Sunday, July 24, 2011

Soda bread, that's my ice cream and Conan.

I've got a column in the Courier from this week -- I forgot to say on Friday. I think it's only in the paper though. If anyone has come from there, thanks for looking in, and I hope you enjoy 3BT.

1. My first loaf of soda bread -- it's a bread emergency and I don't have time to make a yeast leavened loaf. It is rough and round with butter-yellow crumb, and it tastes savoury and salty.

2. While I am chatting and my attention is elsewhere Alec leans out of his sling and eats my ice cream, nom, nom, nom.

3. Nick gave me The Complete Chronicles of Conan as a prize for giving birth to his son, and I've only just got round to it now. It's a lovely book in itself, and the stories are crackingly well written -- just like I remember from the first time I read them. The Cimmerian is a splendid creation: he has raw power and raw passion and raw tastes and raw good manners. Also, he and Nick share an origin story in my life -- both came to me through Godfather Timothy.

By the way -- has anyone else been listening to BBC Radio 4's Classic Serial -- it's an evocative adaptation of Mervyn Peake's Titus books. Mervyn Peake is one of my favourite artists, and Gormenghast would probably be my desert island book.

Book treasure, worn and speaker.

1. Finding treasure in the Oxfam bookshop. I only popped in to look for a card. 2. Bettany doesn't wear makeup out and about, but noneth...