Knife Skills

Yesterday was a wonderful day. I went up to London to meet Alison and go to a knife skills class. She had organized this for me as my Christmas present. She and Sian came up from Brighton with Harry and we all met at Starbucks down the street from Divertimenti. This is a "to-die-for" kitchen shop where they have a teaching area on the bottom level. Sian was the star of the day because she looked after Harry between 11 and 3 while we were in the class. He had to come to London because of the breast feeding which happened immediately before the class and immediately after. In the interim Sian wheeled him around and shopped on Marylebone High Street which is a shoppers paradise. So much so that I bought a trendy cardy on my way to the class. That was because when I looked closely at the one I was wearing, it had dirt from the allotment on the sleeve and baby sick down the front. My wardrobe management these days seems to go from the sublime to the ridiculous. The class itself was excellent. She showed us how to keep an edge on the knife, then how to joint a chicken then we turned our attention to vegetables and finally fruit. One of the really super aspects was the lady who came around constantly to clear our work areas and wash our cutting boards. In between these activities, she assembled and cooked the food we were chopping into a wonderful meal which we ate at the end. Obviously these knife skills will require practice so I'm going out today to buy a lot of onions and carrots and I am going to recreate the meal on Tuesday when I have friends coming for dinner.

Three Little Gees

We went to Kenilworth yesterday to see the castle and visit my friend, Rona. We all loved the castle except Rosie who didn't seem to care one way or the other. I sat on a rampart with her and fed her baby mush while Rachel and the boys climbed to the top of the ruin. I wanted to see it as well so Adam agreed to lead me up there as long as we could have a race to the top. I have no problem letting him win. I would be hard pressed to keep up with him. We went to have lunch at Rona's and she gave us pasta and icecream and cake. As Charlie said on the way home, "I know she likes children because she had all the best food." We had a lovely day.

Little Cousins

Here is a picture of Rosie and Harry putting up with each other. Alison was here with him for a few days last week. We had a grand time but we always do.

My garden a few days later...

Snow had been forcast for Sunday but I didn't believe it until I woke up and pulled up the window shade. This is what I saw. In the early AM it was very beautiful with the sun shining and no footprints or mess. By lunch time that had changed and I even had to brush snow off my windscreen before I could drive to the farm. Fortunately, Zoe and I had done some allotment digging on Saturday. To be more accurate, Zoe did a lot of digging and I messed around with a pitchfork alternating between telling her that she is wonderful and telling her that she was giving me a pain where I didn't have a window. I left after an hour and a half digging but she stayed on (showoff!) I had to leave because I had an appointment with the facial reflexologist. Don't laugh. I'm quite serious. I lay down for an hour and she made her way round my face with her fingertips, checking the meridians. I had a lovely time except when she she pressed on my eye sockets. Later she explained that I am holding my stress in my kidneys and bladder and it shows up around the eyeballs. Who knew?? She then invited me to look in the mirror and tell her if I thought my eyebrows looked higher. Call me crazy but I decided that they were higher. We were both happy and I went home. I'm going back in a couple of weeks and she is going to do my feet.

These are pictures of my garden. It is at its best now and for the next two months. The magnolia is looking superb.

Pictures

My Will and my hearing and my ceiling

Okay, family members. I started the process yesterday of making my will. I went up to London and sat with a solicitor for an hour discussing what to do with my wealth! My suggestion was to change the will on a six monthly basis depending on who's nice to me. That includes you grandchildren as well so look lively. The babies are off the hook but the rest of you need to pay attention.

Next thing is that Colin turned up yesterday with his 'boys' to remove the ceiling in the back bedroom. I was off to London so I missed most of the noise and mess. When I got home at 6, I hurried upstairs and there it was - a lofty room. It really does feel larger with the low ceiling gone. He was going to be all clever and rustic with the roof beams but it turns out that they are made of a combination of wood which still has bark on it and old bits of lumber that look like they were left over from another job. So we (he) will plaster over them to make a vaulted but smooth ceiling. I was hoping for a little round window in the back wall to let in the morning light but there is a chimney breast in the way.

Today I had my hearing tested because I have trouble hearing in a group. She went through it all and announced that I don't need a hearing aid. I have to position myself for the best effect when I am in a room with a lot of people and I have to get a better telephone. No more news on the wardrobe front. I'm waiting for next week when Alison is here so I can have her advice on improving my 'look'.

Getting to Grips with Stuff

I decided that I could no longer go on with my haphazard system of filing and business affairs so I got out the book I like called, "Getting Things Done". It leads you through a system of organization which starts with gathering everything that relates to the task at hand. This is referred to as the "in" box. Here is a picture of my "in" box. I decided to see how long this process would take me so I set a clock. So far I have spent 2 hours collecting and 1 hour sorting. There are only three choices allowed; 1. action required 2. keep for reference 3. trash. Everything has to be taken from the "in" box in order, so as to avoid only doing the bits that you already know what to do with. If an action is required and it can be done in 2 minutes, do it. If it's going to take longer, put it in the action pile with an action note attached. It is not acceptable to write on the note, "this must be done sometime". I'm thinking that I will be at this all the weekend. Fortunately, Zoe is coming round in about half an hour. I can have a much needed drink. I also had my hair cut and coloured today so the self image repair job is progressing as well. After the haircut, I went over to see JoJo so she could approve my "look". I was wearing some of my new clothes so I got the thumbs up except for not having worn my belt. I haven't worn a belt in about 20 years so it's going to take some getting used to.

New Clothes

Sure enough, I let JoJo have a free hand (up to a point) and she has me decked out in layers, scarves, chunky necklaces, cami tops, dangly earrings and a belt. She showed me how to wear a belt slung low under my waist so it doesn't accentuate the thickness therein. Colour abounds in this collection although I did get her to agree to a pair of black trousers. After all, it's a wardrobe basic and these ones are linen so not my usual drawstring waist effort made of velour. As Alison asked in her comment, the large array of velour in my wardrobe has been culled. I still don't understand what's wrong with velour. It's cozy, that's all. Anyway, I'm bowing to the superior taste of my daughters and JoJo. The picture above shows a few of my new things.

Easter Sunday

I went down to the farm at about eleven in my good clothes and took Rosie for a walk so Rachel could do the lunch. We went to the railway station for a coffee(for me) and a biscotti(for Rosie). It was cold and windy on Port Meadow but we survived and brought home good appetites. Sunday lunch is Rachel’s tour de force and this was no exception. The leg of lamb was very tender and cooked to perfection along with roast potatoes, mucho vegetables and Yorkshire Pudding. I know it’s not traditional with lamb but we all love it so she makes it anyway. Then she had a typical British bread and butter pudding with cream and custard which was yummy. It being Easter, there was a profusion of chocolate to finish off with. We heaved ourselves up from the table and got ready for the Easter egg hunt. Charlie had hidden eggs for each child and wrote a clue for the hiding place for each egg. I helped Adam because he can’t read yet. After the eggs were found, we went inside and collapsed in the sitting room to watch TV and snooze. It was a wonderful Easter. I have a great family.