Lavendar scones and marmalade cake

The weekend just flew by… I got the car washed, we changed the tyre and started working on a few scratches Peggy acquired whilst driving down a sheer mud and rock drive, surrounded on either side by barbed wire-like gorse, at the farm in the Peak District some months ago. We tidied the garden, enjoyed an outdoor fire, defrosted the freezer, drank some beer and planned two other mini breaks for this year (literary festival in Cornwall in July; staying on another organic farm in Norfolk in August). I should point out that we didn’t do all of those things at once, they were spaced over the weekend!

We also went for brunch with friends and then visited the Chelsea Physic Garden. It really is a fantastic place: you can wander aimlessly enjoying the surroundings which are tranquil and lovely, or you can really get stuck into the botany and history of the place. Or you can do both, of course. I took the film camera that my friend had lent me and snapped away like a mad thing, but disaster struck! The film didn’t rewind and I’m not sure if it is ruined. (Like all good artists, I am convinced that it was some of my best work and nothing short of a tragedy). I’m going to an independent camera shop run by a rather cantankerous old man at lunchtime to see if he can save my pictures… bloody film cameras…

Anyway the garden was just what I needed after a terrible week. I started to feel relaxed and I particularly enjoyed breathing-in the cool, fragrant air. (So close to a nasty, busy road, but such lovely air!) We sat on the grass and ate lavender scones and marmalade cake and then managed to spend too much money in the shop (now there’s a surprise!).

And so back to work, lots to do and definitely more of an inclination to do it… even with the caveat of a certain amount of staring into space, dreaming about home made cake and one day owning our own small holding where the air is lovely and fresh…