Saturday, March 15, 2014

Saturday morning, Craughwell




 
Branwell after his shower (he likes to stick his head under the running tap - he is more of a dog, really)

 Bog cotton

 
Sheep bookcase and cat

Spring laundry stripes

 His placemat


Excuse the disproportionate amount of cat pictures here. Like a pregnant or new-mom blogger whose blog content suddenly becomes 98% baby-related, my brain has seized upon a kitten named Branwell, and he's not even mine!

He went missing a couple of weeks ago, but came home after three nights, just in time for my sister's birthday (half an hour before midnight - Anke and Adrian were about to retire to bed when they heard a familiar meow!).

This is a special time for us, as our younger sister is visiting for three months. We have so many plans, but so far we have mostly been talking about our exciting plans, so it's high time for the doing, although this long weekend is reserved for fun and the recharging of batteries, after a hectic two months. Last night we all stayed at Anke and Adrian's house, and the weekend feels like a holiday already. Adrian made us amazing milky coffees from scratch - grinding the fancy coffee beans, foaming the milk. I rarely order coffee, as it makes me shaky and panicky, but prepared-at-home tends to be fine/milder, and Adrian's is perfection.

---------------
Other little things that have been accompanying this month:

Listening to "Bloodbuzz Ohio" by The National (a slightly different live version, a bonus track on the album) on loop

Drinking fresh thyme tea, nettle tea and matcha tea and eating wild garlic (on top of brie on toast - the best combination!) and micro vegetables such as pea shoots grown as per James Wong's instructions - all the green things

Smelling kitty breath and kitten paws - I had to end this post with one more cat reference!

 

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Book launch

We had our book launch for Jumbo Wants to be a Hippo a couple of weeks ago. I have only had intermittent internet access since, hence the delay. It is acting up as I type, so I will keep this short.

Lionel and I talked about how the story and the collaboration developed, and he read an excerpt. We also listened to the wonderful song "Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud", which features in the book, and had tea and cake. It was such a fun event, and a warm, cosy atmosphere. Video to follow!