Saturday 7th May

Day 19

I need spicing up. I feel as dull as the day - overcast, cold, windy. There are four long fillets of haddock in the fridge. They are asking to be fried in hot spitting fat - to turn translucent inside a crisp jacket of breadcrumbs - to be squeezed with lemon and to be accompanied by peas and creamy mashed potatoes. Traditional, delicious English fare.

But I don’t fry fish any more. It seems sacrilegious to cut into the wholeness of the fillets. But I do anyway, first paring off the silver black skin and plucking out fine curved bones with eyebrow tweezers. Then I scissor them into large irregular pieces. They smell of the sea. Later, just before we eat, I will slide them into the green broth which is bubbling on the hob now - scenting the kitchen with top notes of lemongrass and chilli.

I feel so lucky to have the option of these fragrant Thai flavours - coconut and coriander, basil, lime and ginger. And for the sweet cinnamon and cardamon in the pilau rice which will be a soft sponge for this soupy fish curry. They expand my kitchen horizon with their exotic warmth and rich deep perfumes. And somehow are perfect for a supper with my lovely sister and brother in law on a cool spring evening in Devon before the treat of cinema.

While I spice it up in the kitchen, my sweet man wrestles with pea sticks and a drill under threatening skies at the allotment. And husbands delicate seedlings in the green house, waiting for the promise of summer. He’ll be home soon with leeks and spinach - to add to the pot.