Things...

Which are making me happy right now. Like this crystal vase. My mum's been trying to offload the crystal for a while now so I needn't have worried about pestering her for it after all. No flowers as yet - I suspect it will require old-fashioned spray carnations or chrysanthemums or similar. But it does cast little rainbows on Gertie's table when the sun shines in through the window.

Oh, and she also gave me her bottle of (unopened) Chanel No. 5. I think that makes me a bit glamorous. Let's pretend it does, shall we?

I'm going to tell you about my August reading in this post instead of Laura's link-up this month. I have too many posts lined up at the moment so will include all things literary right here.

Most exciting thing: Jay (secretly) bought me a Kindle. Yes, I know e-readers stir up a lot of debate but as much as I do love 'real' books adorning my shelves, and their smell and feel, I'm quite taken with my new device. I was initially a bit stuck as to what I should choose to read first but went with The Shipping News by Annie Proulx. The verdict so far? I love it. Seriously. I'm only 34% (I know) of the way through it as yet but I'd definitely recommend it. Funny, clever, sparely written but so wise. Seriously. Read it.

I'm also reading Tender (Volume One) by Nigel Slater. It's from the local library. I'm saving up for a real - not electronic - copy of my own. Cookbooks are one genre of book which I can't imagine not buying in their hefty, tactile, straight-to-prized-possession-status format. Nigel can do no wrong as far as I'm concened. And the carrot fritters from this book were delicious (even meeting with the enthusiastic approval of my one-year-old).

I'm still reading Joanna Blythman's What to Eat, and enjoying that just as much. Enlightening, inspiring and in my opinion a must read for anyone interested in food, cooking and nutrition.

Finally: The Happiness Project. I picked it up from the little library and tried to get into it but couldn't. I just found Gretchen Rubin too irritating and spoilt with her first-world problems and (what I perceived as) whingeing. I'll be returning it for someone else to try. I hope they enjoy it more than I did.

It's been a wet few days. Foraging has been limited to what's growing in the back yard. A big marrow (OK, bloated courgette) and some sorrel, hastily harvested in between rain showers. Joe was extremely put out to see the back of the marrow (he visits it every day). And I'll be honest: it was too hard to cut up. So I chose a smaller specimen and cobbled together a pan of soup with some other bits and pieces, and that used up the forlorn-looking veggies at the bottom of the fridge most satisfactorily.

I have a new notebook. Yes, another one. It's very pretty and printed with soya ink on recycled paper. From Tesco, of all places. Not particularly cheap but the pages are illustrated and it's inspiring me no end. Notes for future blog posts are quickly filling it. I may have to buy another with the weekly shop. Food for the imagination - does that justify sneaking it into the basket?

Probably not. 

We've been testing out the theory of there being no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices. Today I discovered I need some waterproofs. Maybe a puddle suit like Joe has (joke). He made such a fuss when the heavens opened and I put the rain cover over his buggy. I'd gladly have swapped places with him.

We took cover under the church lychgate for a little while then made a run for home. Somehow we ended up in the little cafe in the village sharing a plate of chips and ketchup. Oops.

But if chips and ketchup don't make my list of happy-making things then, as they say in these parts, it's a poor do.

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P.S. I wrote this post on Tuesday and sadly the following evening my mum became very poorly indeed. I'll be taking a little break from writing here and from visiting other blogs. I hope you understand and I'll be back when I feel I can.

Sarah.