Some Local Specialities and Business As Usual




Look at it! It knows it's beautiful; vainly, it displays its own image on its box. This 9-inch long, Correzian, artisanal item of confection is possibly the most delicious thing that has ever passed my lips; it offers a curious and wonderful mixture of textures and tastes. We have friends who know the creator, and when they visited us, this came with them!

 At the other end of the culinary scale, I am slowly working towards the bottom of our pile of apples by making, over and over again, Mary Berry's apple and almond cake. I must have made over fifty, and they're always slightly different; this one has the ridges from the cooling rack on it. Not cool.


In attempting to replicate the gentle colour of cafe au lait on one of the kitchen walls, I used a special paint that is suitable for any surface, not because I wanted to use it on a tricky surface, but because it was exactly the colour I hankered after. It didn't go on well. It's a great smutty smearing of several different shades of itself. Not happy. The artist in you may clasp your artisty chin and consider how it has the frothy quality of an actual cafe au lait, but, for me... it's just a job badly executed. I'll need to buy another tin and go over it with a roller... after stirring it a bit more thoroughly than I did this time.



Kevin's jobs flow more smoothly... 

Wiring and fitting switches for the kitchen

Faffing around with the fuse board

Making the frame for the plasterboard panels

Dealing with coloured spaghetti and lasers

Fluff-puff installation!

Framing and fluff-puffing the tricky bits
Fixing plasterboard and taping and jointing it all

Laying the last patch of the kitchen floor

Business as usual at Cousein Bas. While Kevin was undertaking this DIY marathon, I tutted at my cafe au lait paint job, made a vat of carrot and coriander soup, and walked the perimeter of our land with Merlin. I then set about rubbing down one of the kitchen walls, collapsing in mortified horror as I watched the fine dust transport itself over every single item in the kitchen. why did I think it would just fall, hoover-ready, to the floor? There's an icy gale that whizzes down the stairs and round the corner into the kitchen, and my dust caught it perfectly. 

While it snows plaster dust in the kitchen, outside is surprisingly snow-free, despite the chill.



Merlin continues his eager-beaver-ness




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