The Iron Age

The Ironing Maid
Thomas Harrington Wilson

You might think that
with so much time at my disposal
the ironing basket would be empty.
You would be wrong.

Turns out I have an attitude problem.

I am trying to address this
by downloading audiobooks.
28 hours of Anthony Trollope
seems suitable punishment .

flowers in the rain

On Saturday afternoon
we walked around the corner
and found shoes with flowers.

There was a desk too,
and a wind-up gramophone
playing inexplicably awful music.

What did it symbolise?
I have no idea
but it made me smile.

I hope that you too find
something unexpected today
to make you smile.

Apricot Roses

A fabulous gift

from dear friends

catching the late afternoon sun.

running in the rain

Don't think for a moment
that it is always sunny. Or dry.

Today it was cold and wet.
I saw hedgerows vanishing in mist,
a stag bellowing in the rain,
a hawk hovering in a grey sky,
road menders enveloped in steam.

I thought about making choices.
For me, today, it was running in the rain
and if I keep on being brave
one day it will be easier. Perhaps.

Pears in Red Wine

The pears, they are poached.
And very good they are too
served with Chantilly cream.

I only poach pears once a year
but it wasn't for the fact
that I still haven't made
my famous autumn plum crumble
I would definitely do them again.

I might anyway.
Some rules are just silly.

Here is a recipe similar to mine
but I use slices of orange instead of vanilla.
I also cut my pears in half,
lay them flat in the saucepan,
and turn them over half way through
because it uses less wine.
I'm mean like that.

orange : yellow : orange

I checked my list of autumn stuff
and realised that I needed to get a move on.
Photograph dahlias? Check.

Poached pears for supper tomorrow
and I'm checking chutney recipes.
All this good woman stuff is very exhausting.

For some obscure reason item #10 is
"Wear a bobble hat"
I'm thinking MrM needs to step up for that one.

Red ... and White

Vogue
February 1958
Richard Rutledge

*****

I'm on the sofa
wrapped up in my Galway blanket
so I'm very busy
but I think we can have a chat.
If it's quick.

1.
I'm on the sofa resting
because I have taken up running again.
That ListWriter, she's very inspirational.

2.
So much wind on my run today.
And autumn leaves and berries etc
Also rutting stags.
At least I can run away from them now.

3.
Thank you for all the Apple Cake recipes.
No, really...thank you.
By the time we have eaten all of those cakes
we will never want to eat Apple Cake again.
One less thing to do next year.

4.
Our window cleaner is called Mr Sparkles.
(this may not be his real name)
and he enjoys a chat to a captive audience.
I had to bribe him with cake to go away.

5.
I have just cast on Jenny's Christmas present.
Sorry, no sneaky peeks.

6.
In not unrelated news
I am breaking out the box set of "Pride & Prejudice".
Apparently Colin Firth was supposed to be naked.
I think I need to remind myself.

7.
I bumped into a friend of MissM today
whom I have known since she was two.
She is now a fully qualified nurse.
Another reason to lie down.

8.
We are having strawberry tarts tonight.
I know they are out of season
but they were on special offer.
Also, running. See above.

9.
Parenthetical Discourse:
Audrey will not allow red and white flowers
because she says they are unlucky
and remind her of blood and bandages.

10.
I have created a Pinterest account.
I find it totally absorbing:
hours and hours of eye candy.
What's not to like?

11.
My favourite pin so far
is this Vogue photo
by Richard Rutledge.
It makes my heart sing.

12.
You can go now.
But only if you take a slice of apple cake.

Autumn Apple Cake

In my head there is an ideal Apple Cake.
I can't describe what it looks like
but I will know when I taste it.
I am committed to finding this Apple Cake
which means a lot of baking and tasting.

I don't remember eating apple cake as a child.
My mother makes the most wonderful apple pie
but I don't think she made apple cake.
Did I read about it somewhere
"Little Grey Rabbit" or "Anne of Green Gables"?

This recipe is Mary Cadogan's Apple Cake
via another Mrs M : The Domestic Novice.
Do you know her blog? Go and visit, people,
she is renovating the sweetest cottage.

It is a wholesome autumn recipe,
the sort of cake you might eat at the allotment.
You couldn't feel guilty eating this...
even if you had another slice.
I wasn't sure about using the china plate...
it is a greaseproof-paper kind of cake.

It is moist, spicy and very delicious
especially the demerara sugar topping
but it is not The Cake of my dreams.
I'll have to keep trying.

at the end of the day

It is only a small kitchen
but I love it very much.

I love it most of all
at the end of the day

when the house is quiet
and everything is packed away

and I can sit for a while
in my new-to-me chair
that I bought for £40.
The man said I had a bargain.

It feels as though
it has always been there.

View from a Turkish Tent

We spent the afternoon in Painshill Park,
wandering from Gothic temple to Crystal grotto
and then on to the extravagant Turkish tent.
The Grand Tour compressed into three hours.

The last time I came here was a school trip
with a tiny MasterM and his friends
and I was afraid it would make me sad
but I could only hear excited little boys
running across the Chinese Bridge.
It was a memory to make us smile.

We climbed to the top of the tower
and looked out across green landscape,
Canary Wharf was somewhere on the hazy horizon
but we could only guess which direction.

It was a peaceful afternoon
at the start of autumn.
Just MrM and I.

I bought a card in the gift shop
illustrated with the Iris Murdoch quotation:
"You can only learn to love by loving".
A lifetime compressed into eight words.