Monday 27 May 2013

Lulu, Mrs Armitage and Darcey Bussell


Just outside of the back door is a little step.  It's the place I sit when the sun is shining and I am sneaking a quiet moment or two while the tea cooks or after I finish clearing up from lunch.  Sometimes I flick through a book, sometimes I just close my eyes and enjoy the sun or watch bees on the blueberry bush.  This week I found Sarah Raven's "Food for Friends and Family" at our local library.  It's a fantastic book, with dozens of recipes for each of the four seasons.  I had asparagus in the fridge from the allotment, so I sat on my step and found a recipe for asparagus tart.


I adapted it slightly, using less fancy cheese and mustard, but it was lovely.   There was rhubarb too, and I know the recipe for crumble off by heart.


I do so love the first foods of spring.


It's been a lovely few days.  On Friday I watched three boys run a total of eighty times round their school field in aid of a cancer charity.  The rain held off, just, until it was time to leave and then the heavens opened.  This is the view of the local church from the school field, just over the road.  It's a very special, beautiful place, and I regularly think how lucky we are to live here.


This is Lulu, one of our two guinea piggies.  The other one is Mrs Armitage - fans of the wonderful Quentin Blake may recognise the names from his fantastic book, "Mrs Armitage Queen of the Road".   Lulu and Mrs Armitage have been in their run on the (very sparse) lawn enjoying the outdoors and whatever grass they can find.  It is telling that there is thicker grass in some of the vegetable plots at the allotment than there is in the lawn at home.

On the subject of pets, we had a bit of a hamster drama yesterday.  The middle boy has a little hamster of his very own, called (ironically enough, as you will see) Nibbles.  In a careless moment he allowed himself to be bitten, hard, and sat on the sofa squeaking (boy not hamster) while blood ran off of his finger onto the beige carpet and Nibbles headed for freedom.  Sigh.  Salt was sprinkled (carpet), water was dabbed (boy and carpet) and an Iron Man plaster administered.  I am very cautious when feeding Nibbles now in case he's developed a taste for human flesh.


I'm off to a little anniversary-type do for OH's relatives tomorrow.  I chose a lovely David Austin rose as a gift which I hope they'll like.  It's Darcey Bussell and she is red, smells fruity and divine and will make a nice bush apparently.  I gussied her up with a bit of tissue paper and a (handmade-by-me) label and some ribbons.


Hopefully she will be well received; I know I would like her in my garden.


I'm looking forward to the rest of the half term break.  We spent a happy afternoon at the local park yesterday, which is a fantastic big space with a paddling pool that the boys love.  They did go in, but it was cold, cold, cold, so it was only a ten-minute dip.  I'm hoping for more sunshine, but I think there may be rain ahead.  Above is a picture of the clouds above "our" river, taken from the top room.  Typical of May weather I think.  Hope you all have a great week.

10 comments:

  1. A most enjoyable read and good photos. The tart and crumble both look delicious.
    Whenever any of our pets bit me my mum would always say that was just their way way of showing affection!
    That looks to be a lovely rose, which I'm sure will be much appreciated.
    Enjoy the week. Flighty xx

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    1. Thank you Flighty, so glad you found it enjoyable. How sweet of your mum to say that; I shall try it next time!

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  2. Enjoy your 1/2 term break. Pouring with rain here, sadly :( The tart and crumble (my favourite!) look very yummy! The rose is lovely - I'm sure it'll be well received. Abby x

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    1. We've had plenty of rain here too unfortunately, although the garden and plot did need a bit of water, so I was saved a job.

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  3. The asparagus tart looks delicious, and of course it must be finished off with rhubarb crumble at this time of year. What a little cutie Lulu is. We used to have two piggies, Pikachu and Po (Pokemon and Teletubbies were my kid's favourite programmes at the time), they're such friendly little animals. I miss their squeaks asking for lunch. We've got two rabbits now and they're characters too.

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    1. You're right, guinea pigs are friendly and very squeaky. I really think they're the ideal first pets. The hamster is very sweet, but very nocturnal. We wake him up at 6.45pm, then he has another little nap, and he properly gets up at about 9pm.

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  4. Your resting spot sounds lovely and that tart looks delicious. I've never made anything like that. After seeing your picture, I'm definitely more interested in trying! Glad the rain held off for the boy's run!

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    1. Thanks Devon. That spot is my sanctuary when the sun is shining.

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  5. The tart and crumble look yummy! I can't wait until we can start eating things from the allotment!!

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  6. Cute little guinea pig and gorgeous photos

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