jaune

It has been a joyful holiday
although it started in an unpromising way
when we got tangled up with
the French air traffic controllers' strike.

Our holiday list was straight forward:
eat good food,
read lots of books,
drink rosé wine,
soak up the sunshine,
catch up on sleep.

We have achieved all of those things.
High-five us.

bleu

Bonjour!

 

Apologies for the extended absence...

le wifi, it was unreliable,

la gastronomie, it was copious,

l'esprit, it became idle.

Eating-outside-weather

I had a cooking frenzy this weekend.
It started with homemade tortilla
and then slid into a cascade of
perfectly marinaded meat,
delicious summer vegetables
and golden pan fried potatoes.
It was all very unusual,
I assune it was due to the weather.
MrM loyally ate everything without complaint,
down to the last mouthful of lemon posset.

Blogging may be a bit patchy this week,
things to do, people to see,
Back on track at the weekend
unless this cooking thing
is a chronic condition.

In the meantime go visiting!

Rachel parks the car
Jen tries to park the car
domestic novice climbs towers
Nurse Nancy has a new job
Lucille mingles with Swedish soldiers
Monica is flaunting her eggs
sweet baby Geneva is smiling

and we send best love to bb and K
as they recover from their accident.

Right,
must dash,
Happy Monday everyone.

Behold! The Queen of Sheba

MrsM finds the Visiting Cat snuggled up with MissM
in a cushion throne on the sofa in the summer house.

MissM says that the Cat is only sitting there
to set off the rustic ambience of the decor.
The cat yawns politely and goes back to sleep.

what the commuter saw

APRIL, MAY, JUNE

A selection of photos for you
from my walks to and from work.

London at the start of summer.

10 June
Hawk patrol, Trafalgar Square

28 April
Trafalgar Square (before the crowds arrive)

30 April
Queue for the bus, Trafalgar Square, Tube Strike day

22 May
Piccadilly Arcade, early morning

22 May
Athenaeum Club, Waterloo Place

(Linnet in Oriel - this one is for you!)

22 May
Platform 20, Waterloo Station

4 June
Piccadilly Circus

12 June
Orange capsule, London Eye

19 May
Waterloo Bridge

MrM tells me that 'enjoy' is a transitive verb
and that I must not use it as an imperative.
Whatever.

In which we eat tapas

MrM and MrsM have had a demanding evening looking at Viking boats, swords and skulls in the British Musuem and they are very hungry. They decide to treat themselves to a couple of bowls of tapas in their favourite tapas restaurant, El Parador but when they arrive at the restaurant they look at the menu and try to decide how many bowls they can eat without being thrown out for gluttony. And then they order one more for luck.

There is velvety alioli with coarse bread, charred green pimientos glistening with salt, briny samphire with shaved artichokes and chickpeas. MrsM passionatelyl oves boquerones but she knows that it is against the unspoken rules to order the same thing twice so she bravely goes for calamares in a batter as light as a whisper. MrM chooses pan-fried chicken livers which melt in the mouth and king prawns in a fiery mixture of ginger and turmeric. When the bowls arrive at the table MrM and MrsM throw themselves on the food with a fierce intensity.

After a brief pause for the sake of her digestion and to maintain a fiction of restraint MrsM has the most delicious flan de naranja, a cream flavoured with smoky caramelised oranges. It is like eating clotted cream and marmalade.

There will now be a period of abstinence to ensure that the relationship between waist and skirt returns to normal but it was so worth it.  

MrsM, domestic failure

Dido goes shopping in Waitrose

I want to tell you that this weekend
has been a tranquil experience,
creating a harmonious space
for my beloved and grateful family.
that I have drifted through sunlit rooms,
at all times present in the moment.

But it has not been like that.
Not at all.

It feels as though I have spent
the entire weekend buying stuff,
carrying stuff, unpacking stuff,
stuffing stuff into my stuffed house.
And although I bought a wagon load of food
somehow there was nothing to eat for lunch.
I've lost my domestic rhythm somewhere.
I hope it has not gone forever.
Let me know if you find it.

Meanwhile

...Mwanza, near the Equator,
MasterM is messaging his parents...

MasterM
Just so you know,
I have come up to Lake Victoria.
My mate had a return ticket
that he couldn't use so I took it.
In Mwanza now.
I have a first class sleeper cabin
tonight across the lake.
Should be an experience!!

MrsM to MrM
Where even is Lake Victoria?

MrM to MrsM
DO NOT GOOGLE IT

but MrsM does...
and spends the rest of the evening
thinking about life jackets and crocodiles.
It's not easy being the mother of MasterM.

The Jolly Girls' Outing

HelenandCarolineandJaneandme
had another day out at the
Chelsea Physic Garden!
It was the most beautiful sunny day
and there were irresistible vistas at every turn.

This time our outing was strictly educational
and we were very focused on our primary objective
which was lunch in the wonderful cafe.

People, if you live in or near London
eat at the Chelsea Physic Garden. Just do it.

Think beautiful salads and eye-popping cakes
served on scrubbed pine tables
decorated with red treacle tins filled with paeonies.

We were so committed that we sat down immediately
and waited until lunchtime, filling the time
with educational commentary and analysis of
the fashion for orange nail polish and suchlike.

After lunch we wandered around
and Jane, who is a serious gardener, advised us all
and Helen listened intently because she has a new garden.

I got a bit distracted by a shameless magpie
who decided to have a bath right next to me.
and Caroline became obsessed with the huge cat
who lives on the garden compost heap.

All in all it was another fab day out
and I am so grateful to have a group of friends
who share my passions for roses, cake and nail polish.

Things you need to know

If there is a fire alarm
we have to gather under
the Duke of York's column.
I'm not bragging but
my Fire Assembly Point is bigger
than your Fire Assembly Point.
Yes?

*****

At the base of this column there is a tiny grave stone for Giro the alsatian who died in 1934. Giro was the much loved companion of the German ambassador Herr L. von Hoesch in 8-9 Carlton House Terrace, now home of the Royal Society, which housed the German Embassy before the war. The ambassador himself died two years later and his funeral cortege was awarded full military honours as it travelled through London en route to Dover. If you watch this YouTube clip you will see the procession go down the steps in my photograph with the coffin covered by the Nazi flag.

*****

Thank you for all your comments recently,
I wanted to hug every single one of you
for the smiles you have left in my comment box
but I have been fully engaged cooking for MasterM.
He is now back in Tanzania being looked after by
Rafiki the Cook and VeryNice the Housekeeper,
I hope that they don't spoil him.

A particular welcome to Barb and Laura from Virginia,
such generous and unexpected comments!
Squeeze up everyone, make room on the sofa.

Thanks to sweet Paola who comments every day
and leaves sunshine from Positano behind.
I think I owe you a paeony, Paola,
I'm working on it.

*****