Easter ramblings!

Making the veggie equivalent of chicken soup today - leeks, onions, garlic, potatoes, watercress with half a dried chili thrown in, seasoned liberally with black pepper and a pinch of salt. I've been suffering from a horrid lurgy over the past couple of weeks, chesty cough, swollen glands, sore throat, conjunctivitis, aching limbs, and despite all efforts it lingers.

I'm turning yellow with all the lemon tea with lashings of honey I've consumed, so now I'm pinning all my hopes on the allium family. At the last count there were ten cloves of garlic, four fat leeks and two large onions in the pot so I think Philip and I will have to keep ourselves to ourselves over the next couple of days! This is fine with P as he's got it too, is totally fed up and reckons we now go for kill or cure!

Isabella studiously making bubble-pack
 picture for Mummy

Ava concentrating on her picture too.

Izzi and Ava were here yesterday and unfortunately Izzi was also under the weather, so we had a day at home, crafting and baking. Didn't manage to take pics of us actually making the cakes - much too frenzied an activity - but snapped the cupcake cases as they looked so pretty drying on the draining board later.

Before the girls left we had an early easter egg hunt, devised and laid by P, a past master. Many teddies and soft toys were involved, each divulging their own small eggs, bearing clues and signs to help locate the Easter bunny's treasure.

The garden continues to green up with Clematis alpina Constance just pure joy. She's covered in delicate purply-magenta blooms, and by all accounts should be exhausted and limit herself to the one show a year.  But no, Constance is indefatigable and has another go at it in the autumn - such a good doer, she merits a place in every garden. We also have her centre stage right now in Wales, just outside the door so we can feast our eyes on her over coffee. Can't wait to get there to see what else is going on in the garden. More about that anon though.

Clematis alpina Constance

Hmmmm... a very large box arrived a couple of days ago.

Expectation...

 I can hear you saying what could that be and why's she looking so pleased?

Anticipation...

Acclamation...

Could it be the arrival of the long-awaited yarn for the first half of my next book?

Realisation - it's Rowan!

Yaaaaaaay!* ♥!* ♥!* ♥!* ♥! The lurgy felt a trillion times better after opening this box! Need a pick-me-up? Nothing like the delivery of one very large box of scrumptuous, delectable, delicious fibre to dissolve all manner of ills.

The arrival of the wool reminded me of a mirror which hangs in our loo which has always amused me. Also it's the Festival of Chocolate here in York right now.York has always been associated with chocolate-making, being the home until recently of Terry's and Rowntree's, two famous Quaker chocolatiers. Fry's was another Quaker family making their chocolate in Bristol and I remember in my chocaholic childhood - as opposed to my chocaholic adult life, when I've become seriously obsessed :) - their Chocolate Cream bars was my alltime fave.

HAPPY EASTER!