Day 32 - The Wisdom of Monika

Sunday, another beautiful day in Pinner... blue skies, warm sun and cool breeze.

Lazy morning, clocks went forward so up about 11 ish... needed to make sure head was OK!!

Went over to Ruth's to help with a little spring cleaning whilst she bakes cakes with Cassidy.  I clean, she bakes, we get on so well.

Making room in her cupboards was fun!  I did promise that I wouldn't mention which friend this was in my blog when she argued with me about throwing away an old jar of mixed pepper corns dated back to Dec 1999, then again when I came across the Rosemary herbs in a Safeway bottle from 2001!  Our dear Ruth is a bit of a hoarder and was adamant that she would come across a recipe in a few days that was going to need Pepper corns and Rosemary and then she wouldn't have any in the cupboard.... anyhow, after a lot of soul searching and gentle cajoling we did manage to fill up a couple of bags full of out of date Achar Masala, Cajun Spice Cumin and Ethiopian Berbere to name but a few!!!

A sample of some of Ruth's Old Herbs!

Tea for two

We sat on her new garden furniture drinking tea and eating her home made lemon drizzle cake from old fashioned tins, off old fashioned flowery tea plates - I actually felt like I had gone back in time (at least to Safeway days anyway!!). I did joke with her that a sprinkling garam masala would have just been lovely on the cake ... ooops, I threw it away.....


I then got a call from Monika she was at work, and not feeling too good so I went to collect her in the Belingo.  We decided that a little fresh air would do us the power of good so I took her to Ashridge, near Berkhampstead for a walk in the country.  

This turned out to be just what the doctor ordered!  It was stunning, the views were incredible. We could see the chalk lion of Whipsnade Zoo from the top of the hill - on walking up, Monika get's a second wind and starts to jog and I am now seriously lagging behind... she looks down upon me and says "Beth, I see a cake shop", my step quickens, I reach the top with my nose running and my ears ringing!  No cake shop, she was lying!  


She then commented that if she was going to walk the Great Wall of China then the best incentive for her would be... wait for it....... Pork Scratchings and Dried Squid, in her rucksack as she reached certain milestones on the walk she would take a nibble... "Beth", she said excitedly "you could take CAKE" - (please use Polish Accent once again to gain full benefit from these priceless remarks).

We then made our way down a very steep hill to see if we could catch a few lamb!  Monika turned around to me whilst I was maneuvering myself surreptitiously down and said "Beth, do you have any lamb food or any salt on you - lambs, they like the licking of the salt?"... you have to say this in a Polish accent to get the real impact, I fell about laughing into a pile of sheep poo... We sat still for a while so that we could catch a few photos of these week old lambs, poor Monika sat on stinking nettles and as she stood up she commented (remember the accent).... "my buuumm is stinking ."

Monika at the top

Beth at the top