These last two weeks have been a time of exciting and creative happenings (plus the usual work!) punctuated by manic painting in the gaps left between all of this.  Nothing unusual there, you may say.  After all, you are an artist. Well, the painting has been purely practical, not imaginative, and on a large, tiring scale.  The decoration of the kitchen has been my latest project, and it is slowly drawing to a close. But so as not to lose the feeling of being an artist as well, I am painting it using expressive brush strokes, and sometimes using expressive language alongside.

It is also continues to be a time of finding older paintings. This week's discovery had been hanging on the kitchen wall for so long that it had become invisible.  And now I have looked at it again, I am pleased with what I see, moreso than when I had actually completed it.

It is all about the making of an apple pie, and is a mixture of my photography, and my painting.
  I am thinking it might lead to another exploration of cookery through art, perhaps to become the first of a series about the processes of cooking. But not quite at the moment.  It will have to be after my intense 'beautiful but more neutral' house decorating project, with view to be on the market in May!

Whenever I decide to really de-clutter my possessions, people must sense those emptying spaces, and feel the urge to replenish on my behalf.  This is an 80s knitting pattern book from my Aunty Sally.  There is a tank top pattern in there that I really might make one day......but who on earth would knit, let alone wear, this pattern?

It is truly hideous......perhaps if you were going to a Beryl Cook convention?
 If I was wearing it, there would have to be a large cash reward at the end of the day.

Well last week I promised you a glimpse of my newly re-vamped kitchen, complete with me with my newly refreshed eyebrows. And if you get close enough to see, my cream paint-speckled hair.

Here I am in the old style kitchen, lots of wood, grease, horrid cracked tiles and yellow walls.

And here, in the gleaming, 'beautiful but more neutral' kitchen.  My eyebrows may be hidden by my
painted fringe, but feast your eyes on the cream units, gleaming white tiles, gleaming gas hob.......

So excited am I that I have moved from 'cooking with wine' to 'cooking with gin!'

Our new oven is just as exciting as a new television.  I can't remember when we were last able to see what was cooking through a clean oven door!  Mr Cooper and I have been quite transfixed by the sight of pastry cases turning golden, pheasants becoming bronzed, parsnips becoming dangerously
darkened.....Yes, I do know we need to get out more.

Last week saw me do my first stint as an art volunteer at Trinity, working alongside the art tutor with the women's group. http://trinitywinchester.org.uk/ 

 It is really good to be working with art and people again, especially in a non exam-driven way. 

And, to add to my creative excitement, I attended another creative writing course  at Tuppenny Barn.

http://www.tuppennybarn.co.uk/  This one had 'Journeys' as it's theme. A smaller group this time, which was great as we all worked well together.  I have decided to take up a writing exercise during lent.  When I wake up, before actually getting up, but after a tinkle break if needs be, I spend ten minutes writing things that come into my head, with no hesitancy. But what I have written I do not look at for 30 days. 

 It is surprisingly easy to write for 10 minutes, but I have surprised myself so far by having a very practical  content to my writings, I had thought it would be purely emotional....... did write about my dream for the first time this morning.

The composition of 'Naked and Surrounded by Cake'  has been bubbling away in my brain this year. First deeply, and now coming to the fore.  Each year I produce a significant drawing about my life. Each year I enter it into two prestigious competitions, and each year, both reject me.  But it has become a tradition now.  Rather like actually enjoying dry turkey.
This year, the drawing will be a sort of companion to the one below, 'Naked and Surrounded by Cake', but with a very different background. In fact, as I write this now, yet another idea has sprung into being.  Almost certainly the start of a series! (you can start to see now how room painting is seriously hampering my creative work...there is not enough time! (Oh well, only 5 more rooms to go......arghhhhh!))

Here is my usual Sunday treat with Mr Cooper.  Sitting down in a nearby pub for an hour or so, for  a chat, fully armed with salty snacks, Shiraz and the trusty sketch book.  This one is showing wasabi nuts in a natty orange boat, mini cheddars, a large Shiraz, and the beginnings of the idea for my next significant autobiographical work, called "Naked, and Surrounded by Life.'

Whilst we were sitting there, chatting away, a couple came into the bar.  She was a little over 50, wearing a fake fur leopard print coat, red lipstick and whacky boots.  'Do I look a bit like that?' I asked Mr Cooper.  'Yes, that's how you dress', he replied.  'But she was wearing gold-stitched cowboy boots!' I exclaimed.  How tacky, I thought, as I glanced down at by beautiful blue Dr Marten sandals, much more suitable for someone over the age of 50.

Before I leave, let's not forget Valentine's Day, and for once, I actually didn't.
Here is a biscuit lovingly decorated for me by Sam.  I had to double check that he had done the actual work as a) it showed joined-up writing and b) he only calls me 'mum' when talking about me to other people.  But on reflection, a)you have to use joined-up writing when piping and b) he decorated it at work. At home no doubt I would have been 'mother' or 'ma'.  Or sometimes even 'mate'

And here are some of the gifts given by Mr Cooper.  I think he is getting to be really quite artistic.
I can't show you the other two gifts, as by the time we had started to cook the Sunday Roast, one had been eaten, and one had been drunk.  Both delicious!

 And here, so as not to feel left out, is Mr Cooper himself, sporting his Valentines t-shirt.

 I hope you all had an enjoyable Valentine's day, and that your week has continued to be mainly enjoyable. And I look forward to catching up with you all soon, when hopefully I can show you the other half of the kitchen! (That's the half that is mainly still in the living room)
So I must go downstairs now to clutch a paint brush, and keep buggering on.
 Ah well, there is always tea, and radio 4, it's not all bad.

Each New Year starts with good intentions, but also with a sense of looking back as well as looking forward.
January has not been so much about the 'achievement' of these good intentions but rather, a more gentle approach as we 'move towards' them.  A soft approach is usually the best, I find. 
Me and Mr Cooper always start each year with the intention of 'moving towards' a healthier lifestyle, and we embraced these issues by consuming vast amounts of vegetables with our Sunday roast chicken, plus all the added goodness of that delicious fermented grape juice. 

 

I received my first commission of the year, to make a funky birthday cake.
Using my last year's successes as inspirations, I came up with 'Bartholomew', the latest hedgehog cake.

I wasn't present at the sacrificial devouring of the above, but I am told he was delicious, and the birthday girl ate so much she became very ill. As she was 24 and not 4, another explanation of the sickness was an excessive intake of fermented grape-juice and other related products.

Here is Bartholomew looking decidedly anxious.
 The candles have been lit and now the knife approaches................

As well as earning money baking a cake, I have been boosting my overdraft by helping Sam out at Thyme and Tides in Stockbridge, when they were a KP down.  Sam very cunningly didn't tell me that my duty on 'Fish and Chip Friday' was to help cook, and well as wash up!  But after a quick tutorial, we made a dangerous team, rapidly producing succulent fish, chips and peas, whilst singing along to our faves.  

We did salad and squid too, yum yum.  Well worth a visit for a Friday evening treat.

http://thymeandtidesdeli.co.uk/fish-chip-night/

As me and Mr Cooper continue on the mammoth task of de-cluttering (nearly a month, now!)  I keep coming across paintings from more than a year ago.
It is always interesting to view old work after a long absence. 
I loved seeing my two paintings, based on the medieval bestiaries which tell stories of how the natural world was perceived, all those many years ago.


In this one, hedgehog parents roll in the fallen grapes, in order to bring back food for their babies.
As they are feeding their young, they are acting very responsibly, and avoiding any grapes that have started to ferment.

And in this painting, it shows you how to steal a tiger cub away from it's mother. You never know when this method may come in handy. You put a mirror on the ground, and when Mummy Tiger looks into it and sees her reflection, she thinks she is seeing the face of her cub.  Act quickly, as now is your chance to gather up said cub, and gallop away with it.  so do not attempt this manoeuvre if you have no mirror, or horse.

Don't worry or be sad, in this particular story, the woman feels so remorseful after a few galloping strides that she returns the the cub to his mother.  She is doubly pleased, for now she can gaze on both her own and her cub's beautiful face.

And as for stories of the week, this is my favourite.  In fact, favourite of the whole year so far, even including our book group's choice.

In this story, the main thread is of a surgeon's survival of himself and some of the men under his command.  They are captives in a Japanese POW camp, on the Burma Death Railway.  Threads from this story untangle and form their own story, whilst still being attached to the main thread.
What is really very good is the way the differences in different cultures are shown.
And throughout, in the midst of enormous depravity and brutality, so much so that reading about it is sometimes challenging, are the most beautiful Japanese haiku verse.

In this world

                       we walk on the roof of hell

              gazing at the flowers.

Issa

I would say this book definitely approaches, if not actually becomes, a 'must read' novel. Not 'you should' but 'this should be compulsory'.

Back to the writing that I am/should be doing..............

As I think a little more about the cookery book that will be written by me, images of tea parties from previous years are discovered in old sketchbooks.

This day of cooking with my friend Sarah was always undertaken with the intention of becoming the  inspiration for food art, which it was.  I am gazing at the image now, hoping it will inspire me with ideas for illustrations for my, as yet, transparent cookery book.

Back to actual baking, this weekend we had a late Burns night, and I made an Ecclefechan Tart from 'Jamie's Great Britain'.  It is so delicious that I have added the recipe to the end of this blog.  If you like whisky and dried fruit, this is a 'must eat'.  Do make sure you also make the accompanying cream to go with it.  Both the tart and the cream are contain black treacle, providing such an intense and elusive depth of flavour.

 And now, to a photograph that definitely shows the present and the past.  This is me, cooking the last ever Sunday roast in the old kitchen.  The very next day most of the kitchen was removed to be re-constructed by Shawn, Toby and B&Q.  Shawn and Toby were absolutely amazing, and B&Q were satisfactory, in the end.  The sales assistant who 'helped' us was also absolutely amazing, but in a different way.  I had thought that employees should have greater product knowledge than members of the public.  Well, it was 3 hours in B&Q that I will always remember!

 

So the next photograph you see of me in this familiar pose will be less familiar...............
I might be wearing the same apron , but the transformation around me will be amazing!  In fact, I might even look a little better, as I am having my eyebrows done next Friday.

On another amazing note, one of my resolutions was to regularly swim 1 mile.  This morning, after having been stuck at half a mile for a little while, I swam 3/4 mile. (This is amazing for me...)
And as for the other amazing occurrence this week (well, another was that Mr Cooper had to be up at 7.30 am, Monday to Friday)  I have decided to become a user of 'Instagram', when I can find a younger one to explain it all to me, very carefully and slowly.  And hopefully kindly.

I hope you have a productive and happy week ahead.  Keep a look out for snowdrops now.  Always such a welcome sight, the beginning of the end of winter.  Take care and keep warm, I am looking forward to catching up with you again next week.

Happy New Year to you all, and I hope it will be a good one too.
2015 was a bit of an unsettled year for me, and I was not feeling too sad about saying goodbye to it.
And although Christmas was really enjoyable, it felt good to be packing away the decorations till next year, and also wondering where we would be next year.  It's quite exciting to think that we could be decorating our tree in a new house!  Well, hopefully an old house, that's new to us.

Here is a fab tree, that is not ours.  This tree was admired at the start of our 3 week festivities, in the home of Val, Mr Cooper's cousin.  A most unusual image for Val's house, as it does not show any people.  Usually a picture taken in this room would include at least 4 adults and 6 children.

It was my plan to take lots of Christmas photos, but to a large extent you have all been spared, as my camera ceased to function during  Christmas weekend number one, so you will all have to imagine what a fab time we had with my younger bro Mark in Portishead with his family.  But don't worry, we all drank responsibly.  We used a wide variety of drinks to ensure that the Quality Streets did not present us with a choking hazard.

In the traditional way, I decorated the cakes on Christmas Eve, the last outing for a while for my Christmas cake decorations.  In the new 'moving house' regime they come under the heading of 'clutter' and will be packed away soon, until they emerge once again victorious to add colour and clutter to our new abode.

In a less traditional way, as I did not want to eat lots of cake, I decorated a cake tin with marzipan and icing, to allow my figures their last romp in The Gables.

And to please Sam, I also decorated a smaller tin, for his Lego Christmas characters.
(Black treacle, if you are wondering)

Christmas day, and dinner number 2, the Christmas goose.  Here I am wearing the best apron ever (thanks Juliette) doing a quick baste before popping down the road for our usual Christmas morning drink, a couple of pints of HSB.  Sam took this photo using his old ipad which has become my new one!  And I went on to impress him by being able to transfer the image to my blog.  Well, I actually only impressed myself and Mr Cooper, as Sam did not think that was in any way a clever manoevre!

We had a great Christmas day, me, Mr Cooper and the boys, with really lovely presents too.  And when I took the boys back on Boxing Day, I realised just how lovely our presents had been, when I saw one that had been given to their Dad!

Milly is a fairly beautiful elderly cat, but it's strangely unsettling when her image is added to a gigantic cushion.  Not suitable for rooms used by small children and people of a nervous disposition!
Her beauty has completely disappeared, and in fact has mutated to an image of horror.

Then came Christmas dinner number three, turkey with Rachael and Ben.  A repeat of Christmas Day, including the HSB, but also a chocolate orange.  Just as good as Christmas day, with yet more presents!

Then up to Glasgow to spend New Year with my big bro Simon and his family.  We had such a great time, arriving to enjoy their annual dinner of party food from M&S.  We continued in a similar vein, pausing only for more feasts (lobster and langoustine for one, rib of beef for another) or another bottle of fizz.  Plus, one of the best presents ever, my dinasour necklace!  There is not an outfit that it does not go with. What a great start to hopefully a great year.

Si is starting his year with a new book and a new interest.  He is learning to play the bass guitar, so he will be able to accompany his youngest, Lucas.

My book for this year is motivated by greed, not enlightenment.

Well, perhaps 'greed' is too strong a word.  Rather, how to convert 'clutter' to 'cash'.  In the past, my de-cluttering has involved trips to charity shops, and donations to friends.  Perhaps by chapter 3 I will have given up on eBay, and reverted to those tried and tested methods!

We got back from Glasgow in time for me to attend my work's do.  The staff from 'The Greyhound' in Stockbridge arrived in force at 'The Greyhound,' Broughton for an evening of delicious Thai food, and as much drink as you desired.  Are you ever worried after a staff party that your views  became too frank, and you may have caused offence?  Don't worry any more, take a tip from the chefs and just drink so much that you remember very little of the actual event.
 That way, you are totally oblivious of any offence caused!

Here I am with the gorgeous Caz…………..

……………….2 artists together.  Caz is an exceptionally talented animal portraitist.
Do go and explore her website and her work.
http://home.carolyngrangeranimalportraits.co.uk/

Well, back to work now.  And for the next 2 weeks I will be giving Sam a hand, in 'Thyme and Tides'.
I started yesterday, and spent a jolly day washing up, then sorting things out.  I found, just like in Harry Potter, a sorting hat was most beneficial!

Well, all back to normal now, whatever normal is*.  I think 'normal' had better become days without red wine and chocolate, but rather days where I do go swimming, and I do continue read 'eBay for Dummies'.  Before settling down at night to enjoy a healthy stir-fry whilst sipping water. Sounds great!

I hope your 'normal' also includes a big chunk of fun, and I look forward to being with you all again next week.
ps, my camera is better, it only needed a new battery, phew.  We are united again!

*Is this normal for most people, or just me?

It's Christmas Eve all too suddenly,  and here is my Christmas blogette which again has come round all too suddenly.

Why a blogette?  Basically because December has been so busy that I have decided to return to that ancient tradition of doing absolutely everything on Christmas Eve.  Ably assisted by Mr Cooper, I hasten to add.  Even as I type I can hear him ably getting to grips with the hoover, cleaning those parts of the carpets that have only just been revealed since last year in a frantic early morning tidy-up.

And lately, when not hectically socialising, going to a brilliant wedding, and and enjoying an early Christmas, I have been beavering away at The Greyhound.

This was my little dish-washing corner yesterday at work, full of festive cheer and colour.  The flowers and card were from the chefs, and the wonderful pink flamingo from Juliette.  It was so lovely both to be given presents, and to have such a decorated windowsill that I think I shall have to continue with that theme next year (the windowsill that is, I don't think I will be given flowers on a weekly basis!)  Work was fairly festive too, in the kitchen.  But spoiled only by having to do lots of washing up for customers actually enjoying Christmas festivities in the usual way. 

Remember the picture of the elderly Christmas tree fairy?  Well, today she was placed on top of the tree again, the first time for many years.  And to make her feel especially at home, the tree was of the old fashioned variety, full of spindly branches and very sharp needles, but altogether very beautiful.

More so really than the robust blue spruces.

Last week, Mr Cooper wondered why I had written that I would be putting the tree up twice.  'That's simple', I said.  'They always fall over at least once'.  'Not with our new holder!' he cried.

Well, luckily I had decided to put the fairy on last, as when my back was turned, the tree toppled over into me and my head.  That's one of the reasons that I know they are so very spiky!

Here is the fairy on top of the tree, posing in front of my decorative christmas curtains, and collection of snow globes, both of which I am sure help her to feel more at home.

What do I want for Christmas?  Not a lot really, in the material sense; apart from a health check for my camera, which has started to do some very funny things.  I have had to take 2 of this week's photos with my phone, which is handy but nowhere near as good as my now elderly camera.  And like most relationships, we have been together for so long I do not want another.

As far as New Years resolutions go, one is get to grips more with technology.

Also to up my swimming times so I am regularly swimming a mile.

I didn't keep last year's resolutions, one of which should have been very easy to achieve.  They were to go to Brighton to buy a pair of denim dungarees, and to also enter the London pantomime horse race.  Perhaps having more down to earth aims next year will do the trick!  

Anyway, I hope your Christmas time will be special for you, and you manage to avoid any falling trees.

Don't over-complicate the New Year with too many resolutions.

 Drink plenty of water is always a wise one. When I see you next in January, water will seem a most welcome choice of beverage!

I leave you all with Christmas wishes, beautifully supplied by what Christmas is all about.

This is a tag from a present, which was given to me by someone with a big heart full of love.

Quite a bit of the past year has been hard, but the gains to it have been wonderful.

Try to keep your hearts loving and open, in this sometimes fraught season.

It is a time for giving and also receiving.  Sometimes presents, sometimes unwelcome points of view!

Keep those hearts full of love, and your glasses full of good cheer! 

Here I am today looking back at a week of hard work, but also a week of such smiles and laughter.
As well as the usual hard work in my life (trying to be a successful artist and cookery book writer, washing up manically at The Greyhound, and being happily married to Mr Cooper) I realised that Juliette and Colin's wedding was getting alarming closer, and there were still things I had to do.

As well as being my wonderful female friend in the (for me) male environment of The Gayhound, Juliette is a regular reader of this blog, and always gives fun feedback.
It's not easy you know, being an artist. We work all day on our own and all we need is everybody we meet to tell us how wonderful our work is.  You can imagine now why it's not easy being an artist!

Anyway, back to reality.  Juliette asked me if I would do a reading at their marriage ceremony, which was so exciting.  Son Sam suggested that as Juliette was a Green Donkey fan, I should write the actual reading. Not only did Juliette and Colin agree that this was a good idea (even more exciting) they wanted the contents to be a surprise on the actual day ( substitute 'scary' for 'exciting' now!)

So a Sunday morning was spent in my most productive writing place (in bed surrounded by sheets of paper and cups of tea.)  Then afterwards me and Mr Cooper went out for our usual Sunday afternoon drinks, and Mr Cooper pronounced the reading to be good, even before the second pint.

Then onto the completion of the Smash and Spam tray………….

……………I know I have alluded to a forthcoming artwork, featuring Spam and Smash.  They were to be united in my wedding present, along with their good friend Worcestershire Sauce.  And is it was to have a breakfast tray feel about it, what better drink to include than a robust and uplifting G and T?

Wedding jobs done, all I had to do now was to do my regular 11-12 hours in the kitchen on Thursday, and then, joy of joys, go to our hotel room at The Grosvenor, ready for the wedding on the following day.  To make this even more better, Mr Cooper joined me for this novel Thursday experience, and we went to the hotel via the Three Cups.

Friday morning dawned, and we ventured down the High Street to practise the speech on George and son John ('Too fast, much too fast, far too fast and you said again twice', from George.  'It's very good, well done, perhaps a little slower would be good, and there's nothing wrong with a reinforcing repetition, perhaps just a little slower' from a more tactful John)

Then all we had to do was to return to the Grosvenor to dress, and apply jewellery and nail varnish, one or both of us, then go downstairs in readiness for  the wedding.

And what a wedding!  It managed to be beautiful, so moving, happy, deeply personal and just fab all at the same time.  Our friend Jane Waterston was conducting the ceremony, and she was just perfect too.
Not only was it such a privilege to be there, and to be reading, but it was so lovely to not only be included in the happiness of Col and Juliette, but to be able to continue that happiness beyond the ceremony, and beyond the day.

Here they are, only just married, and still looking like it was a jolly good idea…..

……………………and very much a traditional start, will Col upright and manly, and Juliette touchingly leaning towards him for support.  Nothing to do with pre-wedding Bucks Fizz.

'Attention to detail' is a good mantra for living, and must have been the mantra for the wedding.
After bubbles, then more bubbles, we went through for the meal.  Although Mr Copper and I knew only 3 people there, and one of them had already left, we met such great people on our table. The order for the day was indeed smiles and laughter.
 All of us received a personalised goody bag, each illustrated by Juliette's daughter Lisa.

When the meal was over, Mr Cooper and I decided to reserve some strength for the evening ahead, so we retired for a couple of hours to eat fudge from the goody bag, and also a wedding cupcake.

For a couple who normally eat only savoury food, we were doing really well. 

 All that remained to do then was to spend the rest of the evening dancing, and to music that we not only recognised, but really liked! 

 And as we put a lot of effort into all that dancing, we made sure we kept our liquid levels topped up.

So much so that at the end of the night I was so worn out with all that dancing, that Mr Cooper had to help me up the stairs!

Christmas draws closer, bringing with it that manic Christmas rush.  On Sunday I went to stay with Mum, and we went out for Sunday lunch, a really good habit we seem to be getting into.  This week, a lovely pub about 4 miles from Mum, in the village where my younger brother went to school.  It sounds idyllic, but it was not a small village school. Rather, a large, rough secondary, full of a real mixture of pupils from many villages. Glinton.

I don't know what the school is like now, but the pub is well worth a visit.  A really charming village, attentive staff, and super food.  http://www.thebluebellglinton.co.uk/

After that, Mum and I did our usual evening occupation…….trying to remain awake enough to watch a complete of episodes of 'Murder Most English, The Flaxborough Chronicles'.  After 3 separate attempts now, I have gathered the gist of 2 of the stories.  This is not helped by the fact that Mum is apt to wake from a doze, then go mad with the remote control, so if you are conscious, what you watch will change in front of your very eyes.  If dozing, you will wake to wonder who these new characters are, in 'The Chronicles'.

When I was there, reading the radio times, I saw that the film 'Seven Years in Tibet' was on the TV.  I remarked to Mum about how childhood had changed.  When we three were little, 'Seven Years in Tibet' was a book that Dad had bought (and never read.)  We had been through it to look at the illustrations (we had to make our fun in those days, and yes we did have electricity, John)

The illustration below never failed to make the three of us laugh.  But after many a wet afternoon of us all inside, and laughing repeatedly at this butter skull procession, Mum always seemed a little cross and frazzled.  If only we had had ipads then. We wouldn't have had to have made a sound, or even moved!

Back to preparations, and this time for Christmas.  I have just returned from completing the Christmas present shopping, phew.  When this is written, we are off to Bristol for the night to see Mr Cooper's family, and then over to Portishead, to have an early Christmas with my little brother's family.  Back on Monday, which is my only work-free day till Christmas Eve.  On Monday we have only got to do the shopping, put up the tree, find the decorations, put the tree up again, ice the cakes, wrap the presents, make pickled pears, clean the house, stay talking, etc etc.

But more important than that, inspired by Colin and Juliette's decorated camper van, I am knitting two tinsel Christmas scarves.  It suddenly seems very important to be festooned with sparkles whilst cooking goose and flaming puddings.  

Next year I am going to be more organised.  At least I have kept with 'attention to detail'.  The 2 scarves with go beautifully with my 2 Christmas dresses.

I hope your preparations are proceeding smoothly.  Just remember, as you are getting frazzled at having to do so much in such a short time, and be seen to be enjoying it too, that it's 'just for one day'.  If that quote really makes you cross, you are probably well stressed, and trying to do too much.  

Why not sit down for a short while with someone you love, and a little glass of something?

Oh well, time to get up and peel the potatoes, chop the carrots and bugger the turkey.

See you all just before Christmas, I hope.  Till then, stay sane and have some fun.

so h

Cooking is very much to the fore in my life this week.  Christmas gets closer, and presents need to be made.
Luckily, this little booklet I purchased from a vintage shop should help me with my present-making.
What could be better than a chutney consisting of bananas, dates, apples and black treacle, all stirred together, and cooked inside the oven?
The recipe sounded so amazingly horrific that I had to give it a go.  Will let you know the results nearer the end of the blog, when all is bottled.

I try to avoid tidying and cleaning the house, Mr Cooper does it so much better than me after all, but I have been tidying my photos from long ago.  I had almost forgotten the Black Forest afternoon, when I baked a tremendous black Forest gateau, when was further fortified by extra layers of chocolate buttercream! The cake was intended to inspire some artwork.  Sarah and Gareth came round to help devour it, and it did inspire Gareth to have 2 slices, a decision which we all thought was foolish, including Gareth after he had embarked on the second slice.

The photos I took of the eating of the cake did work as an inspiration, and I produced my first 'food art' lino-cuts, based on a slice of Black Forest gateau.  If you are inspired to become the owner of one of these prints, do get in touch with me, as I did get rather carried away………...

….and recently discovered about 20 original works of Black Forest art nestling in my plan chest.

When I became 50 years old, Mr Cooper demonstrated how well he knew me, by giving me this birthday card.  I spent a happy Saturday morning last weekend doing one of my favourite occupations (cooking) in readiness for friends coming over to dine later…………….

……...when I would be able to combine that favourite occupation with another I hold dear.
Mr Cooper was the photographer for my interpretation, inspired by the card, and he suggested I should have the oven door open, as above.
Artistically a good idea, but did I want to spend a couple of hours cleaning the oven first?
Closed it is!

Now I have the Christmas tree fairy in my possession, I felt inspired to do my first festive bake.  When we were little, Mum always made mince pies with bright green icing.  When I grew older, and visited friend's houses, I realised that this was not how any other families enjoyed their mince pies.  In fact, apart from Mum and her mum, and sisters, nobody else seemed to be producing this festive treat.

Combined with the fairy, and a shiny doiley, these will become my first illustration for the 'Green Donkey Cookery Book'.  What could be more fitting as a first illustration for it than green mince pies?
I just need to find the right green food colouring.
The above are not as lurid as those we enjoyed in the 70s!  No wonder we spent a lot of time running around outside.

And outside was where I went the next Saturday, to complete the 2nd half of the Octagen walk with Mr Cooper.  We started from Compton, and ended at Walderton this time.  I hadn't been by Racton ruin for some time, and was pleased to see the fence had been removed so we were able to go right up to it.

In fact, inside the ruin there was a distinct 'modern art' feel.
But however brightly coloured parts of it are, its overall mood is a sombre and brooding one.
 Not a place to spend the night, unless as part of a large and jolly group.

Have you noticed how seamless my links are this week, from one image to the next?
Taking on the ghostly theme……………...

This has to be one of my favourite authors, and most favourite mystery series.  If you are not already familiar with Flavia de Luce, you must rectify the situation.  The first one of the series is 'the Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie'.  and when you have totally fallen in love with that book you can look forward to reading the next five!
And what about the sweetness at the bottom of my oven? (another seamless link!)
When I first read the recipe, I thought that it could only be awful, or amazing.  And thankfully, it has gone down the amazing route.  It did take an act of faith to do what the recipe asked you to, but the end result is deliciously different, and I feel moved to share this recipe with you.

I cooked it at 140 c, and stirred it three times throughout.  I also cooked it for two and a quarter hours, and put it whilst still hot into warmed jars.  When it says 'bake for about 2 hours until a rich chocolate colour, you will get a rich, very dark chocolate colour.  Do not expect Galaxy or Dairy Milk here.

I hope you are able to enjoy your festive season preparations in the coming week.  I am determined to do advance preparations to avoid that 'totally frazzled' feeling that does tend to take away from the magic of Christmas.
I might braise some red cabbage this evening.  Perhaps a G and T would help me as I chop………
Or perhaps a nice cup of tea instead.  It is only Monday, after all.
I hope you enjoy the week ahead. See you next week.
Until then, have fun whilst staying on top of things.