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.
