This and that

Sat at the kitchen table tapping away listening to BBC6 with the smell of the lamb casserole I've just made permeating the air.  Delicious.  Yesterday I baked my first ever loaf of bread and it worked but my god what a lot of kneading.  This was eaten with a lovely cumin soup from the Hugh Fernley-Dingaling's recipe in last Saturday's Guardian magazine.  So what's with all this talk of food?  It's freezing and all I can think about is eating.  Once Spring has arrived I'll be waddling down the path full of casseroles and soups consumed in the depth of Winter.  

So what's new?  I had a two hour driving lesson today that was HARD.  Driving instructors should be awarded peace-time medals for their patience and ability to keep calm when their pupil is unable to understand the most basic of commands.  The driving up and down dual carriageways was joyous, three point turns were painful.  I've been instinctively positioning the car (because I know everything) when really I should be aligning little yellow stickers on the windscreen with kerbs.  I just couldn't understand him and why and why do I have to do it that way?  I left Abdul (my instructor) wiping his brow and then watched him leave my house at high speed, I don't think he even said goodbye!

The good news is I arrived home to a nice parcel from the Open University.  I've been trying to get on an archaeology course which starts in February and I'm in!  Woohoo.  It's going to be hard but hey after today what harm is a bit of Wetwang Woman circa 300BC (or should that be Before the Common Era?).  I am genuinely excited at getting stuck into something that I'm really interested in and seeing where it takes me.  

 

In the mix of all this I skyped with my old pal Lou in Ibiza.  Don't you just love Skype.  My relationship with Lou always involved a lot of talking (and lots of errr work), in her office or mine and it felt just like the old days.  Talking about not much of anything but it was just what I needed today.  Her life has completely transformed since she left London and I'm so happy to see her in such a good place.  Of course I'm not at all jealous that the view from her flat is the Mediterranean and mine is the back of a North London flat.... haha. 

As you've probably gathered I like to put a clip up once in a while and I came across this today.  It must be hard following in the steps of a living legend and I think James McCartney has probably found it hard to find his way but I found this clip of him playing at the Viper Room in LA a couple of nights ago.  What a great voice!  His dad should be well proud.