Noticing.

A few things I have been noticing of late: how pretty spring flowers look when randomly popped into various containers. Camellias, muscari, hyacinth, forsythia and pale primroses - all so sweet and so much more me than hothouse flowers with their slightly forced air, though I would rather those flowers than none at all of course.

Onions: as I am told I say very frequently, I love onions in all their guises and varieties. Raw and juicy; red or white; spring, shallot, leek or whatever - they are all delicious and turn any dish into something exquisite (something else I used to say a lot according to my Mum.) Seeing a chopping board covered in onions ready for cooking quite honestly lifts my spirits just a little!

Seafood: I have noticed Mr Davey and I have been experiencing ravenous cravings for seafood lately. A sure sign that spring is here and the outdoors calls. I cooked these sardines with chillis, rosemary, garlic, white wine, onions (of course) and threw some rosemary & bay leaves in for good measure. Oh, they were good! Desperate for freshly gleaned mussels now so we must get going on dear mermaid while the season is right.

Isabella: I notice how proficient this little girl is in her cooking and cracking of eggs. I also notice how much I love her efficient hands which make me think of a lion cub's paws. So beautiful.

Lucy: I notice every day how beautiful our newly-turned-fourteen year old has become and wonder at the magic that takes them from tiny babies to this. I love that ever present smile and her wonderful sense of humour.

Cream: I notice I am drawn to the creaminess of all things just lately, whether the centre of this white camellia which turns to clotted cream against the window...

or the delicious hue of a Camembert in its little box, the top drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with thyme from the courtyard ready for baking where the creamy colour will become oozingly rich and dense, ready for crusty bread to dip into its unctuous centre. Mmmm...

Bees: I notice the bees are all around filling the air with their drowsy buzzing and hinting at the hotter weather to come - hopefully. This one was so drunk on pollen that it could barely move. Isabella and I moved it off the path and out of harm's way in the shape of Davey's boots!

Ethereal: I notice how often this word pops up in my head. It is another favourite of mine with its ghostly connotations and the misty coastline we have been experiencing in our part of Cornwall of late certainly makes it spring to mind. Shifting shapes emerge from out of the mist and form into vague outlines which may be cliffs or may be ghosts of another time...who knows as the mist rolls in once more before they are fully revealed.

Knitting: I am noticing how slowly my knitting is growing in the light of Davey's which will become a little stripy jumper for our grandaughter. It is already looking so sweet and reminds us of ice cream with raspberry sauce!

Pecan: I am definitely noticing the pesky Pecan waddling all over my garden when she should be in her pen! She is very large and rather clumsy, pushing through clumps of tulips and daffodils without a care in the world. There will be words.

And finally I am noticing how when there is only one slice of Davey's chocolate birthday cake left on the cake stand it get smaller and smaller without anyone cutting off the tiny slivers which render it so. Amazing isn't it really?

Nothing sadder in all the world than a lonely piece of chocolate cake is there?

What are you noticing? x