Inner glow

This hibiscus is such a glorious colour, with its deep pink heart, that I just had to blip it. Edit: whoopsie. Last year's blip.] The terrace here is not as riotous as our former petit coin de paradis, but it has its moments. Next to the hibiscus is an orange tree which currently has a mass of gorgeously scented blooms (azahar in Spanish). Yes, apart from a half-hour tornado just before dawn tumbling the patio furniture again, its been another glorious day.

First task today, make the cake for the charity sale. It took a surprisingly long time. It's a cherry and almond traybake by Kimberley Wilson, one of my favourite GBBO contestants. It looks simple, but it has four layers: biscuity base, cherry jam and dried cherry middle, frangipane, and a crunchy flaked almond,honey, and cherry florentine topping. It seemed like hours before I finally got it out of the oven (I'd never make a GBBO contestant). 

I used a few cherries from a vacuum pack of mi-cuit cherries that I brought with me from France. They are delicious and since the packet was open I decided I might as well use all of the rest in a clafoutis for lunch. And by the time I'd done that, yes it was lunchtime. Eaten on the terrace again, and the clafoutis was delicious.

I felt I'd earned a rest by then, so Mystère and I concurred that it was siesta time in the shade. When I woke up, I finished This is Happiness by Niall Williams -- yet another marvellous Irish writer whom I have just discovered. Nothing much happens (apart from love, life and death) but there's something worth quoting on nearly every page. I was also tickled that it's set in a place where it always rains -- but at the beginning of the story, the rain stops and the sun comes out for the duration. It reminded me of our two weeks in West Cork last July :)

I'm still listening to Tidal while blipping. today's theme is from one of my favourite films, La Double Vie de Véronique -- Les Marionettes by Zbigniew Preisner. I love his music.