It was just Sunday and I was enjoying my quiet day before the boys and Tom burst back into our lives at tea-time and now it's Wednesday night already. I swear time has speeded up as I've got older. It never used to go so quickly - remember those long, boring summer holidays as a child. What I'd give to have that time again and what about the twelve weeks you got off when you were at College? It just makes me weep to think how I wasted them - I could have been crafting at my leisure instead of trying to cram my activities into the few child-free precious hours I get now.
It was a good job that I 'recharged my batteries' last weekend because my Mum was taken ill on Monday night and I had to dash off up to the Midlands on Tuesday. After dropping the children off at school I had a leisurely drive through the Cotswolds (I hate motorway driving) and the damn hospital would only let me see her for 20 minutes. Still I was able to see that she was OK, in good hands and to reassure her. After that a quick visit to see if my Dad was OK and then I went around the Indian shops. Oh joy - the mangoes had arrived from India. I couldn't resist buying a box of 6 and then I spied some guavas - actually I smelled them. Nigella waxes lyrical about quinces and she suggest just having them in a bowl on the table to enjoy the smell but I say forget the quinces try some guavas. The smell instantly propells you to somewhere exotic and you can imagine how divine my car smelled on the way home.
Can you believe that all the above cost just £18? (we've eaten four mangoes and four guavas). Indian grocery shops are so cheap and as the turnover is high the quality is always good. You can get a disappointing mango in Waitrose for £2.50 and I bought six, ripe, very sweet ones for £6. I'm sure all the above would have been double the price in a supermarket and although greengrocers are cheaper not everywhere has one these days. There's something not right here.
On the crafting front I made this hen out of the funky fabric. It's made in memory of 'fat hen' who we owned last year. She was the prettiest hen we've ever had but sadly, she died of natural causes. We lost the rest of the flock to a fox and I'm planning to go and get some more in half-term. I'm sewing up a jennyb scotty dog at the moment and I need to finish the second goose's feet. Incidentally, a couple of people have asked me about the goose pattern and I'm wondering if I should try and put it up as a free pattern. After all I have used and appreciated free patterns from others and it would be nice to give something back. Do let me know if you would like the pattern and I'll figure out how to do it over the weekend.
I'm sorry that lately my posts have mainly been me sounding off. I obviously have a lot to get off my chest. Thanks for being patient and reading them.
You're right supermarkets are killing greengrocers off!I am lucky that my hubby is in the wholesale friut and veg trade so all ours is for free:)I love the smell of guavas too but the smell of mangoes make me feel ill(we have to eat them quick!)Great idea about the pattern.
p.s. I haven't forgotten about the childhood favs!
Posted by: Kristy | May 18, 2006 at 07:44 AM
I would just love it if you put a copy of the pattern on your blog. Lovely fruit, looks delicious!
Posted by: weirdbunny | May 18, 2006 at 01:32 PM
Love the hen... hope your mum is feeling better - what a meany hopsital only letting you in for such a short time :(... nice fruit but i don't think i have ever eaten guavas but i hated quinces so i don't think i'll bother... i'll stick to bananas :)
Posted by: Lindsey | May 18, 2006 at 05:46 PM
You've stirred my "sweet" memory of a house that I lived in, in Santa Cruz, that had large Pineapple Guava bushes outside of the front door. It was a heavenly aroma to come home to; and they were sooo yummy!
Posted by: Sylvie | May 25, 2006 at 06:40 PM
Hi Simmy! I'm economizing on the blog comments, as really this should be two -- the chicks in today's post look lovely and will be so much fun. I'm fantasizing about chickens in our garage, but know it won't happen. Britain is much different from Canada, I guess. Your comments about the fruit reminded me of flying from Bombay in a British Airways jet full of people carrying trays of mangoes on their laps. Something else that wouldn't happen in Canada because of our nasty laws that require much red tape in order to import fruit and just about any other food product that isn't commercially packaged. You can bring in jam, but not homemade jam. I have forgot and brought in spices from Morocco several times, though honestly only because I hadn't quite finished them and they were so light and tiny that they got thrown in with the kitchen implements. And then there was the time (before 9/11 in fact)that they took apart my immersion blender, suspecting, I imagine, that it was not an immersion blender. Did you see my house picture? They are working on the front today.
Posted by: Patricia | May 25, 2006 at 06:47 PM
Oh my, that's a long comment!
Posted by: Patricia | May 25, 2006 at 06:48 PM