A week ago

A week ago I went for a long walk in the bitter March cold and had to fight against the wind. But I told myself I needed that walk to keep active and to it was a good excuse to get rid of the cobwebs.
A week ago I ordered some spicy food and later in the evening I ate some pineapple, as I had done many times in the last fortnight. You see, I like those old wives' tales and urban legends that talk about how to bring on labour.
A week ago I dried my hair properly and wore make up for the first time in a while. It made me feel good to look a bit better than the casual person I had become because of staying home for so long.
A week ago I had no idea my labour would start that very night, and that by Monday afternoon I would be a mum. Your mum.
There truly aren't enough words to express how overwhelmingly in love I am with my daughter. Everything is new, magic, cute, mesmerising. Love at first sight.

Breakfast

I make pancakes almost every weekend. They're quick, easy and can be accommodated in lots of different ways. Today we had them with honey and raspberries. Yummy!
For my batter, I mix self raising flour, a spoonful of sugar, ground almonds, one egg and some milk. I have never weighed any of my ingredients, so I must apologise for the random recipe. I remember an old episode of Nigella's about morning pancakes- it might be worth looking it up for more precision!

simple lunch

 

Another simple lunch and not much else to report unfortunately. More snow is around the corner and a bitter cold has settled here again, as if winter wanted to show one last time this year just how fierce it can be.  This (and other things) has put me in a bittersweet mood and to pass the time I have listened to some old favourites whilst cosying up in my kitchen and preparing an old classic - semolina cake! The recipe says it should cool for at least two hours before putting it in the fridge but the job was done in ten minutes on my window ledge!

♫ Ben Harper - Glory and consequence

♫ Ray LaMontagne - Trouble

♫ Jeff Buckley - Lilac wine

cooking blog?

With my sewing machine still in limbo and far too much time on my hands (it seems babies do pick and choose when they want to make their appearance!), this space is rapidly going to turn into a cooking blog.

Today I busy myself by making another simple lunch of leek and tomato tartlets. I posted about the tomato ones ages ago here.
Leek tartlets could not be easier- sweat the leek down with a bit of butter, season and put on your pastry with a bit of egg/cream/milk mix. Sprinkle with Parmesan for a nice finish. Enjoy!

Homemade bread

Making bread is slowly but surely becoming a habit. A loaf lasts us nearly a week and keeps fairly well. Today I made this lovely smelling new one with a different kind of flour, and added poppy seeds for a bit of crunch.
I wish you could smell it, it 's intoxicating! I hope I can keep this habit going when my little one arrives. Everyone always says how therapeutic kneading is, and I have to agree.

simple lunch

I am making the most of being at home this week, as you can see! And we even got blessed with a bit of sunshine, which was absolutely lovely. But since yesterday it's nothing but gloomy rain again - not that I mind, really - it gives me an even better excuse not to strain myself.

 

I've been reading Hen's posts this week with a lot of compassion. She explains how sometimes it can be disheartening not to get many comments on one's posts. I could not agree more, and find it, personally, quite hard to stomach too sometimes, especially given the actual number of visits I get (thanks, tracking website!). But hey ho, that's life I guess. And just like Hen, I have had to leave a certain amount of security up on my comments - I don't know about you, but I am literally fed up of all those "anonymous" spam comments that go on about "how engaging my post is" or "how interesting that I raised this topic". Give me a break!

Still, it's nice to see your blog being visited, and it always astonishes me how far some of you connect from. Places that make me dream with envy - the West coast of the USA, Brazil, Algeria, Portugal, the Philippines, etc.

Thanks to you. And I'll just keep on writing. This is my little private place (ironic, I know!!) to share a bit of me. And I shall try to comment more on site I like, like Hen's.

simple lunch

Yes. Turns out, I think I could easily get used to being at home and  working on nothing else but "nesting". Of course, the circumstances are very particular, and they are definitely conducive to me not worrying in the slightest about work - what a nice change!

So far my first days off have been filled with simple activities. I have finally caught up with the very good Spiral, made little thank you notes inspired by the birthday card I got from Atina Alga, and had simple, healthy lunches (only to spend the afternoon stuffing myself with chocolates!). Oh, what a life, hey?

baby shower

This morning a strange feeling of "je ne sais quoi" is hovering around. I guess that comes with the prospect of not having to get up for work for a long few weeks months. The weekend was filled with happy moments interlaced with weird realizations that my working days are over for now. Strange for a workaholic like me, but I think I will easily get used to it.
To make up for it, I have already enrolled on one of those magical free courses, and have loads of sewing projects in mind, which, I hope, will finally get done!

Saturday kicked off the forced holiday with a little gathering - I tell you, it's good to be queen for a day and have tea and cakes in good company!