After draft upon draft of plans, months of research, creating a water feature and stripping bark off tree branches. David has finally finished his aviary and the two Bengalese finches, Chocolate and Romeo have moved in.
Doesn’t it look lovely? It really is a feature in the living room and the finches have settled in nicely.
I’d like to think that I am quite romantic. Indeed more romantic than David.
I think the culmination of reading Charlotte Bronte’s Villette and Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea while listening to Gustav Mahler and Sergi Rachmaninov symphonies when younger has effected my sensibilities.
This years Valentine’s Day was spent in our new home. It was supposed to be David who was to cook (to make me feel special) but it ended up being me cooking.
With little time to plan I opted to make a three course meal.
1) Carrot and Cumin soup
2) Honey and mustard trout for main
3) Chocolate strawberries for desert
I started preparing at 1pm as I had a day off work. I slowly melted the chocolate and then dipped in the strawberries
After 5pm I cooked the vegetables for the soup (which I had peeled and chopped earlier) and the fish. All went well and we were well and truly satisfied.
After the pudding we listened to Classic FM and the concert recorded from the Liverpool Philharmonic, on romantic Spanish music. I loved it! Whether David liked it is another matter.
Happy Valentines to all you lovers out there!!!
…often there is no sign of the tempestuousness that came before.
And today was just like that. The sky was a deep azure and the sun shone brilliantly into my bedroom as I reclined under a cosy duvet listening to Hans Zimmer’s Lasiurus on my day off. I had protected this day off work with all my might. My spirit is in much need of a rest.
Last night I sat curled up on the sofa, brow furrowed with worry as I listened to the wind rush violently down my road. Drafts escaped into the house and rattled the doors and the electric lights flickered on and off. Though I think Liverpool got off lightly compared to other parts of the UK.
Amongst all this wildness I was stuck by the writing bug! It had been over two weeks since I had sat down in front of my laptop with a purpose of continuing my new novel. So guiltily, knowing David was bored I monopolised the computer and wrote from 8-11pm!! I wrote a maximum of 2000 words and finished the epilogue even though I have not actually written the main narrative yet!
So today, if I can pull myself away from listening to music, I may carry this momentum and do some more writing…
…flowers. I prefer them to be growing in the ground and I am terrible gardener. However my spirits have been low of late and David kindly has seen that.
This Saturday, we were in Asda doing our weekly shop, when we passed the fruit and vegetable section. I gasped in exclamation at how lovely a bouquet of flowers was. They were a collection of lovely cream roses set amongst deep red ones, a kind of red berry type foliage and green leaves. They were expensive so we walked quickly past! I don’t usually notice flowers in the shop but these were a lovely combination of colours.
Later on that evening I set about to cook up a mess in the kitchen! I followed a recipe in the January Asda magazine. Mexican Bean Wraps. (Serves 4)
The ingredients were:
Method:
It only took me 40 minutes to complete the meal. In that time I had lain the table, poured the drinks and was waiting for David to return from his brothers. I told him to be home for six o’ clock and he was late! I was getting worried! I needn’t have as he came in soon after wielding the bouquet of flowers I had coveted earlier.
Even though at times I get disheartened and feel like I am unloved, I should be truly blessed for what I have in my life. It could be so much worse!
The meal was nice, different from my usual ‘made up’ Mexican Bean with Soya concoction. I like cooking and following a recipe to see the end result. Even David ate which is one reason why I cook fresh foods, to try and get him to have a more balanced diet.
Now, listening to Classic FM, watching David fiddle about with his bird aviary in the making and a glass of Chardonnay in my hand. I wonder can life get any better?
Christine x
Christine Lucas 