Lovely pink slice of sky last night.
We have just had 2 days of a baby rabbit drama. Ralph rushed into the house yesterday carrying a baby rabbit in his mouth. I managed to get Ralph away and shut in the kitchen but I couldn’t catch the rabbit despite tempting it with a cardboard box and lettuce. I then left all the doors open hoping it would find its way out of the front door. No sign of it so assumed it had gone and happy ever after.
Unfortunately it reappeared this afternoon agin in Ralph’s mouth (I’m sure it was the same one)
Followed the same procedure and shut myself and Ralph in the kitchen. I started making pastry for asparagus tart and saw a movement and the rabbit was sitting there! Ralph at the time was the other side of the island and didn’t notice. It’s tail then disappeared under the door which is how it had got in there ! I hoped it had then seen the light and sensed the air and made its way out of the front door. Seemed to have done just that so I could relax.
Then I went out to cut some parsley and chives for my tart. Ralph was patrolling the garden but I was horrified to look down just outside the front door to see the little rabbit! Any sign of movement and it hid. I hoped to get it in a box and transport it to the field but it clearly didn’t want to be caught by me. I really hope I don’t see it again, and that Ralph doesn’t bring it back again. I’m not overly sentimental about wild rabbits, as after all there are plenty of them but this one was very cute. But mainly I don’t want to see Ralph massacre one or have to clean up if he does.
And here he is looking sweet and innocent in a painting I did of him:
Life is very quiet (in a good way) so an incident like the rabbit is of major interest. I don’t think anything else has happened. It is Open Studios starting 28th May so I will need to prepare for that next week. I haven’t been very productive but painting with oil is so much slower. Here are some pears:
Life is not always mundane. Tomorrow we are going to London for personal shopping at Browns in Mayfair. My friend who is getting married is taking her dress for shortening and I am taking my Mimi Prober to check the length:
Then we are going to Ottolenghi’s Soho restaurant NOPI where we’re certain to have a good lunch. Difficult to believe we can actually do things like that now.
We are all getting anxious about whether the restrictions will still be eased enough for the wedding to go ahead. Due to the government’s latest mishandling of the Indian variant. It would be nice to have a holiday in France in our new Base Camp (reluctant to call it a caravan). The motor home was great but a bit of a monster in size and we hadn’t been anywhere in it for 3 years or so and didn’t want it wasting away just sitting there.
Food wise we have been eating well with a lot of local asparagus and broad beans which seem to call for my delicious home made aioli. Roast chicken with smashed lemon roasted potatoes, broad beans and aioli is a winner. Although its a chore double podding the beans I wouldn’t eat them any other way. They need to be popped out of their jackets after cooking so you just have the bright green beans (and loads of waste from the big outside pods). It is crab time too so we had a nice crab salad with borlotti beans and watercress, oh and some delicious squid (needing aioli)
The garden is growing wildly: I’m pleased with my tulips but there were some casualties down to being eaten by something or just not flourishing at all. The french beans in the veg patch have been eaten entirely but the Treviso and lettuces seem ok. Everything is late this year as it’s been such a cold spring. I’m looking out anxiously for signs of life from my dahlia bulbs. I am thinking of getting some more from the garden centre to ease my worried mind (don’t know where that came from; It’s a song I can’t remember!)
I’ve been quite enjoying Halston on Netflix which is entertaining if a bit shallow but I’ve just reached the bit where HIV appears (totally predictable with hindsight) so I don’t know how it deals with that. Ewan McGregor is great as Halston, you definitely forget who he is. With some actors you can never forget who they are because it’s all about them regardless.
I love these illustrations by Miroco Machiko. She doesn’t just do cats and I love all her animals especially her owls.
