Flip-flops and Sari Silk

It's a long time since I've blogged. Six months, to be precise. There are many reasons for this, but I won't go into them just now. Instead, I am going to share with you my joyous record of the wedding of two of our best friends. They tied the knot with a very tiny ceremony in Leeds Town Hall, but their handcrafted big day took place in a barn in Derbyshire, a few days later. The boy was a groomsman and I was a bridesmaid. I also had the task of co-making their wedding cake. They created the most beautiful fusion wedding, taking inspiration and traditions from both western and Hindu wedding ceremonies. The day was full of so much love that I thought I might burst. I still grin every time I think about it. As, I am told, do they. 

The Happiest Day

What a couple of months! I feel like I've barely looked up since I started work in August. I haven't really. It's going very well and I've really benefited from throwing myself into it, but I now need to get a bit of balance back. Last weekend, we went to the wedding of some dear friends. It was just the jolt I needed to start to bring everything into equilibrium once more. The bride and groom simply effervesced with love for each other, as did every guest for them. We all laughed and danced (and cried) and had a simply wonderful time together. Plus, they had a steel band, so who can beat that? Hooray for Luke & Gem. 

Green & Red with a White Fur Trim

A new dress, a borrowed robe, a sea of funny hats, applause-numbed hands, big grins, lip trembles. Strong family, the best of friends. Pride, joy, relief, sadness, anticipation. All in one afternoon. A whispered question as we arrived home, 'did you have a good day?'. The answer: 'the best'. I graduated. 

  

Jubilee Biscuits

Better late than never, eh? We had a lovely, if cold and wet Jubilee weekend. My sister came to stay and we are both unashamed lovers of the Royal Family, particularly the Queen, so we were virtually glued to the coverage of the celebrations. We also went to Chatsworth House for the afternoon, where we had a very British picnic outside on long tables - umbrellas and all! On Sunday afternoon, whilst watching the flotilla, we iced Jubilee-themed biscuits. I really like Nigella's recipe for iced sugar cookies and they're really easy to make, which leaves plenty of time and energy to enjoy the best part - the icing! See below for the recipe, or check Nigella's website. 

Iced Sugar Cookies (Courtesy of Nigella Lawson)


Ingredients:

• 90g soft unsalted butter

• 100g caster sugar

• 1 large egg

• Half teaspoon vanilla extract

• 200g plain flour, plus more for rolling

• Half teaspoon baking powder

• Pinch of salt

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/ gas mark 4
• Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and as light as a mousse, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. 
• In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter and eggs, and fold together. Add a little extra flour, if mixture too sticky.
• Form the dough into a fat disc, wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour
• Roll the dough to a thickness of about half a centimetre. Cut into shapes and place the biscuits a little apart on the baking sheet. 
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, by which time they will be lightly golden around the edges. Cool on a rack
• Ice once fully cooled.  You can use either fondant or royal (I quite like royal as it sets hard before you ice the details). 

Of Fields and Family

If you asked me 'what is the thing you miss most about being at home?', I'd probably jump to say 'my garden'. I have so many wonderful memories of family meals, summer birthday parties and other events that all happened out there, not to mention the hours of exploration and imaginary games it provided us with as children. It looked stunning this weekend, just like something from the Chelsea Flower Show. Yes, on first thought, I would definitely say 'my garden'. After that, however, a flood of other beloved ideas rushes into my head; the open fields, the cow-parsley-flanked lanes, the melee of different architecture set in Cotswold stone, the railway crossing, the river, the tithe barn. In short, everything that has been so familiar to and loved by me my whole life. This weekend, all I did was soak all of that up with my family and my boy. Heaven. On Saturday, we walked to our local Farm Shop, where we were rewarded for our efforts by delicious burgers and cooling, summery drinks. We picked wild Bath asparagus and spotted butterflies and some of this year's fledglings taking their first tentative flights. We spent the evening wandering through some of the back streets of bath. It was a perfect evening for it; the balmy air cooled by stone walls. We had drinks outside followed by a delicious dinner at Jika Jika. On Sunday, we had lunch in the garden (the Ginge fell asleep) and then spent the afternoon wandering again, this time around my little town. There was an open gardens event, so we got to be very nosey and look around some incredible gardens, which are only very occasionally open to the public. It's amazing that, even after living somewhere for so long, you can still see very different sides to a place, just by looking at it in a different way. Each garden was very individual, but all were full of character and charm, with picture-postcard views. We cooed over their choice of planting and happily sipped glasses of Pimms and homemade lemonade. We even made time to stop for a childhood classic - the cider ice lolly. If you have never tried one, I urge you to do so! I also urge you to visit Bradford on Avon and its surrounding area as it is perfectly lovely, in my very biased opinion. I don't know about you, but I cannot wait for the Jubilee Weekend - I hope you're all planning some exciting things to do, with lots of cake and bunting thrown in for good measure. Love to all!

Pin up

A while ago, whilst visiting the Ginge's parents, we stumbled upon a little brown paper bag packed to bursting with the badges and patches he earned whilst a scout. Being a sucker for nostalgia, I set out to find a way of using them in the house. Their sheer brightness and variety of colour reminded me, for some reason, of  butterflies displayed in cases. I have therefore been looking to buy a entomology display case for several months, with nothing more to show for myself than a few sharp intakes of breath and some silent gawping stares at the price of the things.  Apparently, taxidermy is an expensive hobby. The grand plan was to put every single badge in one big white case and maybe that will still happen one day, but for now we will have to settle with the smaller version. I found this 'memories case' in John Lewis of all places and apart from it's size, it is exactly what I was looking for. I therefore spent a very happy Sunday afternoon pinning in some of the Ginge's most poignant badges; the first ever Gang Show he took part in, a badge from Andorra where he would one day work as a ski instructor, the Natural History Museum (no explanation needed for geeks like us), a mountain (his most favourite place to be), the scout crest, the Sandringham gates which are just down the road from where he grew up, his 'Sixer' patch and one commemorating the 75th anniversary of the cubs. It's a lovely mix of childhood memories and the things that make him who he is. It's no great work of art and would mean very little to most people, but I am very pleased with it and I smile every time I walk past it. The Ginge loves it too, which is just as well. 

P.S. Thank you so much for all the lovely well-wishes. I am feeling much better this week; all the more so for your wonderful kindness. 

A Bit of a Rest

Sorry that it has been all quiet on the western front for the past couple of weeks. I don't mind telling you that it has been a bit of a crazy time. The Ginge and I had planned lots of lovely things to do with our time off, following my exams and I was looking forward to telling you all about it. Unfortunately, our plans were slightly hampered when I managed to get myself taken to A&E having collapsed in the cinema. Nothing to worry about,  I am mostly annoyed that it happened during the brilliant 'The Artist' and relieved that it happened after I had finished my delicious peanut-butter ice cream and not before. It was weird being on the other side of healthcare though. I haven't been to hospital as a patient since I broke my arm, falling out of a bouncy-castle window at the age of nine. Being inside an ambulance, having blood taken and being a patient in a department in which I work all felt very unfamiliar to me, even though I know it all like the back of my hand. What was most incredible was how calm the Ginge managed to stay the whole night and how calm that kept me. It took me a good few days for the experience to sink-in fully and that is entirely because he made me feel so safe. How lucky his patients are to have him as their doctor and how lucky I am to have him as my boy. What happened, though unplanned, perhaps came just at the right time. It forced both of us to stop, rest and enjoy the simple joy of each other's company. My family came up too as they were of course concerned about me, but it turned out to be just the break they needed as well. I treated myself to a new haircut (I got my first proper fringe) and we even got on with some long-anticipated projects like sanding and re-painting an old cupboard for our bedroom. Mostly though, we just rested and re-prioritised, two things that were long overdue. No, I don't want it to happen again, but yes I am very grateful that it did.