I Would Like To Thank Willie And Merle , Emmylou And Dolly ...

Sonata:

Without Willie Nelson , Merle Haggard , Emmylou Harris and dear Dolly

this would not have been possible .They kept me company all weekend as I painted the hall ... endlessly .

Thanks are due , too , to the very nice young man in the DIY megastore who mixed the exact shade of red* I'd had in mind and restrained me from buying far too much , reassuring me that he could mix more , if needed , in a jiffy . And forebore to point out that , next time , it might be an idea to measure the room I intend to paint .

And last , but not least , to my oven which supplied a constant stream of baked potatoes to keep body and soul together . ( It's astonishing what you can fill a baked potato with , when you're famished . I didn't realise , either , exactly how much chili I'd stored in the freezer .)

*This Rie Cramer postcard

De Familie van Muizesteijn ( 1931) , helped in the choice of colour . I'd love to find a frameable print of it .

The eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that the finish of the paintwork leaves a little to be desired . Actually , I think it's just the successive coats of paint , however applied , that keep this house standing . The wall shown has more filler than plasterwork , by now .

Oh , and if you're not at least on nodding acquaintance with Willie and Co. , you must see Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan singing Pancho and Lefty . It's on YouTube and is definitely extraordinary .... whether you'll like it or not , remains to be seen . But might make you giggle as much as I did .... or was it just the paint fumes ?.

Fishy Business

Smitonius:

although the summer is behind us now, and the weather has turned autumnal (though many felt they didn't much have a Summer in UK) I wanted to share some seasonal foody pics. The lighthouse above is on the Isle of Man, which I visited one recent weekend. It was a magical day, as the tail end of the hurricane Irene stole all the clouds away. As I stood on the shore, a seal popped his (or her head) above the waves, looked quizzically at me and then swam away. Although his lunch would not have been served on a plate, mine was

A fitting final fish of the Summer season, which has been full of fishy delights. For instance, one recent weekend, we discovered a fine fish and chip restaurant in the area. It serves oysters too:

And our fishmonger, as we like to think of the fish stall in Broadway market, sold us some nice fish as well, including these delicious Venus clams.

Though that all looks like fine dining, we have also "slummed" it in Folkestone, eating a pint of prawns in the harbour:

I expect some of you may now be hankering after something fishy now? I might have to have a salmon bagel for lunch today or some sushi....

Bring It On!

Sonata:

The Autumn term seems to have started with high winds , storms and torrential rain and , failing a huge lottery win (a ticket might help) and a Mediterranean cruise , we are destined to get a lot wetter , colder and more windswept before our next stab at al fresco dining .

With this in mind , I've been poring over my two new cookery books for hearty winter warmers .

Smitonius sent me a copy of exerpts from Colonel Wyvern's "Notes From Madras" reprinted by Penguin .... isn't the cover pretty! ... and I'm delighted to find plenty of good advice on how to produce "good Anglo-Indian food in the Victorian style with the ingredients available"... and a full kitchen staff . The Quoorma ( sic) definitely sounds yummy and ribsticking .

And I'm also delighted to say I've found another 70s' classic . "Russian Cooking" , author unknown , by Mir Publishing , Moscow in 1974 . While some of the recipes are downright strange , others like Beef braised with Quince would definitely be worth a try and Potato Soup With Sturgeon's Head is just a filling plain-ish chowder , good for winter lunches . After all , all I'd need to do is find a sturgeon .

I won't be making Sprat Pudding though . Layers of sprats , salt pork and potatoes baked in a sort of cheese custard might be nourishing , but won't be making an appearance here . Nor will an equally filling dessert , Lentils And Dried Apricots ( Soaked dried apricots , drained and gently fried with minced onion , seasoned with salt and pepper , with a cupful of cooked lentils , some chopped walnuts and coriander added before serving .)

But whatever I produce will have to involve using my lovely new toy .

Such a practical gadget , startlingly simple and brilliant . I love it !

Just One Last "Big Day Out" Before I Get Down To Work Again

Sonata:

Antwerp , yesterday , was cold and wet , boarded up and covered in builders rubble . Even one or two of the hundreds of statues of Our Lady , which grace every corner of the city , weren't immune .

But Pain Quotidien still provided a tasty sandwich and big bowl of coffee plus the usual interesting dive down steep cellar stairs to the loo .

Boogkeers and the area round it had been prettily yarnbombed

and the recycling shop round the corner had , as always , a pre-dieu for sale among the flotsam of unwanted chairs and a couple of very quiltable '60s remnants .

This cat tried to persuade me that it needed to be adopted

and I would have adopted these tiles , if I could .

A good Day Out to finish off the summer holidays . Only one more year to go , now . This time next year , I'll be relishing the prospect of sitting with my feet up , coffee and crossword in hand , all winter long .But now it's time to gird up my loins , dust off the recipes for wholesome soups and knit the annual wooly scarf . ( In Noro Kureyon in a mix of charcoal , chestnut and spice ) .

Any Excuse To Have A Blow-Out

Sonata:

Cue flags and choir ... I'm a year older ! Ever the party animal , I've chosen to celebrate my birthday this year by going to Ikea . There will even be a sandwich and as-many-cups-of-coffee-as-we-can-drink involved and Husband will have a slice of apple cake as well , because he's Dutch and Dutch people eat apple cake at every opportunity , even after prawn sandwiches .

I will even be giving myself a present .... a scarf-hanger . I seem to have acquired thousands of really pretty ones this summer ( it's Recession Chic , apparently , to jazz up last year's wardrobe with affordable accessories . They're kind to the somewhat older neckline , too . Not that that has anything to do with it ... that's next year .) Anyway , I've got tired of searching through a pile of silky slipperiness every time I want to add a touch of glamour to my Uniqlo white tshirts , so a proper Storage Solution seems sensible .

Youngest Daughter has recently turned thirty and said that on Saturday she got her first Older-Person -Alert !! reaction from some people at a party . She'd remarked that she remembered watching the fall of the Berlin Wall . Stunned silence .... "You remember the 198os ? Wow!"

Well , as one who remembers the 1950s .... ALL of the 1950s... I'm off to wrap a scarf artfully round my neck ... and PARTY!!

Out And About , Slowly

Sonata :
It's my last day in London , so I'm off to have a wander .
I've got a bruise the size of a demi-tasse saucer on my right foot , where I stubbed my toe last week , so I'm positively ambling along at the moment . But it's quite handy really . It makes people watching better .
Yesterday , on my way to the bus , I was overtaken by a tartan shopping trolley , pulled by an extremely elderly woman in an outsize t-shirt with " Don't call me John . I'm Juan " printed on the front . She'd got it tucked into skin tight jeans pulled up to her armpits and she was wearing lime green baseball boots with no laces . I suddenly felt dowdy .
A young woman in wooly hat and pixie boots zig-zagged past with a huge pink wheelie suitcase . She was carrying an empty white ornamental bird cage , holding it on high like Florence Nightingale's lamp .
I had lunch in El Rincon Quiteno ( sorry about the missing tilde , can't find it ) in the Holloway Road and , while I enjoy their delicious vegetable soup and chargrilled pork chops , shamelessly listen to the other customers . Two men nearby are having the usual "Take the A4 as far as ... " conversation . " Well " , said one , " I won't be doing that again . I ended up going faster and faster , like a bear running down a hill ."
An expansive chap rushed in for a sandwich . He looked round at us all . " I've been all around the world . Greenwich . The West End ..." . The Ecuadorian owner looked unimpressed .
The discussion at the next table trickles ever onwards , " I don't get it , we started off with ten each . Then Kiesha gave me back that £2 , then we got chips and Taylor wanted a drink , and I only fancied a coffee and you had an ice cream , but it costs £4 to get into the pool so Kiesha needed a pound and .... Anyway , where's that 10 p. come from , then? " Friend looks as lost as me .
So now I'm off to Hampstead . I think . Or Notting Hill . I want to see "Arriety" later .
Anyway I'll decide at the bus stop .
P.S. The rioting stopped by the middle of last week , fortunately . Now it's the cleanup and people are being urged to shop in affected areas to support local businesses. There do seem to be more police about , though . Not necessarily a bad thing .

Not The Day Anybody'd Planned

Sonata:

London seems to have decided to become wildly exciting, just as I arrived for a few days .
There's a new buzzword suddenly . On Sunday night Smitonius's local MP , hastily shoved in front of a BBC news studio camera , talked about the looting and disorder kicking off ...... today we're all saying it . The very nice young woman in the mobile shop in Islington asked us , as we paid , whether we were going straight home , " Because we'll be closing at 4 . It'll be kicking off then , we've been told . "
Having seen an exhibition at the Brunei Gallery advertised , I went off to see that , leaving my trip to the bookshop till another day . And loved it . It's only tiny but the jewellery exhibits are exquisite and the photographs fascinating . I ordered the catalogue , so will show you a couple of pictures when it arrives ( had it posted straight to Holland . It weighs a ton !)
Leaving and fancying a coffee and bun , I tried to go to the Brunswick Center , only to find that it was all closing down too . Police were urging people to go home early . The buzzword was used again .
And then I suddenly entered the Modern World .
My pocket started to play a perky little tune . I looked round , mildly surprised , and realised . I Had A Mobile .... and this was My First Call!
Fumbling madly through a pocketful of Oyster card , various cards , more cards , even more cards and a ballpoint .... Oh , that's where that was ..... I found it and answered . It was Smitonius and we met up and went home . Safe and sound and listening to helicopters circling nearby . It's kicked off somewhere else instead .
And , of course , despite the air of unreality , this is horribly real .Small family run businesses will be protecting themselves as best they can from groups of masked yobbos on the rampage , acting as though they're on Supermarket Sweep .
I wish everyone a safe and happy evening , wherever they are .