Almost Happy Easter!!!

It's been a bit manic this last week. The list of chores (some still not finished) is seemingly endless and my Dad is coming for a visit and a curry today so there was some seriously domestic stuff to be done! Until the day before yesterday the house looked like a tip. I'd had a particularly bad start to the day and took out my negative energy on the piles of clutter and the hoover. By yesterday afternoon it looked much more homely and the last few flowers from my Mothers' Day bouquet have revived and are in a smaller vase in the kitchen.

Monday and Tuesday I launched an attack on the allotment - ready for planting potatoes next week. There are two beds that we've designated as potato beds and they both needed a good weed. I hadn't quite banked on the extensive couch grass root system, which must have added a good hour to the job, but now they both look very pukka. Only three more beds to do!!! The seed potatoes are as ready as they'll ever be - we have quite an eclectic mix to go in this year! I found some Edzell Blue in a local garden centre and thought I'd give them a go and I have Roosters, Epicure and Cara as well as the seeds from last year's Pink Fir Apple and Desiree crop. WE had Charlotte's and Maris Peer last year too, but I much prefer Pink Fir Apple anyway (which cheerfully grow like stink on our land) and the Maris Peer were so small I'm not sure they're worth the effort! For some reason, red-skinned and red-eyed potatoes seem to like that location. Weird, eh? It's lovely being down there and time just whizzes by. It's usually very peaceful apart from the occasional train and a barking dog and I get this odd sense of disconnection from the world as I emerge, blinking into the 21st century.

Yesterday I baked the Simnel Cake. For the first time (that I can remember) I mucked it up!! It looks quite pretty now, but it was no mean feat getting it to that stage. For some reason the damn thing took over four hours to bake and then, as I removed the tin and the baking parchment, it cracked in two across the middle and sagged hideously around it's girth. Saffie and I worked quickly to strap it together with clingfilm and I let it cool overnight in it's supported state. It still has a slight bulge below the marzipan filling, but clever draping of the top marzipan layer and the traditional yellow ribbon have disguised it well. I haven't cut it and no one has tasted it yet, but the crumbs seemed to pass muster with Saffie so fingers crossed!!

Lastly, I would have liked to have got the garden looking all spiffy for may Dad's arrival, but the weather is being contrary and no sooner do I grab my garden shoes it starts to rain again!! The garden looks OK, but there are still a few odds and ends that I'd be happier with if they were tidied away. It's not actually raining at the moment so I might just nip outside...

Hello again!! Sorry it's been SUCH a long time. I honestly don't know how it happened! One minute it was Christmas and I barely had time to go to the loo, never mind updating the blog!! Then out of the blue (after three months of freezing cold weather) it's Spring and everything is suddenly on the up: temperatures, bulbs and libidos!! I can only assume that the winter weather froze my creative juices and hopefully this (and my crafty stuff) will become a more regular event again - maybe not a daily one, but certainly a little more often than recently!!!

The other factor is the somewhat dire lack of home baking going on here. In a desperate effort to shift the rather too many pounds I've been carting around with me I decided not to eat anymore cake or similar goodies for the whole of Lent and some! It has to be said that it's not all vanity. I do need to shift a couple of stones for the sake of me 'elf though, ironically, my hips STILL hurt like crazy after the unlamented loss of a whole 17 pounds!!

But Easter will soon be here and with it the joy of baking lots and eating the odd treat here and there! As I write the fruit for the Simnel Cake is soaking in Grand Marnier and I plan to bake it next week. My Dad's coming next weekend and LOVES fruit cake so we'll just have some a little earlier. I don't think anyone will miss it at Easter itself as NONE of the kids will eat fruit cake! I'm almost congratulating myself on the fact that I've made it to the allotment a few times already and it actually looks quite well cared for right now - all ready for those seedlings and potatoes to go in!! I'm really hoping for some good crops this year!!

I know I have a few not-now-secrets to share as well. The cats cushion I made for a friend (she loved it!) and the birthday pizza I baked for Rowan's 19th last weekend. Like me, he's avoiding all desserts for Lent (we've formed a sort-of support group, though he calls it a competition) so I said I'd make him "something" and came up with a Peking Duck Pizza (as shown above!) especially for him. He was really pleased and ate the whole thing in one day - the day after!! His birthday was actually on Mothers' Day so we had to share. I did get a special day to myself at a patchwork and quilting exhibition where I met up with old friends and had a VERY indulgent day indeed spending rather too much on fat quarters and haberdashery. His birthday treat was a meal out at Frankie and Benny's. I honestly didn't have any desserts - just a Peach Bellini and a Margarita!!