Gelupo

This isn't any old ice cream place, Gelupo do all the flavours your subconscious knows are delicious. With granita flavours you haven't even heard of, especially if (like me) you'd never heard of a granita at all...and the most obscure combinations of ingredients you wouldn't expect to work, this really is a gelateria you do not want to miss. I don't even like ice cream that much. And to top it off, there's a wee grocers at the back with pesto to die for. I love the fact the woman serving me had a matching tee - here's my rasberry sorbet and blood orange granita. YUM! M X





P.S - Burned Almond granita also a winner

Make, Do and Mend

I've been making loads of lavender bags recently. Started off in Norfolk when I couldn't find much else to do inside on the rainy days. I've been making them from a linen bean bag cover and putting pretty ribbons on, they're all a bit samey but I'm hoping I can sell a few near Christmas and make a little bit of money. I'm finding sewing so relaxing, should make more time for it - and it's so satisfying to finish one. M X

Puppy Love

I have this little puppy, Timmy. He's small and very sweet. And every morning (that he's not already in my bed with me) when he's let out of his cage, he runs upstairs and rests his paws on the edge of my bed, waiting to be lifted in. Nothing could make me not want to have him - even when he chews my hand till I want to scream, or cry - he's like my baby and I feel a little maternal towards him. I work out when he needs his food and cook up bits of meat, I worry when he's not jumping up at me all the time that he might be unwell, and when he sleeps I can't stop looking at him and I sometimes worry he's stopped breathing because he's so still. I also, like a mother, spent nights sleepless because he cried, woke at 5am to let him out and still upset myself when I tell him off or find him annoying.
As naff as it sounds, I'm finding it hard to remember Timmyless life - we spoil him beyond anything - and I know for a fact more than my parents EVER spoiled me, Everything revolves around Timmy - trips out, days in and everyone's capacity of attention-giving must be carefully planned or Timmy ends up getting it all.
If he was my brother I'd be fiercely jealous, but being a dog (especially being a puppy) gives him some leeway, and the ability to be mothered by everyone in the family, not just the parents. He gets more attention being walked down the street than any baby ever could, and I make sure to factor in extra time for every walk for when I get stopped to talk to people about him. The key to having a puppy is definitely patience: they take up more time than I could ever have anticipated, but also give more love. And maybe more importantly than patience is a smile to beam at passers-by (and mothers whose children scream in terror at his curiosity) - especially old ladies, they love a bit of him! M X