrummy! Very squidgy, very chocolatey, very delicious! I wouldn't have them instead of hot cross buns, but would definitely buy them as well.

I would also like to crochet some little Easter Bunnys, and some owls, as posted about by the wonderful Lucy over at Attic24 - see this post: http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2013/03/the-owl-and-the-bunny.html I wonder what tomorrow will bring - will it be another 3-cup morning? I imagine that later in the morning will almost certainly see another of those chocolate cross buns being eaten!

A Soft Day, Wrapped In Mist and Rain

Tuesday this week was utterly, utterly glorious. The first taste of spring, and oh, how ready I was for it. Not that I thought it would last, it is too early in the month for pure unbridled spring, but I had hoped that it would flirt with us a little longer. It has though, got steadily cooler, and when I woke this morning and looked out of the kitchen window, everything was shrouded in mist. I like misty days, somehow everything feels muffled and gentle and just different. The mist had cleared by lunch time today, to be replaced first by a soft drizzle of rain, but it steadily increased to an insistent persistent downpour. We had book group this evening, and I sat drinking tea and discussing The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters, listening to the rain tapping against the conservatory roof. I wouldn't want too many days of so much rain, but today it just felt nice. I had a busy end to my week - I am on leave next week and wanted to leave everything in order before I left for the day. I didn't quite get there, I have some work that I will need to do tomorrow, but suddenly to have a whole week ahead of me - that feels nice. Expect some more frequent posts next week! I am thinking also of putting on one of those gadgets that gets you to authenticate before leaving a comment. I had 27 comments to moderate when I logged on just now - an unprecedented number, which told me something was up - but every last one was spam. Sigh!

First Stirrings of Spring

My St David's Day Daffodils are now as open as open can be, so pale and creamy, and pale and lemony, and abundantly ruffley! Even though it is evening now, and we have shut the evening out, they are a beautiful echo of the spring-like day we have enjoyed today.

When I stepped out to walk to work this morning, I was struck by how soft the air seemed. Slightly hazy, and cool enough to need a coat, but warm enough to leave off your gloves, and wriggle your fingers in the breeze.

Days like this make me so happy. I need to make time to walk through the park and look at the crocuses again. Next week, I have a week off work to look forward to. A little bit of time to sit and appreciate the spring.

Welcome, March!

I love March - February has it's snowdrops but it also has icy weather. March has daffodils and crocuses and amongst blustery chilly days can surprise you with sudden warmth and spring breezes. It sometimes has Easter in it, always has my birthday in it, and generally it is a month that makes me full of hope and green shoots of promise.

It also starts with St David's Day. I love marking Saints Days, and as I have Welsh heritage, St David's Day is a favourite. I bought a beautiful big bunch of daffodils for our windowsill, and sat them in a large cream jug to open. One of the things I love about daffodils is how they are always a surprise when they open. While they are tightly furled in their buds, you never know what colour you are going to get. I was hoping a little bit for the traditional bright gold for St David's Day, but was very pleased with the pale creamy outer petals and the pale lemony trumpets. I cooked Welsh lamb for our dinner, and had been planning to buy some Welsh Cakes for dessert, but alas the shop was sold out, and I was too tired to make any.

I spent yesterday morning with the lovely Apryl, who I used to work with at the library. We had both signed up to a free morning at our Adult Community Learning Centre to learn to repair and renovate clothes. There were ten of us altogether, and we started with the super basics - running stitch and backstitch - but then moved quickly on to some more interesting things. We learnt to sew a hem so that the stitches do not show, and a clever way of joining two pieces of fabric together, again hiding the stitches. We made buttonholes by hand, and then tried making them on the machine as well. We tried a few other things on the machine as well, and I came away feeling confident enough to try out my own sewing machine at last.

We walked back through the park, and I saw to my pleasure that the golden crocuses were starting to come out, on the bank the other side of the river. Around the war memorial, the grass was pricked with tiny patches of purple as the crocuses there started to flower.

We had our lunch at a new teashop, that used to be The Bookleaf Cafe. I do love a good teashop, and it had some pretty touches, but there was definitely something missing, slightly. The service was rather chaotic but the food was good, but it wasn't quite a proper tea shop, for all that it had flowery bunting and vintage china. I don't quite know how to put my finger on it.

That afternoon, I cut out the fabric for a red and white polka dotted dress. I chose the pattern because it was marked 'very easy' and had no elastic or zips to worry about, but laying out the pattern pieces and trying to remember which ones to lay out the right way up and which ones the wrong way up was more difficult than I hoped! I think it is one of those things that will get easier with practice, but I found myself checking and double checking everything several times. Then at last, time to wind up a bobbin with thread and get stitching. That proved a little easier said than done, but I now have most of it stitched - and found I really enjoyed making darts - hopefully I can finish it this week. I have enough fabric left that I am going to make a matching headband!

I hope by the time summer is here I am good enough at using the machine to be able to make lots of simple dresses in different patterned fabrics!

Wherever you are, I hope you are having a lovely Sunday evening
Love Mimi xxx