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A Day at The Redruth Book Feast

What a day we’ve had!
First was the Saturday Brunch debate, all about food and food production in Cornwall. The Breakfast in a Bap from The GrowBox  was delicious and followed by an excellent debate with really knowledgeable people – a very young food writer, Fliss Freeborn , Graham Harvey, the agricultural story editor for the Radio 4 serial The Archers and the author of books including The Killing of the Countryside and The Carbon Fields, and one of The Bearded Farmers, local food producers. The debate, both enjoyable and informative, became quite lively. It was chaired by Orlando Murrin, a very experienced cookery writer and a semi-finalist on MasterChef some years ago. .

I loved the afternoon session too and before the last talk had already bought myself a cookery book (I have well over a hundred but can’t resist another good one!) This one is Two’s Company by Orlando Murrin and I have already marked a good number of recipes that I plan on trying.

After Orlando Murrin’s conversation with Tim Hubbard, the last session of the day,  I was also won over by his first novel , a culinary crime story. I’ve read the first chapter while the FA semi final was playing and I’m loving it! (One for you to borrow, H?) It includes recipes too!

Signed copy 🙂

And there’s more tomorrow! We are so lucky to live in Redruth.

 

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Rain and Reading

Rain every day isn’t all bad as it means I can’t do the gardening that needs doing but I can read – all day! I am absolutely loving Maggie O’Farrell’s  The Marriage Portrait, lent to me by our lovely neighbour. What a beautiful cover to enhance the magic inside. .

 
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Posted by on February 17, 2024 in art, books, Postaday 2024, Uncategorized

 

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New Book, New Recipe and Cake

Many of you will know Jenny Joseph’s wonderful poem about growing old, “Warning” which you can read here. When browsing, I came across another of her books, not poetry this time but all about her garden and it came in the post today. As the title suggests it is about the smells and scents of the garden and I am really looking forward to reading it.

A couple of weeks ago I spotted a recipe in the paper that I fancied and cooked it tonight – Rukmini Iyer’s Mushroom, Spinach and Leek Tagliatelle with Pangrattato. I used vermicelli and it was delicious!

I’ve made a cake for us! Most of what I make is for others – today, the Heligan Pineapple Cake is for us as a birthday cake for my lovely Mr S tomorrow.

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2024 in allotment, books, Food, poetry, Postaday 2024

 

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John Donne, Sign and A New Word

Yesterday was John Donne’s birthday. I love this poem.

22/01/1572: Birthday of John Donne

A friend has a second-hand bookshop in Falmouth and today has this delightful sign in her window.

Today seems the right time to share this wonderful new word. I just love the smell of old books and the feeling of wistfulness that wraps one up in a second-hand bookshop like Bookmark, shown above, in Falmouth.

 

 
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Posted by on January 23, 2024 in books, Cornwall, Falmouth, poetry, Postaday 2024

 

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Roasted Rainbow and Another Good Read

One of our favourite meals tonight, a rainbow of roasted vegetables with halloumi cheese – scrumptious!

Red Pepper, Sweet potato, Carrots, Yellow pepper, Broccoli, Red onion

My lovely book buddy, H,  brought me up another good read yesterday and I have just spent two days reading! I thought I would just read a page or two and then get back to the various things waiting for me but I haven’t been able to put it down!

If you haven’t read this, then I suggest you do. The story is quite remarkable, very moving and  is just chock-full of human kindness.

 

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A Brilliant Read

A lovely friend with whom I share good reads, turned up just after lunch, in her hands a book she felt would suit me today. I was so touched by her kindness in recognising the need for laughter and relaxation as the LiveWires and their families have all left. It’s very quiet here today and  I have spent the rest of the day reading and laughing. It’s a brilliant, totally original read, a thriller full of current humour, written in a very up-to-date epistolary style and completely unputdownable. I’ve read it all this afternoon. Thank you H.

 
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Posted by on January 8, 2024 in books, friendship, Kindness, Postaday 2024

 

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A Posy, A Poem and A Painting

What a special visit with our lovely 104 year old friend. This is the garden posy we took for her today.

We had been directed to a very special booklet, of poems written by T’s father, J A Nickinson, in 1944. Each poem is a delightful evocation of the time and tells a story that touches one’s heart. I have permission to share this poem, ‘Thompson’,  and, later, the beautiful water colour that accompanies it.  This narrative poem, for a cat lover, is a particular treat, full of the observations that any cat person will recognise.

 

 

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Salad, Poster and A Post Box Topper

I’m loving being able to make new salady dishes with food we have grown. This recipe was from BBC Good Food and is cucumber and  fennel in a sour cream and vinegar sauce. It was delicious! Our evening meal of a locally made pie  also had homegrown potato salad and homegrown leaves. Pud is another meringue filled with creme fraiche and homegrown tayberries and black currants from the garden.

I love that, despite everything going on, Ukrainians in Kyiv are having a book festival. Brilliant  poster.

A lovely friend has sent me a photo of a delightful postbox topper near her in Truro.

 

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Killifreth, Library and A Flag

We took a different route to Truro today and on the horizon was Killifreth, the most elegant of engine house chimneys.

This is the library, The Passmore Edwards Free Library,  where I spent many happy hours as a child and where my Dad had to ask that I have access to the ‘grown-up’ library as I had read my way through everything in the junior section!  I started with the wonderful Scarlet Pimpernel stories.

Solidarity to Ukraine in the face of more terror last night – Slava Ukraini.

 

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Potting and Reading

I spent the morning potting up the begonias we bought on Wednesday and the afternoon in the shade, reading. I bought  ‘Once Upon a Raven’s Nest’ by Catrina Davies after hearing the writer talk at the Redruth Book Feast a few weeks ago and today settled down to read it. I was advised by the bookseller from The Edge of the World Bookshop at the event, that when I started it,  I wouldn’t be able to stop and he was right. I agree totally with George Monbiot about this remarkable story.

H, if you didn’t buy it, you can borrow it as soon as Mr S has finished it. 🙂

 

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