Knife Sharp Memories...A Curate's Egg Lunch.. ...Hugh.... and Snowdrop Stars

 I'm too tired to write anything coherent tonight....  but a few good things about today...

 This morning I sit with Robin's aunty who is 90  years old - I don't think she would mind  me revealing her age - and I'm very moved by stories of her early life which I didn't know before...so long ago but detailed memories still knife sharp to her.

A long vegetarian lunch with dear friend at the Riverford Canteen in Axminster.

 Like the curate's egg - good in parts....arancini and golden beetroot and Jerusalem artichoke dish -  delicious... cabbage and spring onion kimchi  - disappointing....my chocolate coconut tart with cashew cream - delicious... but her roasted plum parfait with praline - below par. 

 The restaurant owner - Hugh Fearnely Whittingstall - was sitting at the table opposite us with friends. Later when  it was nearly empty he was signing a tableful of his cookery books....and a few customers were having their photos taken with him. I'm a great fan of his ...his recipes and his sustainable food campaigns ...and although I had plenty of opportunity to speak to him I was too shy. I regret it now. 

Back home I make curries for dear people coming to supper tomorrow.

A  mild korma with mushrooms, aubergines and chunks of roasted Crown Prince squash. And I spend some time wondering how to rescue another green curry paste I made last night as a base for a prawn dish - I roasted and ground a lot of spices to go in it along with lots of garlic, chilli, turmeric, ginger and fresh coriander. But I used too much fenugreek and mustard seed - leaving it harsh and bitter.

I have some ideas... but I may not be able to salvage it.

Tonight when I go out to the garage to fill up the log basket I'm thrilled to see the bank of snow drops shining in the grass.... lit up in the dark by the light from the kitchen window.

And later they are still shining when all the lights are off ...I look down on them from my bedroom window.... a sea of white stars as tiny and bright as the ones in the midnight sky above them.