We must all have been very tired last night because we all slept well. My son fell asleep at eight and did not stir until eight thirty this morning, Pa also slept through and even I only woke briefly on three occasions which is very rare indeed. Twiggy once settled did not so much as twitch a whisker and I found her on waking in the identical position she was in when fell asleep.
This morning , still drowsy I made porridge for breakfast after which my son went in to Twickenham, I made the days bread and Pa went out to feed the birds,
I received a gift of flour from my neighbour a few days ago and so I decided to try it out today, there were two bags, one of spelt flour and one of fine milled granary,a very unusual flour indeed. As spelt flour can be rather heavy if used alone I add a mixture of half granary, a quarter spelt and a quarter white and this gave a really useful flour. The loaves rose well and the texture was excellent so we shall have some more when my neighbour next goes to Richmond Farmers Market. I made a big crusty bloomer for him to try decorated with sunflower hearts and pumpkin seeds, besides this I made another bloomer and two large tin loaves for toast and sandwiches.
My son found some excellent garlic for me, the best I had had in a long time. All too often the garlic in supermarkets is practically desiccated or even worse rotten, this was fresh and juicy, perfect for today’s meal of roasted pork belly with roast garlic sauce roast vegetables , jacket wedges and tarragon dip, a meal we have often as we all love it. It is the sort of meal that looks like a medieval feast when it I spread upon the table. There is the roasted meat on a platter surrounded by the jacket wedges, on another platter the roasted vegetables and in smaller dishes the baked courgettes in butter and the bowls of dip. The pork is sliced while hot and placed on to trenchers of day old bread which soaks up the juices beautifully and the garlic on which the pork is cooked is sieved to make the sauce which is then spooned over the meat.
It is simple to cook yet is looks spectacular when served .
Today has been the sort of day when very little happens and I am glad of the lull. We have had time for the small pleasures of family life, the simple sometimes silly little things which are in reality so very precious. Time to be together is something that we treasure as a family just as much today as when our boy was a small child when we played with him for hours at time, we still play even now . Board games are our favourite and as the days become shorter and the garden less demanding I have more time to thrash the boys at Ludo or get well and truly beaten at Carcassone, cards and dominoes feature also and as we are all good players the competition is fierce.
Sometimes we watch a film together and make jokes all the way through laughing until our sides ache, we eat jelly beans and giggle like children. Even the cat joins in chasing the odd jelly bean dropped on the flour.
Some times the days when nothing happens are the best days, the ones I remember when other more exciting events have been superseded by even more amazing occurrences
The small insignificant ordinary things are where comfort is to be found both now and in the future and I store them carefully away to be remembered on a rainy day when perhaps life is not quite so sweet.
These memories are my greatest treasures and in them those I have loved and who are no longer with me live again, they laugh and they smile for me and I smile with them. They are mine for as long as I live and with these wonderful memories I shall never be alone.
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