Day 321. In a flash.

There she goes. Another Sunday, another cross country race. Quicker than her last race but still tears at the end. Gotta admire her fighting spirit and her desire to improve but we need some perspective. Time for a Team Honeybone pep talk I think. If I can catch her.

Day 238. Sunday Sunday.

Except it's Monday and as usual an uneventful bank holiday throws our routine out of kilter.

The day has been spent ferrying our daughter here there and everywhere - friend's birthday party and a visit with Grandparents for a few days. When you live in the sticks 'parental taxi' remains a key job role up until the point your kids pass their driving test.

As the sun continues its descent I am sitting here with a coffee and planning my week. Seven days and counting.

Day 139. All things yellow.

Rapeseed in the background and a scrummy lemon drizzle cake. That's a perfect Sunday right there. Add in a walk to the river and it really is the icing on the cake. Here's the recipe for the cake. The rest of the day you'll have to create for yourself.


Lemon-Syrup Loaf Cake: Nigella Lawson

125g unsalted butter
175g caster sugar
2 large eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
175g self raising flour
Pinch of salt
4 tablespoons milk
23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin buttered and lined

For the syrup:
Juice of 1 and a half lemons
100g icing sugar

For the glaze:
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
150g icing sugar


To Make The Cake:

Preheat your oven to 180 C/ gas mark 4.
Butter and line your loaf tin well.

Cream together butter and sugar and add eggs and lemon zest, beating them in well.
Gently fold in the flour and the salt, mixing thoroughly and then add the milk.
Spoon the batter into your prepared tin and bake for 45 mins or until cake tester comes out clean.

For the syrup:
Put the lemon juice and icing sugar into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves.
As soon as cake is out of oven, puncture all over with skewer and pour over the syrup.
Leave cake to cool completely before removing from the tin.

For the glaze:
Combine lemon juice and icing sugar until smooth and white, add a little more icing sugar if needed.  Make sure your cake is completely cool before drizzling with the glaze.

Enjoy - this is easy to make and exceptionally tasty. Fairly sure it won't last long.

Day 132. Retro Sunday.

Another cold Sunday calls for a glass of wine, game of Monopoly and Star Wars. Our box set is on video.... I'll let you digest that for a minute.

Video. The quality was rubbish.

Day 34. Sizzle and drizzle.

It's fair to say that investing in a KitchenAid has been money well spent. Never have cakes been made with so little effort, buttercream whipped to such a smooth consistency and in addition to its usefulness, it's just so damn sexy to look at!

Lemon drizzle cake and a Victoria sponge are the results of today's time in the kitchen, along with a delicious chicken and seafood paella using a saffron mix that my friend Jane Flint's Mother brought back from a trip to Spain.

I couldn't decide which photo to use but the lemon drizzle is sitting on a plate that Bea hand painted when we are at Center Parcs so for that reason alone I've picked this one.

It must be time for a coffee now and maybe a slice of cake. But which one? 

Day 13. Nothing special.

Possibly the most beautiful tree we've had goes up in flames

Typical Sunday. Well, typical for our house anyway. Moments of joy and hilarity bouncing around with surliness and childish rage. Main achievements included burning the Christmas tree along with boxes and boxes of old paperwork, and then later on devouring a sizeable piece of pork belly as a reward for our efforts. As I said, typical Sunday.