Sunday 9 March 2014

This weekend, I have been mostly.... (*)

Cross-stitching. A newly discovered thrill. More on this to come, at a later date.

Enjoying tea and cake (a Coventry God cake, in honour of the city I grew up in) in the glorious sunshine.

 Admiring tulip-y wonderfulness, for the princely sum of £2.

Immersing myself in a stack of new books, after a trip to my favourite bookshop AND all my reservations landing at once, at the library.
It's been a quiet, but a wonderful weekend.

(* Do you remember Mark Thomas on "The Fast Show"? Each episode he would emerge from his shed, wellies and all, to announce what he had been doing/eating/saying etc. that week. My favourite, which still makes me chortle to this day was, "This week, I have been mostly wearing.... Issey Miyake.")
(Incidentally, we saw Mark Thomas browsing in a second-hand bookshop in Chipping Campden last summer.  Despite our intention to leave him alone, he made the effort to smile and say hello to a clearly starstruck ("It's Arthur Weasley!") Beautiful Girl. Which I thought was very sweet of him.

Sunday 2 March 2014

February's Cake of the Month

This month I baked a classic chocolate cake. This is my fail-safe, go-to cake for birthdays, afternoon teas and visitors. I use the method whereby I weigh 4 eggs in their shells, then use an equal amount of butter, sugar and flour (replacing 25-30g of flour with cocoa powder). I think I got the idea from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, although I'm sure it's a pretty standard way of doing things. As I made the cake around St. Valentine's Day I prettied it up with some sugar hearts.
Speaking of Valentine's Day, here is my Valentine's mantle. The Beautiful Girl made us a message out of Lego. 
And, finally, my Valentine roses, looking slightly past their best here. Of course, it shouldn't matter at all that they were delivered to work. But it secretly does.
I seem to have lost my blogging voice this month. I am hoping that Spring will bring a renewed sense of energy and purpose. But while I am waiting for it I will retreat to my fireside, with my teapot at my side for some quiet stitching time.