Marie's Sunday Six . . .

Welcome to my Sunday Six post for Sunday, May 31st, 2009! What a lovely week I have had these past seven days. It will be so hard to keep it down to just six things! I love doing this post for you each Sunday. 'Tis a wonderful time for me to stop and reflect on the week that's just gone and the many ways my life has been blessed. My friend Lura started this on her blog, Grammy's News, and then she so graciously made one of these little picture thingies for me so that I could do this on my own. I just love Lura to bits. She's proof of all the good things that come from the Internet, and I am proud to call her my "friend."



I opened the "inbox" of my e-mail one morning this week, only to find a lovely e-mail from my son Anthony, which contained this delightful picture of my eldest grandson Gabriel! I know I am his Gran, but I think he is just the sweetest little boy. I am ever so grateful for a son that thinks about me and sends me these lovely little tidbits from time to time. He gave me his cell number this week and we have been texting almost daily as well. Yesterday when we were in Eastbourne I texted him to tell him we were sitting on the pier looking out at the ocean. It was wonderful to be able to share that with him. He texted me back that he was looking at the pier on Google Earth. Isn't modern technology a wonderful thing!!! To think that I was able to share that special moment with him whilst he was thousands of miles away. A hundred years ago, having to live in another country, separated by countless miles from you family was quite a hardship. Writing letters was pretty much the only way to communicate and it took weeks for a letter to arrive. People were only just getting into the telephone thing and only the very wealthy had them. While it is still hard to be separated like we are, modern technology makes it just a little bit easier. I am grateful for that. An inbox full of pictures of grandsons make me smile.




We stopped in the little village of Alfriston on our way home from Eastbourne yesterday. It's a very picturesque village in the Cuckmere Valley in East Sussex. Historians amateur or professional fall in love with this village, where almost every building offers a record of generations past. There is an extraordinary concentration of Medieval buildings, as well as one of the most famous churches in Sussex - St Andrews so imposing it is often called 'The Cathedral of the Downs'. The Clergy House, next to St Andrew's, was the first building acquired by The National Trust. We really enjoyed exploring it yesterday. There was a wedding going on in St Andrews and we managed to catch the bride being driven through the village by these lovely horses. It would be rude of me to show you the bride, but I thought you would enjoy seeing the horses! They made me smile.



Going to the seaside of Eastbourne yesterday with my Toddy Bear made me smile in a very big way. I love the British seaside. It's the perfect place to be on a sunny Saturday. You can walk for what seems like miles, smelling that beautiful seaside air and listening to the seagulls as they soar over head. We walked and walked yesterday. It was delightful, not to mention great exercise. We sat on the pier and looked out across the water and watched paddlers and dogs and children, all having a wonderful time. We ate fish and chips and we just enjoyed doing it all together. Being able to enjoy special things like the seaside with the man I love, makes me smile in a very big way!



Susan Boyle makes me smile. We watched her last night on the finals of Britain's Got Talent and tears just streamed down my face, she touched my heart so very much. It was an incredible show. Everyone was so talented. It was really hard to pick a winner, for each act was magic in it's own special way. In the end, we both voted for Susan, because she touched our hearts in a very special way. She did not win, but came a very respectable second. The dance group that won truly were quite wonderful They had performed perfectly. Not a step was out of beat and they probably did deserve to win, but I admit to being a tiny bit disappointed that Susan didn't. I don't think this is the last we will hear of Susan Boyle however. She has inspired and touched the hearts of the world. In a year that has been filled with financial disaster and political un-rest she gave hope to everyone. I predict that this is only the beginning for Susan.



I have such a sweet husband with such a giving and wonderful nature. Who else would stick himself into a lobster trap on a wharf in Nova Scotia just so I could take his picture. (It was a very big lobster trap) He sat in a Rocking Dory so I could take his picture as well, and yesterday he crawled into this kiddies pirate ship on the Eastbourne Pier just so I could, yet again, take his picture! It didn't matter that any onlookers might have thought he was nuts, it only mattered to him that I wanted to take his picture. That is love, and the thought of that makes me smile.



Holding hands across a restaurant table makes me smile too . . .



Earlier this week I was the very lucky recipient of a wonderful Organic Fruit and Vegetable Box from the wonderful people at Abel & Cole. This box really made me smile. Not only was it free, but it was chock full of wonderful organic produce. There were lovely new potatoes, radishes, a beautiful head of lettuce, spring greens, mushrooms, apples, oranges, bananas . . . to name just a few things, and everything was of the best quality. I had tried an Organic veggie box scheme last year from another company which had been a huge disappointment to me, so I was thrilled when this box arrived and everything was of such good quality. They also do organic meats and poultry. In fact when you look at their page (and I hope that you do!) you'll see that they do a very wide range of organics and all at very reasonable prices! What more could you ask for?? Well . . . they also sent me a lovely cookbook to use!



The Abel & Cole Cookbook Paperback to be exact. And as you all know, Cookbooks always make me smile in a very big way!

I have to say that the new potatoes in this box were some of the most delicious ones I have ever eaten, truly. They were earthy and sweet, just like potatoes should be. They couldn't have been any tastier had I grown them myself and just pulled them from the ground. I made Todd and I a delicious Potato Crush with some of them and have earmarked the rest for a lovely potato salad.



*Cheese and Chive Potato Crush*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

This is a wonderful way to make the best of those early new potatoes. You can very easily double or triple the amounts, and, in fact, this recipe is more of a suggested way of cooking new potatoes than an actual recipe. I just kind of threw it together and it was most impressively delicious!

about a dozen small new potatoes, scrubbed well
2 heaped tablespoons of cream cheese (I used the extra light)
a small handful of fresh chives, finely snipped
sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste



Place your potatoes in a pot of lightly salted water and bring them to the boil. Cook for approximately 10 to 15 minutes until they are tender, but not falling apart. (Leave the skins on, they're delicious) Drain the cooked potatoes really well and then return them to the pan and place the pan over the residual heat on the burner and shake them to really dry them off. Lightly crush the potatoes with a fork and stir in the cheese and chives. Roughly mix it all in along with some sea salt and black pepper. Take care not to over mix them as you want to keep the texture rough, with lovely chunks of potato and cheese. Serve immediately.

*note - these are so good I could eat a whole pot of them and nothing else. Bliss!

Don't forget to get your name in for my latest Giveaway. This is the last day to do so, for I'll be picking the lucky winner tommorrow morning. Tommorrow will also be the grand official launch of my Cookery Blog, The English Kitchen, which will also be marked with a special giveaway, so be sure to check it out as well!