Let there be light!

Woke up to the most gorgeous spring day this morning. The light is amazing - clear blue sky with a large pale sun bringing colours and textures into focus and spotlighting tiny treats that I wouldn't necessarily have  noticed - totally inspirational!  It lifts my spirits every time I see the miniature rainbows dancing around the room from the recycled glass crystals hanging in the window.

Garden through a crystal

If you look closely you can see all the colours of the rainbow

Amazing how reflection creates colour!

Colours of the anemones brought into sharp focus

I'm an incorrigible Grecophile and this sort of day always reminds me of springtime there. The wild flowers in the Peloponnese will be glorious over the next couple of months, before the raging midsummer sun wipes them all out. A friend who has a house near Kalamata has just left to spend a few weeks there and I'm green with envy. We've spent many holidays in the Mani in April/May - there are so many things I enjoy about being there.

It's not always easy for travelling vegetarians, but in Greece there's always lots of feta salads, battered aubergines and courgettes (including the flowers), lentil soups, butter beans in tomato sauce, and my fave spanakopita, which I often make at this time of year to transport me straight back. My mouth is watering and I can even smell the oregano and thyme on the Greek mountainside as I'm writing. I'll make a note to give you the recipe, it really is as easy as pie so look out for it coming soon.

Spanokopita - cheese and spinach pie

At the other end of the day, sunsets are just as awe-inspiring.  A few days ago, driving back from my mother's with Philip, it was as if the sun had put on a show specially for us. I snapped some pics through the car window as we sped along - totally different, but equally breath-taking kind of light.  Whereas in the morning the spring light  is fresh and crisp like a chilled chardonnay, in the evening its light can be moody, fruity and mysterious like a vintage red bordeaux.

Leaving my mum's

Looks like something's happening...

Light starts to change

Wow, the sky's on fire!

I'm thinking I'd like to paint it, so take more pics

Entering York with the floorshow hanging over us

Time for coffee now, love the way the light shines through the chinese rice bowl and how a knitted throw reflects its colours onto the steel frame of the cafetiere - magic!

Coffee time

Just one more pic to throw in, totally unrelated to anything about light, but I'm a total flitterbug when it comes to images in my head. Didn't get to celebrate Pancake Tuesday on the day with the grandbabes, so we did it last Friday instead.

Pancake Friday!

Although the girls are not keen on the finished product, there was much delight at the tossing of it. I was very proud of myself  at being able to keep them in the pan, well more or less, so Philip insisted on trying to capture the moment.