Belated Blueberries

Pancake Day waited until Sunday this year. We made up for the delay with a double helping of blueberry pancakes, with the obligatory maple syrup, crispy bacon, and strong coffee. As a kid I often used to give up chocolate for this early spring gap between pancake-flipping and egg-hunting.

This weekend of sunshine has filled me with optimistic resolutions and a desire to be lounging amongst daffodils eating homemade victoria sponge , rather than haring down the motorway and stuffing a twix bar in my mouth.

So I’m swearing off sugar. Not the kind found in delicious homemade cake (because one should never quit something so decidedly good for the soul) just the crappy convenient stuff. So, with the krispy kremes and jaffa cakes cut out of my day I expect I’ll be baking a lot more this month. I’m already on my second batch of cookies in the last 24hrs..

Pencil & Paper

A notebook is the perfect solution to so many situations: facing that blank white screen or starting out on a new project, finding yourself at a cafe without a book, or wrestling with a million to-dos. I rely on a computer as much as the next guy, and would be lost without Evernote. But nothing beats a blank piece of paper and a 2B pencil to get me thinking.

My love of stationery means I’m always noticing notebooks. The carpenter who fitted the new kitchen got my instant seal of approval for using Field Notes. The perfect notebook for everyday, they fit in a back pocket, with a soft cover, feint squared paper, and a ruler marked on the back (ok, I’ve never used the ruler, but I like the idea that I might.)

I type my to do lists and meeting notes, but both jobs are far better on the odd occasion when I get out paper and pencil. I was in a meeting yesterday where we had paper taped to the table. People kept adding to it as our plans developed, or pointed to previous points to recall them. We were, quite literally, all on the same page. I stumbled across this talk on graphic recording which puts it perfectly.

When working in pre-schools I often recommend visual schedules to help children with limited language or high anxiety know what to expect in their day. And I’ve realised I do this for myself. I’ve heard frequent mention of people with ‘too many open tabs’ in the brain: so many things rumbling in the background, so much to do, and all a bit of a jumble. Doodling helps me iron these out.

And my doodling is dodgy. I don’t have a great wealth of artistic skill to call upon; I lack perspective, scale, shape. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve got over being embarrassed about my bad drawing and I actually like to share this weakness with others. It makes our conversations feel more honest, less about putting up our ‘best front’.

I can’t give up the screen; it makes my life so much easier. Computers keep me organised and efficient. But paper brings me joy and inspiration.

Green Tomatoes and Steel Silos: February Reads

February was a month filled with a delicious number of books. It’s no accident that this coincided with the arrival of a lovely hand-me-down armchair in the house and a lack of good TV (no, I haven’t yet got with Breaking Bad; sorry!)

After a winter of stormy cold reads, I turned towards warmer climes with Fried Green Tomatoes. This book was filled with charming characters whose southern drawl just leapt off the page. The small-town-small-drama still touched on bigger issues: Alabama’s race relations, the desperate poverty sweeping the country, and the uplifting persistence of Railroad Bill. I enjoyed how people helped others in simple, unexpected ways. Everyone had something to give; even the very old, who can sometimes seem on the fringes of mainstream society. A sunny uplifting read for a rainy month.

I also read Wool: a much bleaker story; cold and steely with a dark centre. This post-apocalyptic vision is not my usual choice (and I’ll admit I first picked it up thinking it was about knitting). But the main character is a brilliantly strong woman who stands up to some intimidating shit. I was hooked and read it super-quick. A good holiday read!

I picked up Stoner purely because we had a brand new copy on the shelf and it always feels a terrible waste to not read a full price book (incidentally, another book I first picked up thinking it was about something else). Initially slow going but well worth the time. It got me thinking about a lot of things, and now I just want to find someone else who’s read it. A good book group read.

The Rosie Project has been getting a lot of press, and I’ve seen several copies in #theyearinbooks. I fell in love with Don Tillman. What a brilliantly quirky guy. Lots of fun to be had with someone who leads life so methodically and literally. This is a perfect rainy weekend read; sit in your armchair with a pot of tea and devour it in two big bites.

So, what lies in store for March? I’ve just started reading The Tiger’s Wife and also want to read some non-fiction. What’s on your March reading list?

A Week Close to Home

When a bit of holiday time comes around it’s always tempting to head for a new distant destination. But Tom and I found ourselves spending the last week much closer to home. With big plans to do very little, we’ve made the most of a gentler pace.

We filled our days with all those deliciously languorous things that can never be crammed in to a weekend: an enormous brunch with all the trimmings, a whole afternoon with a book, or an entire day spent soaking up the spring sunshine.

It’s back to the grind this Monday morning and I’ve got a busy month ahead. But, compared to how I was feeling when I wrote this post, I’m happy to have a job that I feel positive about, and don’t even dread the 6am alarm. I hope you all have a good ‘back-to-school’ week!

Double Outdoor Day

If you can drag yourself out of bed before sunrise, the whole day feels deliciously long. Usually the alarm only goes off at some ungodly hour to begin my immense commute. So, a wake up call to watch the sun rise over the sea and drink a hot flask of coffee makes a welcome change.

We walked over three bays in the morning light and back across wet and muddy fields (is there any other kind this month?!) Home by half nine and filled up with brunch, we couldn’t resist the pull of those blue skies. So we headed out West on our bikes to soak up the sun in the other direction. It seems that time spent outdoors simply prompts you to find more of it. And a day topped and tailed with the sun over the sea is my favourite kind.