Simply heavenly!
One of the most sacred of pastimes in life has to be the perfect Sunday morning. Perfection begins with deliciously hot coffee (a rarity with two small children clamouring for breakfast and a piddling puppy who constantly needs to be let out into the garden) and has to include The Archers on in the background. Jerry mocks me every week for listening to The Archers omnibus with the quip of “It’s no different from watching Eastenders.” Just to make it VERY clear, dear Reader…the Archers is not a soap as far as I am concerned, it is a serial on the radio. I can claim to have been educated in the ways of farming and the countryside simply through catching up with my weekly Archers catch up! Where else could I learn about the perils associated with farriery courtesy of Christopher’s horseshoeing accident, Ruth and David’s TB herd worries and Linda Snell’s opinions on the badger cull debate? There does seem to be an awful lot going on in that sleepy village of Ambridge!
Anyhoo, it seemed fitting that my perfect Sunday morning ritual should also coincide with acquiring the perfect breakfast treat: a warm croissant straight from my favourite baker’s oven. On Croissant Sunday, a monthly institution these days and only a stone’s throw from Twickenham stadium, I finally MET Mr Blackbird of Blackbird Bread. For those of you who haven’t already been introduced to the lovely Mr B (do read about him here), he is the baker extraordinaire whose patience and good advice finally got this calamitous townie into some hearty baking. I still can’t claim to be a good baker but I am learning all the time (trial and error mostly) and practice makes perfect as they say. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be an awful disappointment in the flesh and as Croissant Sunday approached, I became increasingly more anxious about meeting Mr Blackbird in person. A bit like Batman and the big reveal that he was actually Bruce Wayne! Would Mr B prefer the tweeting Margot to the real life version? When mentioning my nervousness, Mr B did remind me that underpants over trousers was not the most fashionable look……a fair point. Secretly, I have always thought that Wonder Woman managed to pull off the whole underwear on the outside look quite well but given that Wonder Woman and Margot are poles apart, I decided to opt for my standard uniform. Barbour, jeans and my new (now half chewed, courtesy of Monty) floral pumps. For the first time in the week, my coat was minus the hidden cocker spaniel! After a disastrous trip in the boot where we had to make an emergency stop (Monty had jumped through onto the back seats), we decided he was best left at home on this occasion! A dog guard for the boot has now been ordered!
I am happy to report that our ‘blind date’ was a success and Mr Blackbird, Mrs Blackbird and the delightful baby birds were a joy to meet. The croissants were seriously delicious too! Inhaled within seconds as soon as we returned home to the cottage! I shall most certainly be back for Croissant Sunday next month and I will also be trying to get a sneaky baking lesson from Mr B before I leave for the countryside. Twickenham and SW London lovelies: DON’T GO ANYWHERE ELSE, get your fresh bread here – Mr B’s baking (as well as Mrs B’s cakery) can only be described as heavenly and I can assure you a loaf won’t last the journey home! Blackbird Bread can be found here. I only hope that Mr Blackbird wasn’t too disappointed in meeting Bruce Wayne!
Yes, dear Reader, we have SOLD the cottage!
To add to the perfect Sunday, dear Reader, Jerry and I were delighted to see this new little number outside the cottage! It was a beautifully sunny day and I thought I would feel really sad about the finality of the ‘sold’ board but….I felt completely elated surprisingly. Moving to the countryside has been all Jerry and I have talked about for at least a year and now, the reality is in sight. Less than 3 months left until we leave the Big Smoke for a hamlet in the North Hampshire countryside. I wonder if they are ready for Margot, dear Reader?!
