Echoes of a Dream

Goodbye ........................

Well dear readers, I think the time has finally come to hang up my hat and to say goodbye to you all. Since we moved house back in February I've felt that this blog has just been dragging along without any sense of direction - which actually sounds a bit like my life really!

The children broke up from school on Friday and for the next seven weeks I want to spend some quality time with them. Amber is already 14 and it might be the last summer that she's around all the time. The boys, being 12 and 8, increasingly need me less but I want to make sure I do fun stuff with them too. Plus there's the epic return to America in August to plan.

I also need some time to think about where my life is going and what I want to put into it come September. I'm exploring ideas like adult education courses and I might try my hand at art and maybe brush up on my German. I'd also like to get out of the house and find a part time job. So there's lots to ponder and do this summer and quite honestly blogging is just a distraction these days.

It wasn't always thus of course, having this blog really did change my life and in the course of two years plus I have learned so much, tried many new things, stretched myself creatively, made some amazing friends and most importantly I've been part of this fantastic on-line community. Of course I will miss you all terribly but I'm sure you will understand that I have come to a crossroad in this 47th year of my life and I need to really think about which road I'm going to take.

So I bid you farewell and send my love to each and every one of you that has read my posts, left comments, sent emails, exchanged gifts and bought things from me.                       Thank you for being there ...........................

Cough, cough, splutter, splutter

I suppose it's inevitable that you're going to wake up on Monday morning after an action packed weekend and feel a bit depressed. Especially if it's bucketing with rain and you've woken up with a stinker of a cold (complete with headache).

Boy did I feel awful this morning. I came back from school at 9am the world was wet and grey and the house was dark and I had such an overwhelming feeling of lonliness and sadness I can't describe.

The weekend had been amazing. I spent most of Saturday cooking up food for the evening. I made devils on horseback (prune wrapped around with streaky bacon), sausage rolls and chocolate truffles amongst other things and then ferried Amber around to have her hair done and get last minute things. She looked amazing. I wish I could show you but I don't really like posting pics of the children. Just imagine her - tanned, 5'10", slim, hair up and in a gorgeous dress. Actually, why don't I just chop off her head and show you:

I was going to buy a new dress but with a cupboard full of Indian clothes it seemed a bit wasteful. In the end I wore this:

The ball was amazing. The children had all been practicing ballroom dancing and entertained us with that first. Cue hazy pic:

Then on came another band and the real dancing began. The children had great fun (without alcohol too) and we came home at midnight. 'Cept we didn't actually come into the house at midnight because my daughter wanted a heart to heart in the car about a boy who had asked her out (she wasn't sure about him but I think she actually did like him but wasn't admitting it). Tom who'd gone home earlier called on my mobile at 1am saying: "aren't you coming in?"

Next morning it was a fareful brunch for the class teacher with speeches and the most wonderful irreverent waldorf song sung by our bolshy fourteen year olds and back home for Wimbledon ofcourse. My feet barely touched the ground all weekend.

So you can see why one would wake up on Monday morning when there isn't a ray of sunshine in the sky, when your chest feels tight and your head feels like cotton wool. I just sat and cried. Sadly, I had to go to the supermarket because the fridge was empty, the fruitbowl was empty and so was the egg bowl and the bread crock. I berated myself for not going on Friday and tried to berate Tom for not going at the weekend even though he was just as busy. So in the end I dragged myself to Waitrose and put the self pity/sadness on hold and when I came back I'd forgotten all about it. Good old Waitrose!

Cooked up a lovely hot curry for later (recipe here):

and now I'm off for a soak in this:

Might just take a bar of Green and Black's with me ....................

A Day Out in London

Ten years ago we moved out of London and I've barely been back since although I love the place. So on Monday I decided to go in for the day and visit my former place of work to stock up on Japanese food and ingredients.

When I worked at the Japan Centre it was very much a bookshop. I was assistant manager and book buyer and I loved my job. The staff were mainly young Japanese people and we all had a great relationship. Since I left about fifteen years ago the boss has diversified. Now the the Japan Centre consists of two buildings on Piccadilly (just near the tube and the big Waterstones). Shop one:

is now a food store selling Japanese ingredients, crockery, bread, snacks, lunches, tea and books in the basement. You can imagine that I went a bid mad in there:

I just had to have some onigiri (Japanese rice balls):

and as for inari zushi, my mouth was watering at the mere thought of them:

They are sort of tofu skins filled with rice and have a sweetish flavour.

I know Amber just loves anko (aduki bean paste) so I had to get a few of these:

which look like this inside - think this one had chestnuts inside too:

Next door (where the bookshop used to be) is now a restaurant. I haven't eaten there for months but I remember the quality to be excellent as well the prices. I think huge bowls of ramen (noodles) were about 7 or 8 pounds.

Both shops are well worth a visit if you are in London. You can have lunch in the restaurant or treat yourself to take away food and perhaps take it to nearby St James Church and eat in the courtyard:

I went inside afterwards and was treated to ten minutes of violin playing. He's the guy in black.

Better still St James Park which is quite close by:

I had such a lovely day pottering around on my own - no Oxford St or Convent Garden. Instead I ambled down Jermyn Street and  up past the beautiful windows of Fortnum's:

a quick peek inside:

and then it was time to head home and do the school run.

Oh I forgot to tell you what I saw before I got to the shops. This lot coming out of St James Palace:

so I joined the tourists and snapped away:

Rejuvenated by London but with sore feet, armed with tons of goodies I got the train home and couldn't get my head around that girl who used to do this everyday fifteen to twenty years ago. Was it really me? 

I decided that I need to do this more often.

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You really should pay Japan Centre a visit. The address is: 212-213 Piccadilly and they appear to have a website now (click here). The (Japanese) Manager assures me that if anyone wants to order Japanese craft books and magazines he will be only to happy to try and get from Japan (as long as they're not out of print).

Family life

It takes a lot for me to buy strawberries in the supermarket these days but I couldn't resist the smell of these as I busied myself on Friday morning doing the weekly shop:

Anyway, got home unpacked and then got out my little prize:

 

I put them on a plate with a few twists of black pepper and they were divine. Have you ever tried strawberries with a hint of black pepper? Of not, you're missing something. There's something about the pepper that brings out the real flavour of the fruit. You can also try them with balsamic vinegar but I prefer the pepper. Needless to say it didn't take me long to scoff the lot and I wished I'd bought more and not been so snooty.

Reminds me that I must find a fruit farm around here as it's June and raspberry jam making time. It's also elderflower cordial time too but I still have some bottles left over from last year so I'm going to pass on that.

Amber came back from her school trip last week and it was so nice to have her back. It had been so quiet without her. I think we missed her more than the boys did - after all it must be nice not to have your bossy, prone to bad tempers big sister around for a week. However they did make her a banner and we had a lovely cream tea to celebrate:

 

 

Talking of bad tempers Rohan seems to have changed overnight since turning twelve. He's been cheeky (more than usual that is), moody, restless and irritable. I think it's more to do with the fact that he's bored rather than his age. He's made a number of friends at school but none of them seem to socialise much outside. Things that interested him before seem to have lost their pull and in his boredom he's begging-nagging to go on Bebo (like Facebook). In Gloucestershire he was lucky to have a couple of friends down the lane and they would get together and go off and play. Other times he'd go up the lane to groom someone's horse or to muck out the stables. Then there was going off on his own for a bike ride. Well, none of those options are available here so we had a chat about it last night and thought of things we could set in place for him: asking one friend over a week; playing tennis with Dad after supper; going swimming and the like. This morning he decided to do some cooking and made Bunce's Doughnuts from Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes Book. He did the mixing and I did the frying:

Glad I got on top of this sooner than later - couldn't bear two grumpy children in the family. To be fair Amber isn't grumpy - she's just prone to volcanic outbursts now and again. She's happy at school, has a good circle of friends and plenty of places to hang out here. She has a play coming up and then a ball at the beginning of July. I think in the end she might just wear the dress that I bought her off eBay at Christmas although she's a bit worried about being overdressed. Most of her friends are wearing slightly smarter-than-usual summer dresses. Amber's one is taffeta and shimmers as she moves:

Just want to say thank you before I go to everyone who bought craft supplies from me. I found a heap of knitting wool that needs to go - Rowan, Colinette and some blue wool that I used to make the French Market bag on Knitty:

 

I'll be listing it all next week sometime. I have to say that it's lovely getting rid of stuff and paring down to the bare minimum.

The market on .........

So, there we were with the heaving masses streaming out of Notting Hill tube station on a very warm Saturday. Once we got past the beautiful terraced houses (one of which George Orwell lived in):

the market proper started. The first section is mainly antiques - both shops and stalls:

and then you come to the food part which I must say is nothing like the stuff that was on offer twenty years ago when I used to visit. There were stalls selling these yummy things:

cauldons of steaming paella:

artisan bread, cakes, olives and many other things set up by enterprising people. There were also the usual fruit and veg stalls too with very good quality stuff actually.

On the way along Portobello Road we stopped at Graham and Green, Books for Cooks of course:

and The Travel Bookshop which is where Hugh Grant's character worked in the film Notting Hill.

Once you get past the food you enter the clothes section which is a mixture of, overpriced in my mind, vintage stuff and newer whacky stuff. Ofcourse, Amber had to fall in love with this dress didn't she:

In July they are having their Class 8 ball and she needs a dress. Sadly, this one was £200!

Three hours later we ended up at the top end of the market where it basically fizzles out but no mind because we were off to The Lisboa Cafe for some of their delicious pastries:

We bought two boxes of the most divinely decadent Portuguese Custard Tarts:

Words cannot describe these I'm afraid and I only wish Typepad had a taste facility so you could all have a peck. They are thick, creamy, sweet and the pastry is to die for. OMG I might have to go and eat one for a mid morning snack - excuse me won't you?

Hmm, that's better. Now where was I? Oh yes, the market. Actually that was it really. We still had a few hours to kill so we walked back down to the tube station and on the way I was tempted by these:

they're basically framed cigarrette cards:

and like so on the back:

I was tempted by so many of them. Oh dear, I feel an obsession coming on as I've already looked them up on eBay.

I'm a train geek - well maybe

Well, Rohan and I did have a lovely weekend despite the fact that it rained all day and I mean all day.

After breakfast in bed and perusing the weekend section of the paper for me and the sports pages for him we decided to drag ourselves out for the local Big Day Out c/o of the railway station. Well, folks don't hold your breath for news of that amazing event because it was pretty low key to say the least. The highlight for me was the fact that we could walk along the viaduct that extends beyond the station.

So picture an eleven year old boy, his Mum and a motley crew of (more than) middle aged men tramping along in the rain with our brollies up. Poor Rohan looked at me quizically a few times as if to say "what are we doing with this lot"? Well, we got to the viaduct only to find that we couldn't even look over the top because we were surrounded by six foot high brick walls on each side. Rohan then did give vent to his feelings with a "well, that was worth it Mum". Mind you he did stifle a few guffaws as the train spotters asked inane questions of the guide like: "when you renovated these walls did you each work from one end and meet in the middle or did you all work from the same end". Train geeks that's what he called them for the rest of the weekend. Mind you he did at least climb on top of a salt/grit box and look over the said walls. He said it was amazing to see how high up we were.

Anyway, on the way back we did slide down the embankment a bit and took some pics:

It is an amazing structure but I do feel that I think I might have blown it a bit with Rohan because next month there's a steam rally somewhere near and he's already told me there's no way he's going to it! Well, what do you expect from a nearly twelve year old I guess? Shame he now thinks that his mother is also a train geek!

Talking of train geeks I must just show you what one chap has spent his spare time building:

It's a replica of the local station as it was before British Rail decided to knock it down in the 70's and replace it with a building like this one:

(This is not the actual station but when I did a Google search on it there was no image. This station is pretty much like ours). Did someone actually design this?

The rest of the week went in the usual end of term rush and culminated with a concert from Rohan's class where all the children played tunes on their individual instruments. Rohan, I'm not sure if I've mentioned it, plays the piano. He's incredibly lucky in that he can play by ear. So yesterday he played a blues number and then a piece that he 'composed' himself. He was awfully shy and embarrassed but he got an amazing round of applause and cheering from the audience. As you can imagine he just takes it for granted and doesn't rate it at all. He rather wishes that he had the same gift in the field of sport, especially cricket which he loves. Meanwhile, I was doing the proud Mum in the audience bit. (I wish I could record his piece and put it up here but I have no idea how to - might ask Tom to do it over the weekend).

Otherwise, we're off for a week now and our friend Abby is coming to stay tonight. Tomorrow we're off to Portobello Road and on Wednesday it's a day trip to Boulogne. Thank goodness I'll have something to write about for a change .........................

Quality time with number two

For the first time in a very long while I'm actually getting to spend the day with my middle child, Rohan tomorrow. Tom is off to Gloucestershire to sort stuff out in the house (that's taking ages to sell) and Amber and Raj are tagging along to stay with friends.

Rohan didn't want to go and said rather sweetly that he wanted to spend the day with me. Of course, I jumped at the chance because how many more times will I hear that from a boy who's going to turn twelve soon.

So I went out and got a few treats. He wanted waffles for breakfast with hot chocolate, whipped cream and marshmallows. All to be had whilst sitting in bed reading the papers/books I hope. Then there is a church fete in the village we might go to and after that he's been invited for a swim at a friend's house.

In the evening I thought we might watch a DVD that I found in the library:

and maybe munch these:

or his choice, these:

On Sunday morning I might suggest a walk and breakfast somewhere and then the others will be back at lunchtime. I'm not actually planning it like a military campaign (although it sounds like it). But he doesn't want to go anywhere in particular so they are just ideas. All in all I'm really looking forward to spending some quality time with my boy.

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I must just tell you that I've booked our flights to the States now. Yippeee. We've decided to fly to Philadelphia instead of New York and we'll be going on August 15th. So far plans are to stay with Jodi who lives nearby, Georgia in CT and Wylie in Long Island. We're all so happy to be staying with these lovely friends again. Meanwhile we're thinking of anywhere else we want to go to that fits in with these places. Of course, we're madly excited and Rohan is already counting down the days.

Felting and summer holidays

The school are having a series of craft workshops this weekend and I suddenly find myself running a felting morning on Saturday. It seems that the lady booked for the job had to cancel at the last minute and although I thought I'd kept my crafting skills quiet, someone out there knew about them. The poor organiser was in a bit of a panic and I found myself saying Yes.

It might have been an easy option had I not got rid of a lot of my supplies before we moved. So this week found me trying to gather raw materials. Luckily, there is a woman in the area that dyes her own wool. This is what I bought from her:

It's all acid dyed - aren't the colours lovely? I found some bog standard plain colours locally and what with some of my plant dyed stuff I think we'll be fine:

More of an issue is what to make with the people that are coming. There are six, six year olds; two Mums and possibly a sixteen year old. I think I might make a flat piece with the little girls and then turn it into a purse like this one that Amber made years ago:

The Mums want to make a bag (in three hours?) but I might persuade them to make a camera case like this gorgeous one that I got in a swap from Marieke in Holland aeons ago:

Isn't it gorgeous? It's always admired whenever I take it out. I think the wool is actually my own plant dyed stuff. If they don't fancy a camera case then maybe a tea cosy:

This one is old and dirty now but I think they'll get the idea.

I'm slightly wary about having a range of ages and abilities but some of the Mums are staying with their little ones so I do have some extra pair of hands. Wish me good luck though please. I haven't felted for years and have never run a workshop on it.

You might have heard about the sudden heatwave we've having down in the Southeast. Thankfully, it's a lot cooler today but it's been boiling for most of the week. Amber's been trying to find some outdoor pools to visit but none of them open for another week or two. As luck would have it there isn't one flat bit of lawn to put our paddling pool on either. So we've just been melting away trying to keep out of the hot conservatory which is just off the hot kitchen with the hot Aga in it.

The hot weather reminds me that we haven't booked our summer holiday yet. For the last ten years we've gone away with my sister and her family but this year they announced that they were broke (I don't think we've done anything to upset them!). I've come up with all sorts of ideas - beach on our own; France; Germany, taking the train through Europe but every idea has been poo-pooed. It seems that nothing is going to match up to our perfect holiday last year where we toured around northern America staying with new friends. I can't count how many times I've heard "Can't we go back to America?".

Tom and I finally managed to sit down last night to talk about it. I don't think he was anticipating having another expensive holiday this summer but he too did have to admit that last year was our best holiday ever.

So dare I put it into print - we're going to America folks. Yipeeeeeeeee. Oh my gosh I am so excited and I can't wait to tell the children when they get home. If you're reading around 3.30pm English time I'm sure you'll hear shouts and cheering from the children.

Now I need to get practical about this. A while back Jodi my friend in PA said we could come back and stay any time so that's the first leg of our trip sorted (Jodi, I'll call you later to beg/confirm). After that we're open to suggestions and ideas folks. Tom wants to spend some time by the water so any ideas would be appreciated. New York is a must as it rained when we were there last year. Are The Berkshires near by - and worth visiting? Any suggestions greatly appreciated ladies.

Oh, I'm so excited. Must go and look up flights (even though I should be getting ready for tomorrow).

A little corner - forever English

The bluebells are finally out and I've spent most of the past week trying to find somewhere they are growing in abundance so that we can go and enjoy them.

Well it seems as if I was wishing a bit too hard because lo and behold I seem to have a carpet of them right under my nose. On Sunday I went to the wood beyond the house to gather kindling and I kept going to see how far I could get and look what I came upon:

A vast swathe of them:

Yesterday, Rohan had a friend round who suggested that they pick some flowers for their Mums and he came back with a huge armful of them. So now I have bluebells everywhere. On the table, on the mantelpiece, in the sitting room and on the nature table:

Poor Rohan he'd picked his Mum some flowers and the first thing she said was "Oh, thanks but you're not supposed to pick bluebells" in a slightly hysterical voice. Mum of friend came later to pick up her son and said the same thing and then Tom walked in from work and said "lovely bluebells but I thought you weren't supposed to pick them". I looked at Rohan and thought he was going to cry. There he was having picked his Mum some flowers and he'd committed the biggest crime against nature. Since then I've been going around saying how lovely the flowers are and what a nice thought it was. I can just see him married one day and his wife saying "you never give me flowers". It's my Mum's fault he'll say - the one time I gave her some flowers she ............... Well, that'll be one of the things he'll blame me for!

Did I ever tell you that I love old cars and buses. Especially the old Routemaster type buses that they had in London and that we grew up with in the Midlands.  The London ones were red, the country ones were green and in the Midlands we had very dark aubergine coloured ones. Anyway, there was a vintage bus day going on in these parts last Sunday which we took the boys to. There were old London buses:

When I lived in London in the late 80's I used to travel on the number 19 to Battersea and the 137 to Streatham to seem my sister. Those were the days.

There were green country Routemasters and this gorgeous little number built in the 50's:

We rode a few of them to various destinations and bought a few memorabilia and this little book that I'm reading at the moment:

I know all the arguments for getting rid of these buses in London but I do think it's sad. Very, very sad. You might be interested to see this that I found in a Google search.

Amber was right when she said "It's like taking yellow taxis out of New York. London isn't the same without the red buses". We're so sentimental, us lot .........................

Keeping fit ........before it's too late

Well, the children went back to school yesterday after a lovely three week holiday. We explored our new county, had cousins to stay and old friends from Gloucestershire. Amber and I shopped. The males played golf. We all played tennis (some of us very badly) and a good time was had by all.

I went off to a Yoga class yesterday morning and stretched parts of my body that I didn't know I had. It was hard work (because I haven't done any Yoga for twenty years) but definitely worth it. Then, keeping with the 'I must lose weight and take exercise before it's too late' mood I went for a brisk hour-and-a-half's walk this morning with a friend. We met at school and walked through the fields and along a disused railway line and it was so lovely. The bluebells were just coming out, the sun was shining and there was a slight chill in the air. It was bliss. Are you impressed? Bet you wouldn't have been if you'd seen me afterwards slumped on the sofa with my feet in a basin of lavender water.

It's funny, Amber has been asking me what sort of Mummy I'm going to be this time. Apparently I was an earth/waldorf/crafty Mum in Gloucestershire and she thinks I should reinvent myself here. She thinks I should go out more, have more dinner parties, glam it up a bit more I suppose. Maybe I'm going to be a fitness fanatic! (I've decided to see about tennis lessons as we have two courts over the road and it seems to be a good way to exercise plus it's a sociable sport).

On another note, do you remember aeons ago that Amber was given a book called 'Knitting for Peace", in which was mentioned the Mother Bear Project? Well, I made a couple of bears for it ages ago and got some Mums to join me and so far I've collected about half of them (the others are being finished off by various parties).

Here are the ones I have so far:

There are about twelve here and I'll be posting them off to Minneapolis in the next few days. From there they will go to orphan children in Africa. If you take a look at the link above you can see just who gets these bears and why. It's a great idea and a great project to support and I'm really pleased that we were able to participate in it. If you have any spare wool hanging around why not have a go yourself - the bears take hardly any time to knit (the pattern is on the website I believe).