My friend Mard

My friend Mardi, (she of the recent wedding in Oz), is a very talented photographer. Look at these recent beauties...I love this heart shaped leaf.

Skylark in West Harling

This morning on our operation Buns-O-steel bike ride I managed to catch the skylark that sings every morning as we ride by. There is one on either side of the road and they compete with one another as to how long & loud they can sing. It's such a glorious sound. Turn up your volume to hear it.

Spring has sprung

Today was the most beautiful spring day here. We decided to go to one of our favourite spots, Lopham Fen. After a slight detour of about 2 miles, I gave the camera to Ricardo and look what he came up with.....

Mmmmmmm Pav

Last night we had Clarissa and her Mum Annette and baby Zebedee over for dinner. I made curry Laksa, it was delicious but no photos I'm afraid. Here's a recipe though.
As a tribute to Australia and the Australian cook book that Annette had given us, Clarissa made a Pavlova topped with pomegranate seeds and raspberries. It was a whiz bang smash hit.
Fortunately there was some left over so I had to have it for breakfast. YUM

Morning ride

Yes, operation 'Buns-o-steel' is back in full swing. If I didn't have my buddy Carryl to do it with, there would be no way I'd get up at 6.30 to step out into a thick frost and cycle until my fingers were numb. It's always worth it though. For the fresh air, the hilarious non stop chat and sometimes for magical moments like these....

Nice niece seen in northern hemishere..

My niece Lena is one of my most favourite people in the whole world. An amazing sportswoman with a brilliant sense of humour. At the moment at the tender age of 18, she is travelling the world with her volleyball team. Here are a couple of photos of her for you. It's very rare to see Lena in anything but a pair of shorts and tee shirt so she sent this to us to reassure us that yes she had heeded our advice & was wearing long pants... I'd forgotten how exotic red phone booths are for other people
She may come & stay with us for a while, I'm trying not to put too much pressure on her....but if she doesn't, this is what we'll do to her.

Surfer Dude

Here for your entertainment also is Zebedee the surf Dude. He's not really THIS small it's just Netty & Ben are gigantically tall.
Watch out for Venus on the half shell...
The perfect practice pad...look Mum this is where the shark got me.

Tap frenzy

Just a little something to keep ypu entertained.

Market research in London

We took a day off on Thursday to go & visit the sights of London. (Well we could really call it market research I suppose).
I've wanted to visit the ecclesiastical suppliers Watts and Co for ages. It's right behind Westminster Abbey. They have been making Church vestments and furnishings for more than 130 years. I was not disappointed. There were Chasubles and Copes thick with gold embroidery, stoles and surplices, candles in all sizes and behind glass, Bishops rings with whopping huge amethysts and a magnificent Monstrance. Heaven on a stick for me really.
A Mr Cook came out to serve me with a tape measure round his neck, he'd worked there as the Cassock maker for 26 years. When he realised I wasn't just some tourist he warmed up a bit and told me about the rigours of Cassock making as well as helping me source some silk Damask that I've been trying to find in the right shade of blue. A mere £127 per metre! Bargain. I bought a great book on Church embroidery.
After Watts we walked through St James park where the crocuses are sprouting. The squirrels there are so tame that they come right up to you & put their little paws up to ask for nuts.
Past Buck palace (no corgis seen). Don't you just love a golden winged statue.
Then on to my favourite place in London, can you guess where it is from this photo of inside the toilets?Yes it's the V & A museum. More market research in the textile rooms looking at embroideries from the 15th century onward. They're all mounted in small glass frames which slide out with a handle on one side. It's not a very popular spot as the frames are awkward to handle and so we had the huge long room to ourselves for ages. Calling out to one another as we found more & more amazing specimens. The one I liked best was a piece from an altar cloth from the 1920's of swallows flying with garlands of blossom in their beaks between them, trellises beside them were covered with Pussy willow & Catkins and beside these were huge yellow iris and lilies. It was all so tenderly and perfectly done. Tall stems are incredibly hard to do in embroidery as the stitches have to go horizontally to the long vertical stem and your eye picks up any divergence.
After feasting our eyes it was time to make our way out.
It was so hard to walk quickly through the new jewellery section though. It's low ceilinged & painted glossy black with clear glass cases zig zagging through the room, spot lights pick out the jewels and the whole place sparkles. Here's a picture from the V & A website of the staircase which we didn't have time to go up... And here some pictures of the jewels to make your mouth water...
A diamond and saphire tiara designed by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria
WOW.
Then it It was time to meet up with Richard's friend Rose, who was in London with her gorgeous daughter Abbie for a flying visit to find distributors for her organic make up business 'Zuii'. Rose is a stunner and a great advertisement for Zuii. She had great stories about her pet black cockatoo that used to have a diamante glued onto it's beak, the same cockatoo that had to have liposuction on it's legs as it had been eating too many sunflower seeds..... the same pet that poor Abbie used to have to arm herself with a rolled up newspaper to walk through the house against from a young age.

More talent

Boy I do have some very talented friends.
Look at these absolutely beautiful tumblers made by my friend Sheila McDonald. More Do-ray-me needed. Better go & get that lottery ticket now.

What's going on here?

There may not be sunshine or sisters but there are snowdrops out... and roast duck with poached pears, bock choy & baby new potatoes (don't take any notice of the one that got away).