there is so much more to life than lemonade

When you don't have a smartphone or a facebook you often miss out on idling time away on activities such as looking at buzz feed. But living with a friend whose buzz feed is closer to holy than the devout catholic's bible feed, certain side product materialise themselves from time to time. Such as the now very long ago Ginpop Party. It was summertime. We had lemons. An article was read. An article was liked. An article served as inspiration for a trip to the big Sainsbury's to buy all the additional extra requirements for the funtime recipe. And lo and behold, there was gin with cucumber and ginger beer, gin with raspberries and elderflower cordial, gin with so many combinations of delicious frozen ingredients I can't even remember them all now.

portrait of a young lady

word: a single unit of written or spoken language

For somebody who always has such a lot of things to talk about I sometimes sit down and find I have absolutely nothing to say at all. Nothing work talking about that is, because I have heard it been said that empty vessels make the most noise and moments when I realise I'm a voice of the plebs are sad ones indeed.

We have pretty flowers in our kitchen, picked from the roadside on my walk home from the swimming pool. It is summer time and today the stairwell was as blue as the sky outside. By night the windowsill looks enchanting.

the season of abundance

The morning started with a pot of coffee. Then it became ironic that after finishing reading a book titled such as it was, I went on to have a glutinous afternoon. The abundance of strawberries in season has me in the kitchen all the time and it seems this has become a bit of a food blog. Today there was ice cream on the menu. So I cracked a good dozen eggs, made the custard, whizzed the fruit, blended the colours and put it in the freezer. But then what to do with all those egg whites left over? And the poor starving children in Africa? I cannot let food go to waste so why not save the food by making more food? Coconut macaroons and pavalova style meringues. I shall call my memoires 'A Life of Fulfilment'.

The summer keeps on giving

Make it. Have it. Eat it.

the smell of blue skies

is there anything more lovely than a sunday?

You say goodbye, I say hello

We call her P-owl-a

P A U L A

Her granny sends her care parcels from Berlin, the idea of which I adore. Since my childhood days immersed in the world of Enid Blyton I've wanted to be a boarder at a school where by day we play lacrosse and drink ginger beer and by night sneak to our tuck boxes and indulge in the hushed excitement of illicit midnight feasts. The concept of a care parcel, packed lovingly by somebody who holds you dear in their mind, is so touching. Paula's granny sends her special German goods the likes of non-perishable vegan spreads and herbal teas. As my 'goodbye and I'll miss you until after Easter' gift she presented me with a linen teabag whose tag held a positive keepnote reminding the drinker to stay strong and keep hope, the exact thing that is so true yet can be so quickly forgotten in the daily commotion of life. I walked past a chalkboard outside a cafe the other day; it said "Juices to energise you, tea to calm you down & coffee to keep you awake".

As a friend she does all three.

standing on a haystack