An Evening Out With MrM

MrM is giving me a tour of St. Pancras.

We look at the retail units

and the statue of Sir John Betjeman.

The Biggest Advent Calendar in the World has no numbers
but I am assured
there will be a man with a ladder and a Letraset tonight .

We check out the Champagne Bar

and watch the trains go by.

All around us people are saying
'Wonderful'; 'Amazing'; 'Fantastic'

This is his station and MrM is very proud.

And I am so very proud of him.

*****

MrM is part of the management team.
It is a HUGE project
which is linked to the Channel Tunnel, High Speed rail link, 2012 Olympics
and regeneration of a massive area of East London.
However, it is the restoration of this beautiful station
that everyone involved feels so passionately about.
It has taken ten years but it was worth it.
So many people involved and all of them feel it is their station!

To you all

Thank you for all your comments.
Your contributions make this blog so much more
than it would be with just my words and pictures.
I love reading them
and your insights and different perspectives
bring delight every day.

I think that I am very fortunate indeed
to have such interesting and amusing readers.

Moss

Moss is the only thing to photograph now.

Can I create an inspiring post with pictures of moss?

It is not photogenic.

It only looks good next to something else.

I think that I had better abandon this post now.

Not everything is worth blogging about.

Christmas Shopping

Yesterday I had a day off work to do Christmas Shopping.

This was my day:

Haircut

Talk to nice lady about upholstery

Post Office

Talk to nice man about picture framing

Take artistic photographs of moss

Scrub dining room floor

Reorganise personal filing

It is amazing what you can achieve

When you are trying to avoid doing

something boring.

Kitchen Confidential

Driftwood has tagged me to write 8 random things.

This is very difficult because I am not a random person.

So I thought I would open my heart to y'all

and get personal.

1. I am obsessive about spices.

They must be FRESH.

2. The smell of burnt toast

sends me into a FRENZY of opening windows.

3. I HATE pasta.

Unless it is one of those smart restaurants

which serve a single ravioli on a huge plate.

4. I cannot SWALLOW broad beans.

5. I am a good cook

but I am NOT INTERESTED

in cooking for myself.

6. I live in constant FEAR

of running out of milk.

7. I am too LAZY to peel oranges.

8. The smell of honey makes me feel SICK.

9. Lunch is a ham sandwich.

EVERY day.

This is so shocking that I was not going to reveal it

but then I read that Tracey does too.

Now I feel I have joined the Coolest Club in town.

Freesias

Freesias have a warm, slightly spicy fragrance

that clings to the air and reaches you in soft waves

when you pause and turn your head.

It is the smell of winter

like cinnamon and cloves,

freshly peeled clementines,

mulled wine and wet pine needles.

Stir Up Sunday

This Book of Common Prayer

belonged to MissM's Great-Great Aunt.

It was given to her at her confirmation in March 1918.

She was 16.

Her cousin had been killed in France only six months before

and she would have known that

her only brother was due to be called up.

It is not surprising that a hymn for use in time of war

is glued onto the front page.

Only one in ten women of her generation married.

She did not.

She was one of that multitude of women

who had to make their own way in the world.

I am not a curious person

and it has never occurred to me to look inside the little pocket.

I find to my surprise that it still contains pennies,

probably for the collection.

It seems appropriate.
She was a very generous woman.

Paws for Thought

Accessories are the key to a successful outfit.

Try to ensure that they are co-ordinated.

Update them regularly with new looks for each season.

Red is the new Black for Winter 08.

Love Poppy

x

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to my beagle buddy.

Self-heal

Prunella vulgaris

I would not have noticed this flower in the summer.

The deep purple is easily absorbed

in the shadows under the trees

and it is so small that you could tread on it

without realising what you have done.

Now, it is the only flower that I see

and it gives me great pleasure.

Do you want to know why I write this blog?

It is because I feel I must.

Sometimes I long for a break

and I wish I could go back to the pre-blog time.

But I feel compelled to continue.
The things that I need to write about

queue up and jostle for space in my brain.

Each post takes a very short time

because it is there before I write it.
And then there is a sense of relief

as though I am on a journey

and another step

has been taken.

In each post I see something new

in isolation,

by itself.

I can think about that one thing

and appreciate it.

And be grateful.

A day in London with MasterM

We meet at Baker Street tube station.

He is taking me to a gallery in Dorset Street

He checks the map and then guides me across busy intersections

For the first time MasterM is showing me his London.

The Atlas Gallery has an exhibition of photos by Lev Borodulin

Shotputters, divers and cyclists black against the white walls.

I am seeing a world that I do not know.

I offer lunch and we are back on familiar territory

MasterM eats his solid chocolate fudge

with no apparent ill effects.

And now we must spend the afternoon

at a University Open Day

listening to an admission tutor,

meeting student ambassadors,

touring academic rooms.

You might think that this would be my world

but as I listen to him

discussing his plans for the future with other people

I know that this is his world now

and it is a huge privilege to be there.

Sue Gee

Sue Gee - how do I love thee?

Let me count the ways.

1.You write a book with a ravishing title

that leaps off a bookshelf and into my hands.

Who could resist 'The Mysteries of Glass' ?

2. You describe the Herefordshire countryside in a way

that makes me almost renounce my Cornish heritage.

3. The principal characters are agonisingly well drawn.

As they meet I want to reach out and prevent the catastrophe.

4. My head aches with the complexity of the dilemma as I read.

5. I immediately return to the bookshop for more.

I find 'The Hours of the Night' and am not disappointed.

Philipa Gregory agrees with me.

6. Now I am reduced to searching

through second hand bookshops for the backlist.

I find ' Keeping Secrets' in a strange shop

in the back streets of Sligo

with a scary amount of 'Dungeons and Dragons' manuals.

It is the earliest of your books

but has the compassionate insight into relationships

that characterises your later writing.

7. A new book 'Reading in Bed' has just been released.

I want it for Christmas.

MrM - are you listening?

after rain

everything glitters

and shines

and sparkles

and shimmers

wild jewels hidden in winter hedgerows

Adventures in Gastronomy

MasterM is cooking in Another Woman's kitchen.

He calls.

MasterM

I am cooking steak for supper

MrsM

Wow! That sounds good

MasterM

What do you think we should we have with the steak?

MrsM

thinks: What is quick and nutritious?

What about frozen peas?

MasterM

Won't they be a bit cold

pause

MrsM

You cook them first

MasterM

Right.

Broadening Horizons

Pomegranate

Why?

Because it is a Super Food

and will protect me against wrinkles, cellulite

and things that go bump in the night.

What are you going to do with it?

Make a jewelled fruit salad.

Dragon Fruit

Why?

Why not?

What are you going to do with it?

I am going to put it in my fruit bowl

and pretend that I eat Dragon Fruit all the time.

Cape Gooseberries

Why?

Because they are pretty.

What are you going to do with them?

MissM can dip them in chocolate

and give them to her friends

Custard Apple

(the photogenic side)

Why?

Because it was half price.

What are you going to do with it?

I have no idea.

*****

Many thanks to all of you who recommended new blogs to read.

Here is a list for you to enjoy too:

two lime leaves

peppermint patcher

Aliedwards

Miz S

dooce

dottie angel

Linaloo

posy

Tongue in Cheek

My Marrakesh

Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

Middle of Nowhere

A Fanciful Twist

Becca and Bella

Vintage Fairy Files