THE FIRST DAY OF THE HOLIDAYS

There are few things to beat the wonderful up rush of spirits I get when I awake on the first day of the holidays, the feeling of being off the treadmill for a while makes me feel every bit as happy as it used to when the school holidays began.

We began our holiday with a special breakfast of waffles and hot strawberry jam, everyone’s favourite at the moment, we made a few plans for the day over breakfast and then my son popped in to town and I went out to look for elderberries. My luck was in, a little searching produced a carrier bag full of wonderfully ripe fruit, the juice of which had poured down my hands and wrists as I reached up to pick the berries.

Once at home I picked all the berries off the stalks........dreadful job.....and put the full three pounds onto the maslin pan with four pounds of apples and the juice of a lemon and just enough water to cover the fruit. Leaving them to simmer until the fruit was soft I had just enough time to prepare the pork for dinner and a tray of roast vegetables topped with maple syrup then it was back to the jam pan. Bubbling merrily and splattering the kitchen copiously the fruit was now ready to strain, a messy job after which I was every but as besmirched as thee kitchen, after hanging the jelly bag over a clean bowl from and old camera tripod I set about cleaning up the mess.

Scarcely an inch of the kitchen tiles was free of small red spots giving the place a festive air but also attracting numerous wasps beside themselves with excitement at the fruity smell emanating from the kitchen. One jump ahead of the little perishers I cleaned up the mess double quick as the meat was ready . The boys arrived for dinner as the wasps were leaving so that was al right and dinner was much enjoyed being a favourite feast day meal.

Still rather tired from our respective exertions we all decided on an early night as Pa has a hospital appointment at the crack of dawn tomorrow. It has been a lovely day and the prospect of the weeks to come is cheering, it may sound dull but to us spending time together, just the three of us has always been important and we have such fun.

Twiggy is delighted to have all her people at home, all the more people to tickle her tummy or to trail here toy mouse around for her to chase. I love to see her content, happy and sure of her place in the world, she really is a dear little cat and much loved by her people.