Wednesday, April 6, 2011

I'm scared of the Cooker!

Today is the first day since I've been here that I have been able to stay home all day and just enjoy it.




I began with some baking. For every day lunch box fillers you can't go past the institution of the Edmonds Cook Book.

This book remains on the best seller list year after year. It's been published since the early 1900s I think, and every Kiwi Cook has a copy. I was going to say housewife, which would have been the case for most of its history, but I don't think the "housewife" really exists any more.



That sounds fairly straight forward you might think. But I have a small confession to make.

I'm scared of the cooker! It's so flash! And the hobs are gas, the nobs are different, and I'm slightly scared to twiddle them in case it self destructs in 10 seconds!


I managed to work it all out without anything going bang, and made vanilla biscuits with chocolate drops and no raisins! A lot of the recipes in the Edmonds book can be modified to suit your larder. The ones I make I have made so often that I know all their little idiosyncrasies and tricks for doubling the recipe etc.




So I've been sneaking round taking pictures of small vignettes that are different in this house, but at the same time very familiar.

















Autumn is beginning to set in. Daylight savings finished last weekend.

I have been lighting the fire at night.

But today I lit it in the afternoon and sat there writing a letter to my friend Debbie in Tauranga, whom I haven't seen since 2003, but who has recently discovered my blog, so we are back in contact, which is lovely.




Debbie wrote me a real letter. I re-discovered the joy of the letter that day, and promised to write her one back. So today was the day.

I have another friend who writes me real letters on special occasions.

Hello Fi, if you are reading this post.

There is just something special about a hand written letter. It says the same thing as "handmade" to me.

Somebody values you enough to take the trouble.







And my cats STILL only drink from china cups. As soon as I put the cup and saucer down on the back veranda she went straight there for her customary "cup of tea".

The Magpie Cat is getting old. She is appreciating her new cat door. It's a big step up for an old arthritic cat, but it means she can stay inside out of the cold.





4 comments:

  1. It's all starting to look very much like you. It's an odd feeling to have a new house isn't it? It doesn't really feel like yours for a while. I usually feel a bit better after I have cleaned it all myself. Now please put me out of my misery! What's with the bench?? It looks well scrubbed or something?

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  2. You're looking nicely settled now, the cat looks even more so! I am always a bit nervous around new stoves/ovens too, especially gas ones. I keep thinking I'll blow up the place.

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  3. It looks like your settling in well, you have such pretty things in your home. I have the same chair as your pink one it used to be at home when i was growing up and my father painted it white it now sits in my bedroom. How lovely to receive a letter its so true that we just dont do it anymore in the computer age we all seem to send emails and texts. The only time i get a hand written anything is at birthdays or christmas. Lovely to see your cats are settling in to. Take lots of care, dee x

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  4. Thank you for the delightful photo's and sharing your homely space.
    Good luck with the cooker, no doubt it will become a familiar friend in time.
    Hand written letters are lovely, sad they are dying out, what with email, texting etc.

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