Posted by Tania Kindersley.
Tired, so this is in brief.
Today I:
Was moved by the anniversary of Dunkirk.
Made a Hollandaise, watched it come together perfectly and then, at the final moment, split. Thought, bugger that; got two more egg yolks, started again, added the disastrous separated mess, and thanked the culinary angels as the thing cohered at last. Ate it with asparagus from Worcestershire.
Read an interesting story about Beau Brummell and the dandies of 1818. One theory goes that he conquered London society through sheer indifference.
Did research for the book. Did you know that Queen Shub-ad of Ur was probably the first person ever to wear lipstick, in 3500 BC? I did not. I did not even know where Ur was.
Contemplated the differences between radical and liberal feminism, to no great effect.
Talked to a nice gentleman about buying some 2009 claret en primeur, which is excessively naughty but rather thrilling.
Spoke to my mother on the same subject. 'What does Parker say?' she said. Then: 'Hmm. Perhaps I should get some La Tour Carnet too.' There was a rustling of pages. She has many mysterious wine books in which she looks up things to do with wine. 'Left bank,' she said. 'That's good.' More rustling. 'I see,' she said, cryptically. 'Mum,' I said, 'shall I let you get on with it?' 'Oh yes,' she said vaguely. She was no longer listening to me, but wondering whether the sun was shining when the grape was picked and how much it had rained the month before and if it was true that 2009 could be almost as good as 2005, which is what people are starting to say.
Thought about cleaning my car, and decided against it.
Felt a slight regret about all the things I do not know and shall never know.
Took a picture of - guess who? - no prizes:
(Isn't it odd that sometimes they look so different and sometimes so similar? Even though they are sisters, their looks and characters are quite discrete.)
Admired the horse chestnut, now in full bloom:
Felt pleased the delicate little chives survived last week's crazy monsoon:
And the apple blossom too:
Admired the evening light, complete with canine:
And that was quite enough for one day.
Your garden is absolutely beautiful! And, of course, your girls are rather gorgeous too.
ReplyDeleteI can't tell how much I enjoy following your blog. I look forward to it every morning just like my morning coffee.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy your hollandaise came together. I mean, you know, one simply cannot eat asparagus without it, can one? I laughed and laughed at this post, and love your lovely doggies. We love dogs over here too. You guys are adorable and quite likeable; I wish I could meet you. xx's Marsha
ReplyDeleteJane - thank you so much. Luckily you can't see the garden close enough to observe the terrifying ground elder.
ReplyDeleteSue - what a lovely thing to say, thank you.
Marsha - always so heavenly to hear from Texas. And your comments are so sweet and kind.
The Brummell story sounds interesting - where did you find it?
ReplyDelete