Amidst the busy busyness of recent times, I still managed to find time to go to the sea. Houghton, because Aoife had reminded me how good it is. With Jackie, because she likes the air too. We saw cows that looked like Oreos, sea lavender and fir cones.
It was a welcome escape. We all need to make more time for the sea. Jackie made a little mention of me here and I felt very pleased. (Hey, that’s my kitchen Jackie!)
Last night Ruth Sultana came home! After almost five weeks of living away, and only visiting on a rare occasion, she has returned and spent the night. Patty Slipper is elated.
April took the spoils, again, at the local village show, with her eggs of glory. I’ll pick the trophy up next week. I really wanted to enter the ‘hedgerow harvest’ category too, but I threw the bouquet from the car window on the way there because it smelt too bad.
I got cocky about April’s excellence and entered her eggs in another show. We ended up with third place disappointment. They didn’t even crack the eggs to see if they were good. The judging was based on the appearance of the eggs and the photograph of the hen. They didn’t like the look of her, or her goods. I won’t tell her.
Sandra’s been helping me with some admin. She doesn’t get much done, but to be honest, she’s pretty efficient in comparison to some people I’ve worked with!
MoJo has been being his usual beautiful self. To see his face I sometimes forget how old he is, he’s got to be nearing 18 now. I had to give a urine sample at the hospital the other day (interesting!), and for some reason I felt compelled to tell them exactly how I test my cat’s urine at home! I guess it’s just as bad that I am telling you now, really, but you’re used to me, you expect it!
A few years ago MoJo was really ill. He had a blockage in his urinary tract and he couldn’t pee, not only was he distressed and absolutely full to bursting, the bacteria had gone back into his system and given him blood poisoning. The only option was an emergency operation, but they thought his heart was too weak to survive it. Of course he made it, thank the cat Gods, but it has made me super observant of his movements. Being a house cat he has to use a litter tray, so for me that’s handy, I can keep a check on if he is going to the loo regularly and if I am concerned about anything I can easily take samples (he is ever so good!) And I make sure there’s plenty of fresh water for him to drink, in different places around the house. He prefers to drink from a wide brimmed floral patterned mug. He’s a gentle beast.
I’m telling you all this because, although MoJo is lucky to have a cat-specialist-vet-nurse on speed-dial 24/7 (hello ‘aunty’ Rocky!), not everyone is. It was only the other week that Lucy, Queen of the guinea pigs, was messaging me at midnight about a friend’s cat and it’s limpy leg. I gave good cat help. We all need help sometimes. There’s a really good guide to all things ‘Cat’ over on the RSPCA website, here, it’s worth a look.
Rocky is going to build a Cat Museum and I am going to be a patron. Oh yes.
It seems like a total age ago that we were in Mumbai, but Glorious! published a few posts last month about our trip, and I wanted to go back immediately.
They opened with, “Karen Harvey, creator and writer of top UK blog ‘I Don’t Like Peas’, is an award winning photographer, writer, creative director and self proclaimed cat whisperer! She has great influence within the online food community, and picked up the UK Food Blogger of the Year Award in 2015!” Which sounds pretty fancy and you’d think that I’d at least try and do it some justice, wouldn’t you? No. “What’s your favourite cuisine?” they asked, ‘Buffet!” I replied.
There’s a kind-of write up of our meal at Masala Kraft here, but my favourite bit is the little video they put together from some of Adam’s footage. I’d like to go back now.
Aside from all the other excitement of the month, the biggest thing I worked on was the Shutter Hub OPEN. I’m still exhausted, but I’m also pretty much overjoyed. The whole thing went amazingly – the exhibitions, private views, meet up, talks, workshop, portfolio reviews… all of it, amazing!
I wrote a mega round-up of the OPEN over here, on the Shutter Hub blog, and if you have just a moment to skim over it, I’d really love to share it with you.
I don’t know who this lady is (above), but she was just too beautiful to ignore. After Sara’s wonderful workshop we went with Ali Dover to have dinner at The Old Bicycle Shop. I think their fabulous energy rubbed off on me, because instead of just looking on tiredly, I was compelled to take a photo.
Have you read my interview with Sara (Me & Orla) on the Shutter Hub blog? I keep calling her a tiny powerhouse, because she is, and also I kind of hope that if I say it three-times-quickly she might appear.
I’ve not really shared many food things lately, and I should really. I have been very much enjoying gingery drinks still. This Belvoir Ginger Cordial in particular. (You say ‘Bell vwah’ I say ‘Beaver’).
We did a sprint at Blyton and it bloody rained. Gutted, because I was going to be a total track demon. Then I did a track day at Hethel and broke the car. Jordan bought me a pink bun though, so it wasn’t all bad. Fingers crossed for this weekend!
Are you using the new instagram video thingy? I don’t like it yet. I like stills. I like preserved memories with intent, finished and thought out photographs. I never got into Snapchat, so I am not sure what the insta version is for, but so far I have used it to announce that I stopped off at the motorway services to use the toilet and the door fell off it’s hinges. I’d stay tuned for future updates if I was you, it can only get more exciting!