Not Even Hare Today , Never Mind About Tomorrow

Sonata:

For anyone who remembers my planned hare hunt and had hoped for a photo or two , I have disappointing news .

This is as near as I got

hares proving as elusive as leprechauns this year . Even the rabbits , usually hip-hoppitying about in the industrial park at the east of town every evening , proved to be camera-shy .

But , in Groningen on Friday , I caught sight of a postcard announcing an exhibition of bronzes of hares in the Hazenkabinett in Weener in Germany ( on till 18th September if you're near ) . I love his hat .

Never mind . There's always next Spring .

Meanwhile , I've been re-reading Honey From A Weed by Patience Gray . With all the delicious recipes and its sheer enjoyment of good food and delight in the sharing of treasured local dishes , it's a fabulous read .

Her recipe for Rabbit with Garlic Sauce is simplicity itself , the rabbit being marinaded in olive oil with thyme and rosemary , then grilled and served with allioli . But , as she says , "You will not be disappointed ".

If you don't eat meat , of course , you might prefer my recent 50 cent find in a secondhand book shop . Gail Duff's Vegetarian Cookbook is "very of its time" so has the occasional interesting surprise among the vegetable moussakas and mushroom kebabs . If you want to give a meat-free 70's Theme Night , you couldn't do better than to include Carrot , Grapefuit and Yoghurt salad . But it would be a good idea to have plenty of her Mushroom and Ale soup for the chaps and her Brown Bean Chasseur should appeal to all .

With any luck I won't be cooking much this weekend , anyway . I'm going to eat tapas and Turkish food and paper thin pizzas in Amsterdam , instead .

You're Only As Old As You Feel

Sonata:

We probably all have an age we'd like to be , the age which we picture as The Best Years Of One's Life . And if it were simply a matter of Positive Thinking , how easy it would be . My grandson would be FIVE , the age he'll know everything and be ABSOLUTELY grown-up . I'd settle for my thirties , I think .

But , of course , it's not that simple . He'll have to wait another year-and-twentyfour-days and I can whistle . But I was encouraged this week by a couple of television moments . A BBC series about lesser known Stately Homes had the spritely presenter , Dan Cruikshank , negotiating a secret spiral staircase carrying a brimming chamber pot with his customary enthusiasm . And then the two Geriatric Greedy Italians galloped all over Turin , making and eating enormous plates of delicious food .... as Carluccio said , with Mof Mof ( minimum of fuss , maximum of flavour ) .... and a schoolboy joke involving a camera and a fountain .

I , mind you , do seem to be going backwards all of a sudden . Much to my dental hygienist's amusement I'm , rather painfully , growing a wisdom tooth .

So , instead of the wondrous French anti wrinkle powder shown at the beginning ( just add a drop of water , mix and spread liberally over your wrinkles , rinse off and astonish the world ) , I'm off tomorrow to buy Calpol and a teething ring .

Do Seasons Ladies Paint In Thermals ?

Sonata :

A free week , thanks to the May holiday , and the sun's shining !

And to ward off any chance of being at a loose end I'd arranged an assortment of things-to-do . There was more housepainting ( lots more housepainting , actually ) . There were recipes to try ..... lots of those too . The giant Queen's Day flea market to wander around . A bike ride to hunt for hares . A Day Out . Leisurely breakfasts with time to read the paper and drink big mugs of coffee in peace .... and a sewing project .

And it's all gone more or less to plan .

Hunting through the endless clutter on sale on Queen's Day was , as usual , fun and I found a pile of '70s craft magazines , full of hilarious black and white photos of ponchos and Interesting Things to make out of corks , melon seeds and pompoms .

Standing outside , up a ladder , painting high windows was character forming , given the arctic winds that blew and blew , at one point even blowing a large blob off the brush straight onto my sweater . But they do look better for it . As a neighbour commented , eyeing my less than professional finish , "At least that'll protect them " .

Deventer is such an elegant little town to visit and my Day Out was its usual mix of endless new corners to see , the game of "If I were to live here which house would I buy ? " or the alternative "if I lived in this house what would my life be like ? " , little shops to enjoy , friendly people to exchange a few words with ..... and train delays . ( I've come to the conclusion that I am to trains what Typhoid Mary was to caring for the sick ) .

When I've been there I always come back determined to be more of a Seasons Lady . Seasons , the lifestyle magazine par excellence for the reader of a certain age , is full of articles on little gifts to make for friends like these carafes of homemade spiced apple juice

decorated with little crab apple garlands from your own orchard . Even their readers' gardening clutter

looks delightful , unlike my pile of black plastic pots , leftovers from purchases at the garden center . A Seasons lady has swathes of wild flowers and heritage roses . I have three and a half pots out the back with chervil , tomatoes and a strawberry plant .

But when the train drew into Leeuwarden again in the evening , I saw this and remembered that I'm not really a country woman at heart and I'd miss the surprises a town has to offer .

Oh , and I must just show you my sewing project . Rattling On had very kindly sent me this fabulous crochet bag I'd admired when she'd blogged about it and my plan was to line it .

I abandoned the idea of carrying the lining on round the handles and settled on using bias binding instead . I've nearly finished and will be bringing home leeks in it tomorrow for Soupe Bonne Femme .( Leek and Potato Soup for Seasons ladies . No handmade garlands will be made though ...... there is a limit ! )

Hare expedition on Sunday if it's not too windy ....

this is as close as I got to Royal Wedding

Smitonius:

driving through Islington (North London), I couldn't help but stop the car and snap this:



A bit like Marmite indeed... love or hate?

PS: Beatrice's hat.... say no more.

Spring in New York

Smitonius:

My partner had a contract in Guyana, so had the chance to stop over at New York on the way back. Not wanting to waste the chance to add on a holiday, we decided we would spend a few days in New York (I forgoed the chance to visit Guyana, as I would have been hotel bound - mind you, hotel bound in the tropics with a pool .... I think I missed a trick there!).

It appears we arrived for the first week-end of Spring, as the sun shone over the High Line park.


It is an amazing conversion of a high railway line, beautifully designed and planted, with art works included: one was a sound installation of bell sounds recorded across Manhattan that played a new one every minute of the hour. New Yorkers flocked there to soak up the sun, sharing a picnic, doing yoga in the fresh air, or reading a book:

and, of course, to admire the sun setting:


Having done all the main sites in 1997, we decided to devote our time to visit the High Line (often), catch up on Ground Zero:

A huge building site, but the visit to the chapel that survived opposite was very moving. Lots of old tombstones still standing, a peaceful cemetery, and The Bell of Hope given as a gift by its sister church St. Mary-le-Bow in London:


(one of the bell sounds captured at the sound installation on the High Line was this one!).

There are memories on 9/11 elsewhere in Manhattan, as we discovered on Sunday when we visited a little museum up in Inwood called Dyckman House Museum: a very interesting survival of the Dutch Colonial style of housing.

Nestling up in a Latino Barrio, this is a little historical treasure that changes ones vision of New York. But just down the road, in the grounds of a church, there is this cross - which is really metal beams that survived the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11:


But, New York wouldn't be New York if it did not remain in some way still irreverent in some places - like these art works in a converted church that is now an indie shopping centre downtown:



On this note, erm.... Happy Easter!

Next post will be about the side trip to Rhinebeck, with photos of a cottage we rented that made me feel I had walked into a lifestyle magazine photoshoot - an article called 'Americana'

It's Just Tutu Pink

Sonata:

Where have all the bright red tulips gone ?

There's something very girly about Spring this year .

Working , as I do , all day with knee-high pink glittery people ( not the boys , usually.... though there is one who insists on wearing the feather-trimmed pink lurex number from the dressing up box with a top hat and his fireman's axe ) , I should have become immune to rosyposyness .

Maybe it's to do with how cold and late Spring is this year , but the only plants in people's gardens seem to be all palely blushing and giggly .

The wellington boots in the Fabric Fair this week were frilly

and even the Easter Bunny seems to discovered ballet slipper pink

To counteract all this I'm going to listen to a Russian male choir tonight

and read something manly . I'll have to dig past all the jazz musician's biographies and books on Africa , astronomy and heraldry on Husband's book shelves .

Perhaps a gardening book? At least I'd be ready to grow my own red tulips next year .

How To ......

Sonata:

I can't really , in all honesty , call this a tutorial . Making any quilt , regardless of size , by the paper-piecing method , is foolproof .

Tightrope walking needs skill , balance , confidence and years of practice . All you'll need to make a miniature quilt is patience and a certain degree of accuracy .

There are thousands of patterns you could make , but it might be a good idea to begin with one using squares

Once you've decided which one you're making , you'll need to photocopy squared paper , scaling it up to give the size square you want ( half an inch or more is comfortable to work with ) and cut into separate bits

Then make a cardboard template ( make more than one , actually , since they tend to go AWOL under sofa cushions ) making it large enough for a quarter inch seam allowance which might seem a lot but , believe me , you don't want fraying at this point !

Cut squares , using template . Repeat about 400 times .

Tack each square round a little square of paper to make a patch .Oversew patches to each other

either at random

or according to pattern chosen .

Stop when you've had enough or the quilt is big enough for a doll's house bed or tiny doll .

Unpick the tacking stitches round each square and remove paper . Hold it up to a strong light to find any lurking remaining papers ( there will always be one ) .

Bind the quilt and back it ..... My Aunt June , for instance , does wonderful tutorials about how to finish a quilt , if you don't know how .

Sit back and admire . But beware ! It's addictive .