We’ve had a hectic few weeks for a range of reasons, and some serious celebrating for the family wedding of our nephew deeps and his delightful new wife Queenie. Along with Rocket’s special birthday and a manic work schedule we have had little time to stand and stare.

Before heading off in a different direction, let me tell you about a few things that have happened.

The first thing was a Jools Holland concert, featuring Marc Almond, Nell Bryden and Ruby Turner to name a just a  few  where myself and a group of our friends revealed to Rocket that we are taking him to Marrakesh in October…. Great excitement.

The group had also very generously bought Rocket his heart’s desire in the form of sous vide, so brace yourselves for some slooooow cooking. All in all he was a very lucky boy  with some absolutely fantastic and generous gifts,  he thanked all concerned with a BBQ at ours on Saturday.

We are now on the countdown to our trip to France, and really can’t wait – my contract at the local authority ends soon so goodness knows what the future holds – I have a small possibility of a teeny tiny deli but more about that next week as I dare not hope- one thing is for sure, some browsing of produce markets and lazy lunches in the Pyrenees are just what we need.