Celia’s Purple Podded Peas blog birthday – 5 years old today!
To write a blog for five years is something to be applauded. But to create a blog as inspirational and well written as Celia’s Purple Podded Peas blog takes true talent. “I keep on thinking about what I would have done with all that time if I hadn’t been writing my blog,” mused Celia, “but then I wouldn’t have met other bloggers, or been discovered by galleries and so much more.” Blogging is a social activity. In most cases it’s a celebration of being human in its broadest sense. Celia combines a wide range of activities and...
read moreThank you for your comments. And a bit of silly bath time fun with the Frothing Sea Monster trick!
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. Lots of really useful information and food for thought. In fact I reckon that the comments are far more valuable than the post! Danny informed me last night that he doesn’t want to grapple with a black shower bag and hand pumped sprayer. He’d rather stay dirty or boil a kettle and have a strip wash. Do you remember strip washes? We used to have these at boarding school in between bath nights. So an efficient shower that heats only the water that’s needed is now on...
read moreI need my comfort food
Years ago Seraphina and I used to go to Greece for a few weeks in the summer. Back then it was virtually undiscovered and extremely cheap – particularly on the islands that were furthest away from the mainland. I loved Greece, in all its glories. I even enjoyed drinking retzina. The one drawback, for me was the food. I’ve never been keen on baked vegetables and sometimes ate meals with unusual and mystery ingredients. One evening there was much jubilation at our favourite local restaurant. Something had been slaughtered on the island...
read moreThe cheese that led me astray
I never thought that I would be seduced by a cheese. But I’ve had to come upstairs as sitting in the kitchen is driving me nuts. Our friends Jocelyn and Miles have just come back from France and dropped off a large slab of Brie de Meaux at the cottage. Brie de Meaux doesn’t travel very well and has to be eaten quickly before the flavour neutralises. I’ve searched for Brie de Meaux in England but when I’ve found one it’s not a patch on the fresh stuff, chauffeured lovingly straight from France in a private car. In the knowledge...
read moreNew Min Pin Dogblog Post
Swept up in the rush for Christmas. Why do I always leave things to the last minute? Dr Quito has saved the day and magically lifted a paw and written a new Min Pin Dogblog post. And I thought that he was snoozing beside the wood burning stove all day. He must have crept upstairs when I tramped through the snow to the Post Office. Min Pins are mysterious and sometimes amazing creatures…. Despite repeated questioning Inca still refuses to reveal the truth.
read moreExamine your tools carefully before you proceed
Years ago Seraphina and I visited Hampton Court. A day trip – as we were living in London at the time. We decided to hire a traditional rowing boat and swish up and down the river. Being a wooden toymaker at the time I had the strongest arms so was assigned to the rowing. We climbed gingerly into the boat and I took the oars. It was incredibly hard work. We got a lot of strange looks which we struggled to understand. It was only when I was turning the boat at the debarkation point – doing a sort of nautical three point turn – that I...
read moreClear and clean up
I’m exhausted. Our messy cottage had turned into a series of piles with a warren of little passages that led to the bathroom, bedrooms and kitchen. So many things had been lost. The avalanches were a daily hazard. It was depressing and somewhat akin to a bijou cottage version of Miss Havisham’s house in Dicken’s Great Expectations. Something had to be done. And when my friend Jean offered to help, I jumped at the chance and wondered whether the friendship would survive such a choppy and shark infested sea. Jean’s mantra is “Put...
read moreMess
I’m not one of those people who were born to clean and tidy. When I was asked to clear up my bedroom as a child I would pretend that I was the maid of the spoilt princess who lived there. By turning things around this way, the task became much more fun and I would ohh and ahh over her slovenly ways. Today it is raining and I have decided that Princess Fiona needs to employ her maid once again. The kitchen is in an uproar and the larder needs a good spring clean. In fact if anyone dropped by I’d be too embarrassed to let them in....
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