Another year, another trip to pick asparagus! In fact, we had three trips this year as the crop was so delicious.  

We ate it steamed with butter and Parmesan cheese, roasted with rock salt and served with balsamic vinegar, in chicken risotto, in a pasta salad, in stir-fry but my absolute favourite had to be the Spicy Sesame Beef Salad fromBill Granger's Feed Me Now. 

 

 

We seem to have our very own Constance Spry!

Purple Yarnalong

Just as I was taking the photo to illustrate this post, my little girl came in from the garden brandishing the perfect floral accompaniment.  No idea what it is but it is beautiful and thistle-like! 

My current no-brainer knitting is a very plain jumper with no shaping, all very basic.  The pattern I am using is Sirdar 2256 which is designed for use with its fairisle effect yarn, Crofter.  I have made the jumper once before with that yarn and it has been a really useful, chuck-it-on piece.  I thought this pattern would be a good way to use up some lovely heathery purple double knit from my stash. 

The pattern is so simple that it has been a perfect project to work on while watching telly, even the gripping subtitled stuff!

My reading matter is The Montana Stories by Katherine Mansfield, published by Persephone Books.   I do like it when my books coordinate with my knitting!

Joining in with Ginny for the Yarnalong.

Italy 2

The seaside town of Rimini is about an hour and a half by train from Bologna.  We found he beach was almost deserted, quite unlike how it would be in high summer.  

The UK has had the wettest April for 100 years so, as you can see, we were quite unprepared for the sunshine and heat of Italy!

Graffiti, according to the Oxford English Dictionary

[treated as singular or plural] writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall or other surface in a public place. Origin: mid 19th century: from Italian (plural), from graffio 'a scratch'

We've just had a lovely long weekend in beautiful Bologna.  I wish I could say we had a relaxing time but a city break with a boisterous four year old in tow is never going to be relaxing!  

Our council pledges to remove graffiti within ten days so for me, one of the most startling features of the city was the amount of graffiti sprayed absolutely everywhere!   

The vast majority was unimaginative - just tags, words, squiggles - but a few stood out and made me smile.

More Italy soon!

Every tall person in London seemed to be at the Lucien Freud exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery the other night.  I stood on tiptoe, ducked under elbows, even jumped a little once or twice(!) in my determination to get close to the paintings to study the subtle colours and textures of (acres of) flesh.  

I was very glad that I'd watched the recent BBC film on Freud just before going as it really helped to bring so many of the paintings alive.  The subjects of the paintings became real people.  I knew about their relationship with the painter, their histories, their feelings and frustrations with a talented and difficult man.

And to follow, up to Soho for a bowl of shio ramen at Ittenbari (which means, I am reliably informed, 'one trick pony').  Delicious and almost like being in Tokyo!

Bluebell Carpet

There was a sunny break in amongst the April showers this weekend so we headed off on our annual search for bluebells.  This year we found them on Leith Hill, near Dorking.  Oh, the smell was glorious!

Then up the hill to the tower, built in 1765,  to see the view from the highest point in south-east England. 

The bluebell season is supposed to be shorter than usual this year, due to the exceptionally warm March we had, so get out to see some soon!