Meandering

Tuesday, 15 May 2012

The Poppies are Back

Hello my dears, sorry it's been so long!  I have missed you, and I have been reading your blogs when I can - I've had a bit of a change in working conditions which means I have less time to spend online, and I've also had a really fun couple of weeks with plenty of social activities, so I'm afraid my blogging has taken something of a back seat!  It might make me a bad blogger, but real life always takes precedence around here :)

It's been completely dreary weather for the last few weeks - it only stopped raining for two days! - but since we last spoke I have:

- been out for cocktails with the girls
- enjoyed a decadent dinner party at Sarah's (I made a Nutella chocolate fudge cake, I was given roast lamb)
- had a brilliant weekend in London which involved a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition round the back of Buckingham Palace with my sister, as well as my good friend Alex's 30th birthday party in an art gallery in Peckham 
- on the one sunny day we had, been on a beautiful walk up in the hills around Bath - pictures to follow in another post.  I live in such a beautiful city :)
- celebrated a mate's birthday in Bath with a homebrewed beer festival (I'm still not 100% recovered, but the memory of Johnny's Freddie Mercury impression has been keeping me going)
- gone back to the Wild Cafe for a sneaky weekday lunch date with t'other Sarah (wood pigeon salad at 1pm on a Monday?  Don't mind if I do!)
- been on the guest list for a very trendy gig in Bristol: it's not what you know, it's who you know!  Again, this one deserves its own post really, so stay tuned.

See?  I haven't been absent without good reason!  It's been hectic but loads of fun.  I'm knackered, but happy.

Plus, the poppies are back, so every time I enter or leave my office I am greeted with their sweet orange faces:
 

I want to try and transplant some at home again, since I drowned last year's attempt (I am a notoroius over-waterer).  This year I am being very strict with my plant watering routine: only on Saturdays!  I am having a surprising amount of success with some supermarket-purchased basil and coriander plants, and have managed to keep a Christmas cactus and a new calandiva alive for months (sadly, the original Diva fell victim to my over-attentiveness as well).

So, how have you been keeping your spirits up during this rainy, rainy spring?

5 comments:

  1. Real life is ALWAYS more important than virtual life and it sounds like you're having a pretty exciting time at the moment. Well done for keeping the supermarket basil alive - mine has rarely lasted longer than a week! x

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    1. It needed LOADS of watering (at least once a day!) when I first brought it home, then after about 10 days I transferred it to a slightly larger pot, and since then I water it about once a week and it's very happy! It's definitely my greatest plant success story to date. I should say "he" of course, not "it" - his name is Basil, after all :)

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  2. It's wonderful when real life gets in the way of blogging! Do it!

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  3. Nutella chocolate fudge cake sounds sooo good.

    Blogging should always take a back seat to life. :)

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    1. Ah Steph, it's my latest culinary trick: if you run out of time or can't be bothered to make icing/frosting (and I am sadly not very artful when it comes to icing cakes) then you simply smother it in Nutella instead. Everyone was happy!

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