love those cupcakes

Recovering

Thanks so much for your well wishes.   Still not firing on all cylinders (that was some bug the Boy brought home), I've continued to be housebound apart from a (makeup free because of the eye infection, quelle horreur) dash to the shop followed by a quick visit to check on Aunty M. at the weekend  

Of course, this means I've had no excuses for putting off the consultancy work I committed myself to and I think it's fair to say some progress has been made.   The laptop breaking down the other day and being carted off to laptop hospital might have been reason enough for doing nothing but, no,  I have a back-up machine so have been able to plod valiantly on. 

At other times I've been watching this, admiring the flowers on the only bulb I planted last year

 

and enjoying my first (free) snack box from here.

Can it get any more exciting?

Lately I've been......

.....enjoying the last of the granola I made (adapted from this recipe) between Christmas and New Year.

.....trying to motivate myself to crack on with the consultancy work I've taken on so that I can get paid.  But there are so many distractions.......

.....catching up on series 2 of this.  Having learned that a third series is being filmed, I've just one thing to say to the producers.  Tak.

.....baking Roman style ("crusty, crumpety") spelt bread, using the very straightforward recipe on the back of the flour bag.

.....watching this, one of my Christmas presents.  Very different from the usual "wagons, roll!" Western, and with minimal dialogue, this film is about the struggle of three families travelling the Oregon trail in 1845.  It's bleak, it's grim, it's powerful.  It's going to leave you feeling very thirsty (and possibly wishing for a different ending) if you watch it.

.....marvelling at someone's efforts to get at the catnip.  Just look at that tongue!

.....listening to this, another Christmas present.  I love it.  You can get a taste here.

.....booking a (planes, boat, train) holiday.  More on that later.

May treats

Soft boiled egg and home baked bread soldiers to dip in.  I don't often have this  but sometimes it just hits the spot when a change from breakfast muesli is required.

A vegetarian recipe book.  Menus here have become a tad predictable and need a shake up.

A new lippy.  My desert island essential, can't-do-without makeup item.  I buy lots though I'm not particularly brand loyal.  This one is a sort of beigey pink colour, lighter than the photograph suggests.

 

Something to watch. We somehow missed this when it was on the telly recently.

Something to wear. A new favourite. 

A week's holiday in Northumberland.  With the Mister.  And the Boo.

Back soon.

One to visit

Having our own place in Spain provides a handy jumping-off point to explore the country  and this time we travelled north to spend a few days in Valencia, Spain's third city.  We stayed in a village which was just a half hour or so train journey from the centre.  Valencia itself is a city of contrasts, a wonderful mix of ancient and modern.   Our visit started at the railway station (Estación del Norte), a well maintained example of modernisme, the Spanish version of Art Nouveau.

  

 The cathedral was well worth spending some time in, not least because it is home to a chalice which, so it's claimed, is the Holy Grail.

 

 

 

The spectacular City of Arts and Sciences includes an opera house and performing arts centre, a science museum, IMAX cinema, planetarium and oceanographic park.

 

 

 

After a fair bit of sightseeing it was good to get back to our little casa for some welcome R&R.

I read all of the books I'd packed (Stone's Fall, In the Woods, The Birth of Venus and The Snowman) and caught up on Season Three of the fabulous Mad Men series, accompanied (of course) by some very quaffable red stuff.

My week

Work stuff has pretty much taken over this week (I'm the world's worst at planning which hasn't helped) but at least there's been time for:

• watching the last episode of Luther
  

• buying a couple of books
  

• sweeping the seemingly endless piles of dead leaves (in June?) from the eucalyptus in the garden

• hanging out with the littlest one here who was finding it hard to stay awake

• eating strawberries and cream.  With cake, of course. 

 

This wasn't today's breakfast but it oh so easily could have been.

Plot well and truly lost

Did anyone watch the series finale of Lost?  The Boy here has been a fan since the very first episode which is the only one I'd seen.  I caught the last bit of the final episode when he watched it a second time earlier today and, would you believe it, I cried.  Like a baby.   I didn't have a clue what was going on or who was who but I think the music got to me.  Oh, and the dog. 

I'm sure it's an ageing thing and that I'm not the only one who's reduced to tears all too easily.  The Boy reminded me that I cried when Carol Vorderman left Countdown.  And I can't stand the woman.  Barmy or what?