September was...

Things I loved this September:

♥ working part-time for the first time since getting a proper job. How I can ever go back to working full-time one day puzzles me: this is the best thing ever!
♥ smelling the fig trees on our daily afternoon walk, seeing the automnal colours settling in
♥ getting new slippers. I am in love with my regressive mouse ones from Next, Baby is in heaven as long as Peppa is involved. I have no idea how she got this addicted to Peppa in so little exposure, but it amazes me that her first combination of two words ever was "Peppa Pig" last weekend.
♥ talking of Baby J, it has been an amazing month full of new developments: she hums, learnt to jump, and goes to the fridge for cheese when I ask her if she wants a slice of toast. It's a genuine blessing to see how fast she understands and memorises everything.
♥ the warm weather: not too sunny but warm. It must be the first time in many years the heating has not come on in September, and thank goodness for that.
♥ making my husband one lunch box every week. This is a first chez Lavender, but it's proved to be a hit. Just have to keep thinking of new ideas every week.
♥ working on two big pre-Christmas thingies, more on that later.

Ce que j'ai aimé en septembre:

♥ travailler à temps partiel pour la premiere fois depuis que j'ai un vrai boulot. Comment retourner bosser à plein temps après ça, je me le demande bien: c'est ce qu'il m'est arrivé de mieux!
♥ sentir les figuiers pendant la balade quotidienne, regarder les couleurs automnales s'installer
♥ des nouvelles pantoufles. J'adore les miennes avec leurs petites souris regressives de chez Next, bébé est aux anges du moment qu'il s'agit de Peppa. je n'ai aucune idée de comment elle est devenue aussi accro en si peu de temps, mais suis restée baba quand elle nous a sorti ses deux premiers mots ensemble la semaine dernière "Peppa Pig"
♥ en parlant de Bébé, ça a été un mois plein de développements: elle s'est mise à chantonner, a appris à sauter, et va directement au frigo chercher le St Morêt quand je lui demande si elle veut une tartine. C'est un vrai plaisir de la voir tout enregistrer comme ça.
♥ le temps clément: pas trop ensoleillé mais doux. Ca doit être la première fois depuis des années que nous n'avons pas mis le chauffage en septembre, et c'est tant mieux.
♥ préparer une lunch box pour mon mari une fois par semaine. C'est la première fois qu'on fait ça chez nous, mais ça a un succes fou. Il faut juste se creuser les méninges pour trouver de nouvelles idées chaque semaine.
♥ et pour finir, je travaille activement à deux projets d'avant Noël, j'y reviens bientôt.

four months old

Onion and tuna quiche, tomato and basil salad and fresh fruit

What I'm not showing you is the big weekly slice of millionaire shortbread I treat myself to - I don't want to break the dream! On this note, rain is due over London any minute now, so that gives me a good excuse to get a batch of chocolate-chip muffins on the way...yummy!
And I promise to try and show a bit more sewing and a bit less cooking in the near future. I just need to get my act together and be a bit more organised. I guess all the women who told me to forget about free time during my pregnancy were right after all...it's amazing how time-consuming such a little thing can be. The same women forgot to say that I wouldn't really care about everything else most of the time. I spend hours looking at her feet, hands, and ears. We play with the same toys everyday, cuddle at the same time and sing ♪ une chanson douce ♪ to go to sleep (bad video, I know, but there doesn't seem to be any good ones around). Sewing just has to wait.
Baby is now four months and two days old and I wouldn't take any of that time back for all the gold in the world.

healthy lunches

For someone not keen on summer or hot weather, the past ten days have been a real challenge. Nonetheless, it's a good excuse to keep having ice creams and it definitely encourages me to have lots of salads and fresh fruit everyday!

simple summer lunch

If you fry chopped spring onions in olive oil, add a handful of blanched frozen peas, mix together with left-over lasagna sheets cut-up papardelle style, and top it all up with serrano ham, you have yourself a very nice, improvised lunch!

simple lunch

Today I think my simple lunch looks a bit like the kind of tray you might get on an airplane! This weekend I want to make something seasonal...maybe asparagus or broad beans something. I think I might head over to Jamie Oliver for green inspiration, he always has great ideas.

simple lunch

The thing with looking after your new baby is...before she was here, I thought I had no time to do anything. Wrong!
It's amazing how efficient I am becoming at doing things with one hand only. It's even more amazing how quickly I can do things now. Like prepare this ultra-simple yet kind of balanced lunch in 1 minute tops. Incredible!

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!

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?

very simple lunch

The simplest lunch in the world. Pure childhood regression!

simple lunch

My - has it really been that long already? It kind of feels like ages, but at the same time the last six weeks have gone by so quickly. More on that at a later date.
Well, to ease my way back into the swing of things, I am showcasing another one of my simple lunches - really a sad excuse to show you the fabulous new bowl I treated myself to from Anthropologie. I simply love going to the Regent Street shop and admiring all their ranges of clothes, soaps, jewels and of course, kitchenware. And they have an amazing green wall full of plants going over three floors- beautiful!
I've been eyed the bowls and cups for a while, and now feels like the right time to finally get rid of the old and let the new in!

More eye-candy from the shop...

simple lunch

A nice hearty soup, fresh bread and creamy cheese, amaretto apricots cake. Divine.

Whta do you eat at the moment?

simple lunch

A simple lunch for one, and if you're careful enough, you can spot the placemat I made a while ago - not my finest hour, but I still like it and use it every time I eat...

It's nice to be back home after a few days away. Berlin has been VERY exciting. I'll say more about it later. For now I'm preparing to do a bit of sewing, and cannot wait to try out some new ideas I've had. Unfortunately I have had no time to look for fabric shops in Berlin, I hope I haven't missed out on too much...

Simple lunch

While I can still enjoy the little summer pleasures...

A small salad, some lovely and addictive blue cheese, Italian ham. Yummy!

And I just love using my dwarf tray! It's a rare pleasure as Mr Lavender doesn't like it...too girly and naff for him.

In keeping with the late summer theme, I'm going "hunting" for some blackberries later - hope there are some in the bushes, I am dying to make my spiced blackberry cheesecake!