In The End

SATURDAY/LONDON

My husband's 11year old niece - a very talented piano player - takes after her father....

Lunch - my Carrot and Coriander Tart from a 30 year old recipe book - adapted of course -  it was Carrot and Parsley  - don't think they  used fresh coriander in recipes then ( I've also used watercress on other occasions in this recipe which gives a  nice peppery flavour to balance the sweetness of the carrots). Adding pinhead oatmeal to the wholemeal pastry gives it a lovely nutty crunch too....

 SUNDAY

Scrumptious brunch at our friends' home.....lovely company, lovely communal cooking while my husband sits at the round table and plays Solitare.

TODAY

9am - I'm in rush when the phone rings, cleaning the juicer after making our green breakfast smoothie  - running late for my yoga class - been up since 7am drafting a difficult letter on behalf of my husband - been on my mind all weekend.

The woman on the phone is cancelling the washing machine repair man who was booked to come at noon. He can't come till Thursday now. I'm upset beyond proportion, desperate to get my towels washed - pleading with her to get me an earlier appointment. She can't. 

I apologise and say I'm upset about something else  - the washing machine it just a catalyst for the tears -  which are about the letter.

In the end a kind friend washes my husband's clothes in her machine and he picks it up later after his walk with her.

In the end a kind friend helps me re write the letter....and tonight after my husband reads it I email it off.

In the end I remember that I can do this - if I talk to my frightened little girl inside...... if I'm kind to her..... and then imagine I'm a competent and intelligent woman who can write a difficult letter.....and  find a way to get the washing done too....