In the first photo above you can see my new plant friend. A beautiful ficus in a pot - a treat from my favourite local shop Next Stop Earth, bought to celebrate leaving my suburb for the first time in a while. I posted the same picture on Instagram, and a friend wrote that she had bought a similar-sized ficus a few years back, and now it was taller than her! I'm excited to see what will become of ours - I hope I can keep it healthy and happy.
In my last post I mentioned my new favourite cake, made from a recipe tucked into a hand-written letter from my friend Jenny. She kindly agreed to let me share it here, in case you feel like making it too! I like it because it has a lovely light texture and it's properly spicy and fruity. It's the best thing to eat with a cup of strong coffee on the side, for morning tea. It's also great to take on a hike or picnic, it probably keeps for ages in a tin and you can change up the fruit and spices according to what you have in the cupboard.
Jenny's fruit cake
Simmer together for 10 mins:
175 grams butter
200 grams brown sugar
750 grams of mixed dried fruit (I usually use a combination of sultanas, mixed peel, currants, dried cranberries and dried cherries)
Grated rind and juice of one orange, and one lemon
100 mls brandy or black tea
Cool, then mix in:
85 grams of chopped toasted nuts
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
85 grams ground almonds
200 grams plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp each of cinnamon + mixed spice
1/2 tsp each of vanilla, almond extract and rosewater
Bake in a 20cm round tin lined with 2 layers of baking paper at 130 degrees Celcius for 2 hours, or until brown.
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In non-cake related news, I decided to start a new knitting project inspired by our shower curtain. I know, shower curtains are not exactly the stuff of mood boards, but I love the colours on ours (which, incidentally, cost $10 from the Warehouse last year). Every morning I look at the colours and wonder how I could use them in some sort of project. I had a look through my yarn stash and found some aligning colours, and settled on the Vertices Unite pattern by Stephen West. (Here are my notes so far).
I've loved working on it so far - and the colours really do bring me joy.
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Last week I watched the newish TV series Normal People - have you seen it? I loved the book when I read it last year, but I must admit that i like the TV adaptation even more, and found it emotionally true to that age and stage of life (late teens - early 20s) and romantic of course. There's a Spotify playlist to listen to if you miss Marianne and Connell and their world! I've been listening to it while gardening.
I hope you're doing ok, and the stay-home life is manageable wherever you are. I'm missing people, mostly - my wider family and friends. And feeling so sad when I read the world news. I do hope you are well and keeping your spirits up.
See you again very soon,
M XX