Picking up the threads

...and lentils out of the plughole

I’m back

And trying to pick up the threads…

A bit like my crochet. Entirely predictably, despite taking three little tote bags of various yarns and hooks and hastily printed instructions, I only managed about 2 inches of crochet. Yes folks, we’ve moved on from knitting and we’re now attempting crochet. Fewer sticks to wrestle.

This is mk 2 because mk 1 was unravelled once I worked out what I was doing. I say worked out. What I mean is, I became slightly more certain, but still only slightly.

And oh-my-goodness I did need to have a break before I came back to do all the things…because there are a heck of a lot of things. I’m straight back into ticklists and post-it notes and it’s all a bit mad. I actually wrote this post on Tuesday, but it’s taken me all week finishing other things to be able to come back and insert the photos!

The good news to come out of this renewed flurry of activity is that the Swirls 2.0 wait list has opened.

If you join the list, you’ll get a 20% discount when doors open, no obligation to purchase if you change your mind. Alumni get an even better deal, so if you took the original Swirls course, contact me!!

Those swirls followed me all the way to Brittany!!

But before all things swirly starts in earnest, I’m going away again and very soon, for an exciting thing for which I need to prepare even more things!

So without further ado, because I know you’re just itching to look through my holiday snaps and don’t we all love it when someone shows us endless identical photos of the same place…

screenshot of my camera roll…pretty much sums it all up!

isn’t this beautiful?

Seaweedery

This time I actually remembered to take both my waterproof pouch AND my old iPod, to use it as a sacrificial underwater camera. Hurrah when nothing leaked, and I was able to spend a happy hour or so with my arms plunged elbow deep in 13℃ water filming seaweed! I was determined to capture a sea anemone, but it’s actually almost impossible to work out where to point the iPod when it’s underwater. Seaweed, however, I can do…behold:

Sketchbookery

As the week progressed, the weather warmed a little, making it possible to sit in one place for more than a moment. Instead of a conventional sketchbook, I continued using a second-hand book I found last summer. It must be because I always go on holiday to the same place (if it’s not broken why change it) but as soon as I opened the pages, I carried on with exactly the same marks and symbols as before. This is definitely something I want to explore further, and very probably will when I return in a few months.

colourful coded messages…mostly about how cold it is despite the sunshine.

And now here’s a question for you…I think I already know the answer, and I’ve been threatening (myself) to write a post about the answer all year now, but…

Why is holiday cooking so much better than home cooking?

Have you ever tried rinsing tinned lentils with only a colander or a salad spinner? That’s key to this conundrum. These are the conditions that differentiate between those who roll up their sleeves and start getting creative, and those who just book a table at the pizzeria (although I did that, too).

Give me a gîte or a mobile home with an eclectic mix of utensils and blunt knives, or even a tent and a bunsen burner, and I can whip up meals worthy of a glossy cookbook. Colander and paper-towel at the ready, lentils were pretty much the theme for the week’s lunches. First a simple salad with coeur de pigeon tomatoes and walnuts.

All washed down with my trusted and true cold remedy: honey, lemon, raw cider vinegar, garlic, cayenne, black pepper, turmeric - basically, any anti-inflammatory ingredient I could get my hands on. Don’t knock it until you try it - it’s the absolute business at the first hint of a cold. I don’t know what was in the air they blasted through the ceiling vent into our ferry cabin, but my throat and sinuses were not happy about it.

Then the same lunch, but bumped up with impulse purchases: a handful of buckwheat, because I found it en vrac (channeling my inner Joanna Harris there) in the little local supermarket and I was in Brittany after all, double-podded broad beans, cucumber (which I deseeded, not something I’d usually bother with) and a quick mini-courgette pickle only because the bio market stand had them and they looked too cute to leave behind.

Space on the plate for the inevitable lettuce and chunk of baguette - this was a hefty lunch!

Finally, a pasta salad for the journey home with the last of the tomatoes, same of walnuts, last scrap of broccoli, parsley, pesto from the bio shop and green olives from a jar.

Absolutely superb and only a minor panic when I thought we only had one spork between us.

What’s your favourite holiday meal?

Until next time!

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The wait list for Swirls 2.0 is now open - join it here.

No obligation to purchase, but joining the wait list will secure a 20% discount if you decide to sign up.

Read more about why it’s my favourite thing to teach here.