Tune in

Just heading off to Berlin for a few days…. 
thought you might like to turn the dial for a musical interlude in my absence. 

Enjoy being serenaded by eloquent arpeggios, 

 catch the drift of some improvised jazz 

or simply chill with the deckchair daydreamer!

An unlikely couple

A month or so ago a nasty fox came to torment our happy little troupe. There's just four of us left now; a trio of diminutive bantams and Johns Junior the cockerel. I’ve had to handle his unwanted attention all on my own. I’m afraid I find him a little too eager, a little too early in the morning, not to mention the fact he’s twice my size.

The two fluffy bantams are no help. Fluffy by name and fluffy by nature, they just hide in the henhouse all day, breasts plumped, downy feathers quivering and temperatures rising. They think they’re incubating eggs but are too daft to realise that they’re not actually sitting on any. I expect Mary will eventually give in and buy some fertilised eggs for them to hatch. That’s how I started life... swaddled in bubble wrap, entrusted to the Royal (Mail) Stork and then tucked under the very same breast.

Back to the point, I overheard Mary telling J J that she’s been looking on an internet dating site. She wants to find him a couple of ladies, in keeping with his stature, who WLTM a handsome cockerel with a GSOH.

I don’t know what he thinks about Mary’s matchmaking skills but I can’t wait!

(Hulanicki is standing in for Mary who is too busy to blog this week). 

'Popping broad beans out of their skins can be therapeutic, but it isn't everybody's favourite waste of time.' 

Yotam Ottolenghi

After weeks of hard graft in the garden, what a joy (and a therapy) to pick (and pod) peas and beans for dinner!

In contrast, I only have to glance at the elderflower bushes for them to shake their huge blossoms in my face and shout ‘cordial’…. hence the permanently sticky ‘no go’ area in the kitchen. 

The House Martins have been hard at work too and have successfully reared a chirruping family in the garage next to my studio. When I looked in this morning they were all lined up, swinging from the wire that is my internet connection.... hmmm that could scupper a deadline or two if I don’t take action!

June