Playing Solitaire in peace, I was rather annoyed when my laptop shut down with a message Fatal Error. I absolutely detest using my iphone for blogging, so had to wait for my laptop to be repaired to write anything. Hence two weeks' worth of photos today.
Our darling Sasha kept showing me the images of the church in his social story and random books, indicating that he would like to visit the church. But, of course, he expects it always to be as jolly as the Christmas Carol service, or a very short visit, like when we go in and out after looking around (for example, when we are in Cornwall we always pop in at the local church in Perranuthnoe).
I told my husband we should sit in the back in case we need to make a quick escape. Does he listen? No, he plops himself right in the middle row. Sasha kept yawning (and rightly so, I felt like yawning myself; it wasn't the most inspiring service). When everyone got up to shake hands and wish peace to each other, he thought it was the end of the service and got quite upset that we all sat down again. As Sasha was getting distressed, they had to leave. Eddie and I stayed until the end. To be fair, nobody seemed to mind, as they all know our family and are aware of Sasha's condition, and everyone is very welcoming and friendly.
It was not a complete disaster, but not exactly a success either. Oh well, at least for now Sasha changed his plans and keeps showing me the old photo of the bowling alley he went to with his old school. Bracing myself to a trip to the bowling place now. :)
I did quite a bit of gardening - covered my three potted berry plants (two honeysuckles/lonicera and a white currant bush) with netting against the blasted birds, who gobble up any berry growing in the garden.
We have a very old rose in the garden, which we inherited, when we bought the house. My Mum keeps asking me what the name of this rose is, but how would I know? It truly is beautiful, and the scent is amazing. If anyone could help me with the name, I would be eternally grateful.
Trying a new Magnum pistachio ice cream. The flavour is not overwhelmingly nutty, as you would expect, and a bit too sweet for me. The texture is nice. Still undecided, whether I would buy it again.
Gorgeous peonies that I treated myself with. Such a deep intense colour, and most beautiful shape. They lasted about a week before collapsing in a bright pile of petals.
For the last couple of years my husband works in Paris, so he spends three-five days there and the rest of the week with us. Not easy for me, but it is what it is.
Since he can just about make a coffee and a toast for himself, and cannot cook for toffee, he eats out, and often has a pizza in an Italian place nearby his flat. We went there once together, and since then I call it a "sad place" (as in Have you been eating pizza in the sad place again?). He says the pizza is good.
Stuck at home and not able to leave Sasha on his own, unless he has PAs to take him out, I have recently started to use UberEats more often for grocery deliveries. The problem is, of course, you don't choose the produce yourself. The last Uber delivery brought a rotting watermelon. They have refunded me after I sent some photos, but alas, the watermelon wasn't edible and I put it out in the garden for the birds. The contents were all polished off in a couple of days, so it wasn't a complete waste.
And here is my photo, let's call it conceptual art.
There was an annual food fair in town last Saturday. It usually takes place in & outside St Mary's Church, with lots of stalls selling local produce.
Eddie and I were wandering around, checking out what was on display. He fancied a crepe with Nutella (£5.70, eeek).
I got a little haul of cheese (including my favourite Oxford Blue), honey, blueberry and peach jam, very nice sourdough bread and some salami.
On the way to the fair, some random chap stopped me to compliment on the Hunger Games badge on my jacket.
In the evening Eddie went bowling with his friends, and then on to the sleepover, so my husband and I watched Eurovision on our own. I had to re-watch it with Eddie the next day. It was the usual silliness from most of the contestants.
I liked the Italian singer Lucio Corsi's song the best, as the lyrics were beautiful. His make-up and outfit was a mix of Ziggy Stardust and the Venetian carnevale character of Pierrot.
Vocal-wise, I thought the lady from Israel was one of the strongest contestants.
Cerne Abbas Man Cheddar was one of the purchases from the food fair, and very nice it is. Sharp and crumbly, it's a proper Cheddar, not one of those plasticky varieties that give this cheese a bad name.
I saw this beautiful bouquet in Waitrose. Not sure if it's one of the agapanthus family, but whatever it is, it's very pretty.
A new Middle Eastern cafe has just opened in town. Looking at the menu, they have dishes from Palestine, Lebanon, Israel. Sasha was out with his PAs, and I invited Eddie to check the new place out after school. We only had drinks. I ordered a lemon and mint spritz, and could hardly drink it. There was zero sugar. It was pure lemon juice with ice and mint leaves. Perhaps nice with fatty rich and spicy food, but on its own, very sharp and sour. Eddie fared better with a blueberry and cashew smoothie.
One of my sketches of Eddie with a pistachio ice cream, using a photo from our last trip to Paris as a prop. It was a very quick exercise. I've nearly fisnished my Moleskine watercolour notebook, which I started last summer. I tend to use several different notebooks and paperpads for sketching, of different paper types and textures, rather than filling in one at a time, so it takes me longer to complete each one.
I'm quite pleased with this sketch. It might not be the best likeness, but I think it conveys the happy vibe.
On Thursday Eddie went to London to see Romeo and Juliet at Globe. There were only fifty tickets for the whole school, and they were allocated randomly. On the day of the trip we had a big argument, as my silly child was moaning that he didn't want to go as none of his friends were going. I was so cross with him, saying that if he didn't go, that would mean, he has taken a place of someone who would have been very happy to have such an opportunity. We parted ways on a sour note.
They came back from London around 1am. In the morning Eddie said that he actually enjoyed it, and it was very cool. Teenagers, eh?!
That's one of the snaps Eddie has taken during the break (no photos during the performance).
I could see that one of my potted honesuckle honeyberry plants had ripe berries.
And that's my ginormous harvest of ten berries. I had to laugh. I've been looking after the plant, feeding it, covering with a special netting against the birds, and that's my reward for all the trouble. The berries are an acquired taste. They are supposed to be rich in antioxidants and have several health benefits.
And more pics from our garden - this ladybird looks so shiny, as if polished.
What I was reading these two weeks:
I finished two e-books by Eva Björg Ægisdottir - Girls Who Lie and Night Shadows, both from Forbidden Iceland series (books 2 and 3), which I started earlier this year. Icelandic detective Elma is the main protagonist. She arrives to her hometown Akranes after a tragic death of her boyfriend and joins the local police force. It's a small community, where everyone seems to know each other.
Both books are twisty and chilling. If you enjoy psychological thrillers with a strong police procedural element, it's quite an addictive series with a likeable detective.
There are murders, but they are not as graphic as in Camilla Lackberg's creations. I read a couple of books by Lackberg, and found them so explicit and full of unnecessary gore, that I am still traumatised, and I'm not usually that squeamish when it comes to thrillers.
How did your week go?
.jpg "Lonicera/Honeysuckle honeyberry")
.jpg "Eva Björg Ægisdottir - Girls Who Lie and Night Shadows")
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