I missed this post last week as I was on a bit of a mission. Back at the start of the year I’d bought some photo credits to create yearbooks so we have our memories in print, and not just digitally. Of course we have them in our memories, but the thing with memories is they get all jumbled up and remembering which was in which year is getting even harder than it was before. It was such a good deal that I thought I’d catch up with myself - yes I’m behind where I’ve planned in all areas of my life, but I’m coming to terms with that, slowly - and pledged to do three at once. You get so long to make your creations, and you can extend the credits, but only for so long as I recently discovered.
Despite being a planner with good intentions, I’m also one of life’s last minute kind of girls, so I found myself with two photo books to create, or lose out on that very good deal. Which didn’t seem like such a good deal at all, put that way. So I finished the editing of my 2018 photos, and got the photo book organised and ordered, which left 2016 to sort out (I’d sorted out 2017 already, months ago - I can do it, if I try!). The only thing was that there were many, many 2016 photos that needed editing, and with it being so long ago (relatively), it’s harder to remember what went on, and what we enjoyed.
Looking at the photos though, the memories came flooding back - so proof in point that the photo books are a good thing, as I rarely look back over my digital photos - but of course, with the memories back we reminisced and that took more time than I had. With the deadline looming, it was clear I wasn’t going to do the year justice, so I needed another plan. That plan was to go back to some earlier holidays, and create a photo book of those trips instead. And just ahead of the deadline, I made it, and made use of the credit that had the clock ticking. I’ve still 2016 to do at some point, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for the next good deal, and no doubt I’ll be in exactly the same position up against the deadline next time too.
But anyway, it is done for now, and so my blogging time is also back, and I’ll do my best to get you up to date. I can’t promise it’ll be in chronological order though. On Saturday we were in town celebrating MOH’s birthday. He was keen to get into Padella at Borough Market, which operates a walk in policy. We’d tried before when we were hungry, and the two and a half hour wait was unpalatable, so this time we planned our strategy. After putting our name down we had a bit of a wander, found this painted heart wall and then found somewhere for a G&T and a Pimms until our table was ready.
It’s a pretty, and pretty Instagrammable, wall isn’t it?
The food at Padella was great. The portions were smaller than I expected though so we ended up with three pasta dishes between us. If you go I’d recommend taking your own wine and paying the corkage fee, the Primitivo was perfectly drinkable but at £18 for a 500ml, on the steep side. You can tell by the state of our plates, how good the food was.
Back in the garden, and the previous week, we’d encountered the Very Hot Day. It was a day I’d earmarked some time for photo book creation, but with temperatures in the mid thirties, having a laptop anywhere near me was the last thing I needed. I like the heat, but in moderation. I find it hard to operate normally at extremes of temperatures, especially warmth. My head felt full of fluff and fuzz, and so the best thing to do was to decamp to the sunbeds in the garden. Unusually, even MOH managed to sit still for most of the afternoon, and it was really good for the pair of us to do that.
We spent the day looking for the shade in our garden, moving the sun beds to the right spot. The Sunday was cooler and so we braved the sun for a bit, finding ourselves in the middle of our Mock Orange snow. Fragrant, but quite messy.
With the more moderate temperatures and enough sitting around for one weekend, we were both itching to get on a do something. For MOH this was bike-related, and for me it involved getting my hands into some seed compost for the first time in a while. I took advantage of the warm and humid weather and set about sowing some parsley, which I usually have mixed results with. My thinking was it likes the heat and that could be in my favour. As it turns out I was right and today I’ve noticed that it’s starting to germinate. The lettuce though, is way ahead of the parsley.
In the last weekly post I shared a bowl of cherries and grand plans to make a gin and cherry trifle. That didn’t quite work out as planned, as once I started to make the cherry compote I noticed some white wiggly things escaping from the cherries, and so the whole lot was binned. Thankfully it was at the stage before the gin was added, but extra meat in your trifle isn’t right, is it?
We did get a delivery of gin though - how fab is that? It came with plenty of accessories: tonic water, ginger beer, dried grapefruit slices, snacks - savoury and sweet, and a gin magazine with ideas for how to make gin cocktails. It’s a monthly thing, and our first month. Although a bottle of gin a month is quite a lot, but I’m interested to see how this goes.
Friday night became gin night, and this Theodore Pictish Gin was very well received, and was a good warm up to the weekend just gone. As well as eating at Padella on Saturday, we were off out for lunch on Sunday, like you do. Sunday roasts all round at the Curious Pig in the Parlour, I rather undiplomatically opted for roast pork, but think I got away with it. The decor was great though, and the tiles in the loos will feature in an interior inspiration and Loo Series post soon.
Our agapanthus flowers are making great progress with the warmer weather, and by the end of the weekend they were mostly breaking free of their casing, so it won’t be long I hope before we’re enjoying their flowers.