I think that, in spite of certain arduous complications (ahem, no hot water, ahem), if I think that life is pretty good then it must be pretty good. Especially this past weekend that involved some much needed down time after a hectic few weeks in which two days off together have been rare. The boyfriend was working on Saturday so I had the day to myself, scribbling on squared paper in the sunshine of my desk almost all morning (see my last post on a new source of inspiration) with homemade granola & plenty of tea. After a lunch of leftover chickpea curry I jumped on my bicycle, Fernando, & peddled down to Columbia Road at about three o'clock, prime time to snap up some bargain blooms. Peonies are my absolute favourite of flowers, their petals a little rougher around the edges than your average rose & those deceptively tightly balled buds slowly bursting into that unmistakable fragrance, but even though the season was later this year because of the rain, I was beginning to worry that I wouldn't be able to get any. Luckily, my fears were unfounded & I was soon wheeling my bicycle back in the direction of Haggerston Park with an armful of three bunches (two pink, one white) of the flowers for a mere ten pounds. Accompanied by an iced coffee & my book of Katherine Mansfield's short stories, I spent a very happy couple of hours in the isle of calm that Haggerston Park has always provided when London Fields has, err, not. It was down to Brick Lane that I cycled come six o'clock to meet Andrew from a long day at work & we wandered lazily home for the World Cup final which I will shamelessly admit was about the third match I'd watched of the tournament. Still, Deutschland über alles!
Monday soon rolled around (I did say that my weekends have always been slightly skewed!) & after a languorous morning spent reading & grudgingly getting dressed, Andrew & I decided on a similarly serene afternoon in St. James' park. I had had the idea of going to see the thoroughly exciting new exhibit on on Virginia Woolf at the National Portrait Gallery (last time I was there it was for David Bailey, remember?) but the weather was just too nice (read: sunshine) for me to consider lurking in the shadows, even for my most favourite of writers - another day, no doubt. So instead we picnicked on pretzels, nectarines, raspberries & blueberries while reading our books in the sunshine & getting freckled knees until gone six o'clock. Almost unbelievably neither of us had yet had the chance to see the new Foyles on Charing Cross Road so ambled up there through a bustling Trafalgar Square. While it will doubtless take more than one visit to get a sense of the place & rid of my sentimental attachment to the old premises, the new shop is doubtless something to behold - an open central atrium with plenty of light &, on this occasion, sun, the smell of fresh paint that lingers, displays of beautiful editions zig-zagging with the staircases up & up & up.I somehow
escaped with a little literary pamphlet (that, okay okay, featured Lydia Davis whom I have not finished fangirling for yet) called 'The Next Review' which I've already read almost cover to cover & the latest 'Chickpea Magazine', a vegan quarterly whose photographs & content are always, without exception, delectable.
The two of us were reluctant to abandon the warm, summer's evening but soon resigned ourselves to tiredness (& my 7:30am alarm set for the next day, yawn) & were soon home to rigatoni with ricotta & big broad beans from this week's Growing Communities vegetable bag. My signing up to the scheme has been something of a learning curve, I've got more vegetables to collect tomorrow without having cooked everything from this week's bag & I'm making gradual progress in thinking about a more organic assembly of my meals i.e escaping the 'meat & two veg' mentality of my childhood. Still, I'm finding myself so satisfied with the vegetables themselves, their freshness & quality as well as the feeling of connectedness that they give me, & I've cooked some delicious dishes this last week or so - Kitsunetsuki's beetroot risotto, from-scratch bean burgers with plenty of spring onions (both in such a natural form as I've ever encountered!) & griddled carrots, heaps of Hackney Salad alongside veggie kievs & roasted cherry tomatoes. I've the latter left from this week that I'll mix into a chilli non carne & then there's a bountiful bunch of swiss chard to stir into a potato curry, I reckon.
I think it's likely that I'll note down a few of these recipe ideas for the boyfriend as I'm, dun dun duuuun, off on holiday next week! To tell the truth, this time next week I will actually be in Rome with a handful of family, spending a few days there followed by a couple in Sorrento & Capri & I could not be more excited. Aside from the good company I am looking forward to lots of walking in the city, the sunshine, the books, the opportunity to dust down my SLR lens &, of course, the food which I plan to savour at every meal - from Italian coffee & pastries to burrata & basil salad to an improbable amount of pasta. Needless to say, this will all be documented in my notebook & later, here on this blog so do check back. I'm no where near organised enough as far as packing lists go but I think my reading materials of choice will be the latest issue of 'The New Yorker', a pinched copy of my Mum's 'The Infatuations' by Javier Marias & the topical (well, Venice isn't too far off) 'Journey by Moonlight' by Antal Szerb.
For now, I'm going to busy myself with a long-awaited spaghetti alla puttanesca & listen to the rest of this podcast from Shakespeare & Co. of Lydia Davis (yes, her again) reading from her wonderful new collection 'Can't & Won't' - you should too!
Speak soon - O.
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