love those cupcakes

Birthday treats

The baby of the house turned 21 this week, a birthday which seems to be turning into one of the longest celebrations ever. Those significant birthday numbers (you know the ones) are marked here with a family holiday, the destination chosen by the birthday person.  The Boy has picked somewhere rather warm at this time of year so we've delayed going until September when we'll be travelling en famille, plus the Girlie's bf, for a week of fun.  The birthday cake is planned for next weekend, when the Girlie will be home again, and the day of the birthday itself was spent in London.

We had a very early start for the rail trip so the Boy thoughtfully (ahem) opened his cards and presents the day before.  As it turned out, we could have had an extra hour in bed due to a broken down train further up the track near Durham. Fortunately, the Girlie, who was meeting us in London, happily amused herself dodging the rain in various coffee shops and bars until we arrived.

First stop was the London Eye (re-scheduled from the train) and a welcome glass of Pimms served by a very charming member of the Eye staff.

Oh yes, the Meerkat (which you might remember from this post) insisted on coming with.

We had a tapas lunch here which was handy for popping into the Natural History Museum.

There was a stroll around Covent Garden......

....... and a coffee and cakes stop.

All in all, a great day out.  And no shopping.  Now that has to be a first.

Summer reading giveaway

I've mentioned in a couple of earlier posts the change in my reading habits, how I struggle these days to read more than a couple of pages at the end of the day and struggle even more to remember what the book was about when I eventually finish it. 

Reading in the summer months presents, I think, additional difficulties, particularly in relation to choice of books.  When days are warm and sunny and at their languorous best, I prefer novels with a similar setting.  I also want a relatively easy read, something that isn't going to be too taxing on the brain cells but then nothing too frivolous.  I avoid anything that looks as if it might make me cry (I don't need books to do that, I can turn on the waterworks at the drop of a hat these days) and, whilst thrillers are often a genre of choice, I don't tend to seek these out until the days turn cooler and the nights start drawing in.

My current bedtime book is so far ticking the summer read boxes.

It's set in Italy, the holiday destination of one extended family and various friends making for an interesting mix of Americans and Brits, adults and children, and providing a new take on A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

I'd also recommend these, a combination of newer reads and some old (and very old) friends:

 

Love and Summer by William Trevor

A Summer Birdcage by Margaret Drabble

The Last Guests of the Season by Sue Gee

The Golden Year by Elizabeth Falconer

Summertime by Rafaella Barker

 

Finally, The Otherwise Girl by Keith Claire, which I wrote about here.  I first read this one on a New Year's Eve but it's since become a favourite for summer.  Unfortunately, it's been out of print for years but I have an extra copy on the bookshelf.  So, if you'd like to have it, just leave a comment about your own favourite warm weather books.  I'll pull a name out of the hat on Sunday 1st August.

(P.S.  I'll add a few more goodies to the giveaway).

 

What's for lunch?

I'm not very adventurous with lunch and usually stick to the same old sandwiches (the current favourite is cottage cheese and Marmite) or hummus and salad.  I opted for the latter today and, finding a tin of butter beans  in the cupboard, decided to give this recipe, which I found via Jane's wonderful blog, a try.

It was delicious.  The rosemary gives a subtly different flavour and the freshly picked leaves and pea shoots (yes, readers, I actually grew something edible) provided a tasty garnish.

For the necessary sweet hit afterwards it was a quick dip into the cake tin for a little Belgian chocolate bun (chopped chocolate in the cake and the remainder melted on top).

Now, what shall we have for dinner?

Grand tea party update

(Illustration of the Mad Tea Party by John Tenniel)

 

Cakes, sandwiches, scones and biscuits were sold and eaten.

Tea was poured and sipped.

The weight of the beautifully iced fruit cake was estimated.

Raffle tickets were bought.

The soft toy Meerkat's (yes, from that TV advert) name was guessed.

£2150 was raised.

 

Between the four of us here, we scooped two bottles of wine, a bottle of champagne and a candle set in the raffle.

Oh yes, and the Gorgeous Girlie won the Meerkat.  His name?  Marmaduke.

 

Cupcakes for Eve

Last night was mostly spent in the kitchen, whipping up some sparkly cupcakes for a Giant Tea Party at work later today.  The event has been organised by some of our admin staff and is aimed at raising money for The Eve Appeal which was set up to fund groundbreaking research into gynaecological cancers.

This is a charity I'm very keen to support, not least because of my recent history, and anything which furthers the awareness, detection and treatment of women's cancers, and ultimately helps save women's lives, has to be a worthy cause.

Not everyone is aware of all of the gynaecological cancers (for instance, in my own case, two GPs didn't recognise the symptoms for what they were) and the Eve Appeal is addressing those gaps.

The Gorgeous Girlie is on her way from Manchester to add her support to the event which promises to be very successful (I'm told £1300 has been donated in advance).  And who could object to a Giant Tea Party on a blustery Friday afternoon?  Not me!

It's the way you tell 'em

  

In a couple of weeks the Boy here (on the right in the photograph) will be 21. 

Unbelievable.

There are lots of stories from the past 21 years but I'm reminded of a joke he made up when he was 6 which has become something of a family classic.

We were in a car, driving to somewhere in southern California.  The Boy was sitting in the back with his older sister, the Gorgeous Girlie, and clearly thought it was time for some in-car entertainment.

Boy:  Knock knock.

GG:   Who's there?

Boy:  Banana.

GG:   Banana who?

Boy:  Banana Jenkins.

This still makes me laugh.

A lot.

Even if the 6 year old Boy didn't quite get the essence of the "knock knock" format. (And where on earth did he get Jenkins from?)

You could try it out on someone.

Still not laughing?

OK.

Maybe you had to be there.

Delaying tactics

Not much time for fun stuff this weekend as there's a lot of work to get through so I thought I'd start the day with something different to get me motivated.

I decided on Hugh's eggy bread with strawberries.  Easy and delicious.

Breakfast eaten, pots washed and put away,  I can't put off the inevitable any longer. 

Time to open those Word documents.

Update 7 p.m.

Too hot.

Can't think. (Well, apart from things like ice cream, gin and tonic with tinkly  ice and lemon, what to cook for supper, which numbers might win the lottery tonight..........)

Lacking focus. (See above).

Documents exactly as they were this morning............unfinished.

Hmmm. 

Time for Plan B.

Going green(er)

I've never been one for the colour green and have always thought it was best left to the garden and countryside.  My dad wasn't a fan either though his dislike was linked to a belief that green was unlucky.  For instance, he would never have considered buying a green car. 

I did buy one.  It was a used Ford Escort estate, my third car and the colour was a sort of metallic British Racing Green, a re-spray job by the previous owner.  I used to park it in a car park over the road from where we lived at the time as we had no garage.  One morning, I went to get into it to go to work but it wasn't there.  The police found it later that day, unharmed and parked outside the house of the bloke who'd TWOC'd it.  Apparently, he just hadn't fancied the walk home after a night in the pub.

Looking around me, though, I've been surprised to find evidence of the once avoided colour in various places:

On the kitchen wall.

 

On the floor.

  

In my mug.

It's been creeping into my jewellery box.

 

Even finding its way onto my feet.

Teamed, of course, with that old favourite of mine, black.

Retro Sunday

Sunday tea in our house when I was growing up always included Something With Cream.  In the winter months, "the something" was usually a homemade fruit pie or, if there hadn't been time to bake, a tin of fruit (always on hand as we lived in a shop).  In the summer, "the something" might be strawberries, jelly and tinned fruit, or a fruit flan.  The latter was my favourite so, when I was in Sainsburys earlier this week and spotted a pile of ready made sponge flan bases, I popped one in the trolley along with a raspberry jelly (sugar free, it's much more tangy), planning to re-create an old favourite.

 

So here it is, waiting for its topping of whipped cream.  I simply arranged the fruit (including raspberries and blueberries which wouldn't have featured all those years ago), poured over the prepared jelly (in stages, not all at once) and left it to set in the fridge.  Of course, it has to be served on a suitably retro plate.  This one is Viners, circa 1970.

Nature study

 

This beauty has been a regular visitor to our garden pond over the last few days, coinciding very conveniently with the end of National Dragonfly Week.  It's significantly larger then the dragonflies we've spotted in previous years and I managed to take a quick snap as it briefly settled on a leaf in the weeping pear tree.

Of course, we weren't the only ones interested in the visitor.  Late afternoon yesterday, Bea, the now not-so-little tabby and resident fly catcher here, sauntered in from the garden with something vaguely familiar sticking out of her mouth.  After a chase around the house, she eventually released her prey.  The poor thing was still alive and we managed to return it to the garden where it flew away but who knows if it's survived.   Bea couldn't understand what all the fuss was about.  I'm still not speaking to her.