Spring Forward

Tuesday 29th March

Day 342

7 am - Soft rain fell in the night - at least I didn’t hear it. I’m glad - the garden is parched after all these days of hazy sunshine - the primroses drooping like limp wrists.

The house is warm. It’s so quiet - no boiler humming yet, no seagulls squalling, no pussy cat squeaking for me, no car engines starting up.

No toast smells in the kitchen, no aftershave perfume in the bathroom.

Too early for the neighbours’ children to start shouting and kicking a football.

A new day beginning. Me - cross-legged on the futon in my study. Wondering how to start writing my blog again after seven days lost. How to stop the threads slipping through my fingers and falling in a tangle on the floor - unwoven.

Maybe like this. One sentence at a time. My inner critic switched off. One recipe remembered, recorded.

On Sunday, the day the clocks went forward and we leapt into spring, I got up an hour early to make a rice salad for my dear sisters and a few friends. So I’m calling it

Spring Forward Salad.

Boil brown rice till it’s soft and nutty.

Stir in some quickly fried chestnut mushrooms and chopped spring onions and the oily quarters of sun-blushed cherry tomatoes.

Season with black pepper, the small leaves of Greek basil, and shakes of soy sauce Tip into your favourite shallow bowl.

Toss the tender stems of young broccoli, blanched to emerald brightness, in lemon olive oil and pile up in a chopstick heap in the middle of the rice.

Scatter hard boiled eggs, roughly sliced, and toasted cashew nuts over the top and drizzle a bit more lemon oil to give it a sheen.

A garlicky tahini dressing would compliment it. And a luscious rocket leaf and avocado salad on the side.

Now I hear my husband’s waking up noises. Time for breakfast.