Coriander...

Well on 2nd March I blogged that I'd planted some seeds (coriander, basil, tomato and chilli to refresh your memory!) and I am delighted to report that five little shoots of coriander HAVE APPEARED (the fifth is hard to see but it's smaller than the others and over towards the upper left).

Unfortunately there is no sign of the others yet and I am not sure whether it's too early to lose hope. On the positive side of things, my thyme, parsley and bay tree are doing well and the mini rose bush I cut back to a small stick is now flourishing - these are obviously members of the genus 'tough love', flora well-suited to my bootcamp regime...

Family & friends...

A busy weekend has just gone by, leaving us both quite exhausted by the whirlwind of activity...for me it was off to a hen's party on Saturday to see my friend giving her singledom a last hoorah...in two weeks time, she will be a Mrs! Even though it wasn't the big/late night for me that it was for others, I'm glad I was there for just a couple of hours to be part of it. Even though we are in limbo with the sadness of J's Mum passing away, I wanted her to know that the happy occasions are just as important to celebrate as the sad ones...

Sunday was pretty much filled with family - J's 15 yo daughter dances and was part of a big show that her dance school stages every two years. We picked her up just before lunchtime on Sunday (already tired from doing the matinee and evening shows on Saturday!) and then hung around for an hour before attending the matinee ourselves - 4 hours covering three themes: The Sleeping Beauty (ballet), Cats (free dance) and a mix of modern tunes & performances (modern & tap) with A having quite a few apperances in all three. Faves were def. Thriller and the Graveyard Mix as well as A's turn in part of the Britney 'homage'...and who can resist all those tiny tots in the cute red tutus who wriggle about when they are supposed to be 'sleeping' (in Sleeping Beauty) and are far more interested in finding Mum & Dad in the audience. Way too cute - and testament to the fact that motherhood is not for me - they may be cute but it doesn't make me clucky!

The ladybird...

I was sitting at my window last Wednesday when a ladybird landed on my daffodils - so very red and bright against the pale yellow blooms - I haven't seen a ladybird in years but as I was admiring this tiny little creature, a faint voice echoed in my head - a visit from a ladybird precedes death. An old wives tale I thought...

We were about to head up to see J's (partner) Mum who had been diagnosed with cancer just prior to Christmas...a phone call earlier in the day had told us that she had taken quite a sudden turn for the worst overnight and that we should get to Ipswich as quickly as possible. As we left, we got the call to say she'd passed away...

We've spent the best part of the last week in Ipswich with J's family, making arrangements and supporting each other as we remembered his Mum in our own little ways. L lived her life surrounded by family and friends and went to sleep Tuesday night having laughed and chatted with her visitors and with great plans for watching Wednesday's episodes of Emmerdale and Coronation Street. She left us all peacefully, surrounded by love.

We drank a lot of red wine and rode a rollercoaster of emotions over the last week. The most difficult part I'm finding is that the funeral is two weeks afterwards, we go back to work in between and our life settles into a pattern again only to have all the raw emotions re-surface when we actually say our good-byes. I feel so incredibly sad but I guess it's a part of life's circle - and a reminder that there are no second chances...

Rolled Steel Joists...

It was a fabulously sunny Sunday here in London and a couple of friends and I went to a restaurant near Waterloo called RSJ for a bit of a foodie event. Italian chef 'extraordinaire', Ursula Ferrigno, was hosting one of her monthly Sunday lunches where she creates a set menu - this one being Italian Springtime Favourites. Hosted upstairs in the converted stable building, four long tables were set out so we got to sit with other people and chat - we were fortunate enough to be at the table where three of the people had been in the kitchen with Ursula helping to prepare the lunch so we got a bit of 'inside information' on some of the recipes!

After buying a bottle of wine to share (from an extensive list!), we started off with a wonderful tomato & leek soup - absolutely crammed with vegetables and a hint of chilli oil - followed by broad bean, ricotta & mint cannelloni (on a bechamel sauce), foccacia filled with rocket & lemon pesto, a prawn & artichoke salad (on a bed of lentils - amazing!), an absolutely wicked creamy Italian trifle with marsala and almonds and then finished off with cheese and a slice of pear. Ursula came into the room between courses, had a chat about the food, answered some questions and also gave us all a taste of a very limited edition brand of olive oil she uses (in just about everything, she said!) We were all so full at the end but everything was so fresh and you could really taste all of the wonderful flavours so you couldn't help but finish every plate! Just as well we had only a short waddle back to Waterloo for the train home...

Ursula is so passionate and lively about her craft, it would be a hard heart that would fail to be inspired I think! It was a really great afternoon and I'd highly recommend it - check out the website - http://www.rsj.uk.com/ - for the next dates and if you are in London, get yourself down there...

...a host of golden daffodils.

I got some wonderful news today. A lifelong friend of mine was recently diagnosed with cancer and has been preparing for her first round of surgery at the Marie Curie centre in Paris on Tuesday (for biopsies to assess the size of the tumour she has prior to any treatment/further operations)...the news is good with the tumour reducing in size since her original diagnosis meaning she will only need radiotherapy as opposed to chemotherapy...this journey of healing is not yet over for her but this news made my day...

We were born in neighbouring hospital beds in 1969 (she on July 31st, me on August 1st), two little Leo ladies who then went on to live on the opposites sides of Brisbane and then the world as our lives unfolded. As kids our Mums would visit each other - I remember we would get to play in their empty (of water, anyhow) in-ground pool (very special at the time as we only had an above ground one) and I would marvel at her independence and worldliness (she was visiting family in France from quite a young age and I just thought that was so-o-o grown-up).

The last time I saw Nat was in 2000 when Mum & I were in Paris for a week - the view from her window over the Paris rooftops was incredible - and I was so inspired by her love of life and her passion for her art (photography/documentary film-making). There is part of me that felt sad that it was her cancer diagnosis that opened up the flow of communication again but I am enormously glad of the opportunity to reach out and be part of her support network...

Nata was in surgery on Tuesday...and whilst I got the news today, my daffodils finally bloomed on Tuesday...the sight of these beautiful flowers breaking out across parks, gardens, roadsides back in 2004 (when I was really struggling with my relocation to London) were such a beacon of hope with their happy, hopeful faces and it seems perfect that they have appeared for Nata too...

A Red Hot Ferrari of a Weekend...

This weekend saw my lovely man & I head up to Derbyshire for a long weekend....something we have not done for a while having been caught up in all the day to days of life. The key element of this foray was a Ferrari Drive at Donington Park for Jeremy (a birthday present from moi) at 8.30am on Saturday morning which involved an early-ish start (for a weekend away anyway) from our B&B...we arrived (with lots of other drivers and their 'fans') and off Jeremy went for his briefing before we all headed down to the garage - where there were 6 red Ferrari's parked outside! After a familiarisation lap in a Mini Cooper, Jeremy was first up in an amazing Ferrari 360 - we spectators couldn't really see the track but I could see him coming into the straight on each of the three laps and you should have heard that engine scream!! Phwoaaarr...I love a man in a Ferrari...grrrr

In the afternoon we drove into the Peak District National Park and went into Blue John Cavern, which is where 'Blue John' stone is mined from Nov-Feb each year (mainly used for jewellery). Our guide, one of the miners, took the group of six of us 300ft below the surface to see some absolutely spectacular formations - we were able to see coral and fossils from thousands and thousands of years ago when Britain was at the same 'sea' level as Africa too. The trek back up to the entrance was a bit of a challenge for me with the combination of 250 plus narrow steps and the fluctuating oxygen levels (that occur natuarally as a result of the water coming into the caves) but I made it - only to be almost blown away by ferocious (and freezing) winds at the top - windswept can be sexy but this was downright ridiculous! But great to blow away the cobwebs...and then thaw out in the warm car.

Waking up on Sunday morning, we were greeted by beautiful blue skies and decided to head to Crich to visit the Tramway village - if you are into trams this would be fascinating and if it was summer (and the ice cream parlour and the pub were open and serving food) this is probably a good value day out. But by the time we arrived it was rainy, cold and quite blustery (so umbrellas were completely useless) and by the time we'd wandered around for an hour and then had a tram ride up to the top of the hill too see the view, it was snowing! We spent a couple of 'good-natured' hours there but felt well-rewarded by a warming pub lunch in Ripley before heading home...

Studying 'Life in the United Kingdom'...

In order to submit my application next January for Unlimited Leave to Remain in the UK, I need to have passed the Life in the UK test which came in a few years ago for people wanting to permanently settle here. There's a book to read (Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship) which I thought I'd get hold of early and read every so often over the year. This was always my study pattern at school/uni too - never was a great 'crammer' so if I didn't know it by a few days before the exam, I had no hope!

I started reading last night and found that the history part is really interesting. I've heard of most of the things/people mentioned ie. signing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede, the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Oliver Cromwell, Boudicca and the Iceni etc. but had no real idea of the course of history and how these all fitted in. Given I love reading history, this is actually turning out to be more engrossing than I thought...

...no sign of daffodil blooms yet but the buds are getting yellower and I count five ready to blossom in my pot (a significant increase on last year's one) as well as three 'wild' ones on the edge of the path.

I wandered lonely as a cloud...

It's been a busy few days with lots of catching up with friends, movie going and a bit of yoga thrown in. Today is sunny and gorgeous so a good time to sit in my front window and enjoy life...the washing is drying outside (for a change!), the recycling has been collected and I have finally planted a few sets of seeds and in three weeks time - if the packaging doesn't tell a lie - I will be tending to fresh basil and coriander, a chilli plant and the beginnings of a tomato vine. Keep your fingers crossed that these will grow as well as the bay tree and thyme that seem to be thriving under my boot-camp regime called Surviving With Water Restrictions (no, I really truly don't forget to get water them at all - I am just preparing the little blighters...I mean loves....for the summer...hmmm)

I can see my daffodil pot from the window too and there are lots of buds just waiting to burst open and wave their lovely yellow heads about...the excitement is increasing to fever pitch so stay tuned, the big event is literally days away...