Decisions, Decisions

Had a lazy morning in with Mum, as well as a lazy afternoon too after we went on a rather short shopping trip (had our massive trip last Monday!). The intent of the shopping trip was to find new glasses for Mum...not one pair, but two! Pair one was a cheapy one, as Mum's sight is getting bad enough to need contact lenses and reading glasses so she can see her sewing - so obviously we went to Primark! Cue trying on every single pair in the shop (yes, Primark sells reading glasses)...although more of my fun was found in the search for the second pair! In particular, the frames. So to Specsavers we went, and I may have tried on most of the frames in the shop along with Mum! I have to say, there are some strange frames around though...a lot of fifties housewife styley cat-eye ones, and as ever the thick frames are still very much in fashion. Makes me want a new pair myself!

So the lazy afternoon with Mum was actually a baking afternoon...have been looking forward to this for a while to be completely honest. In my apartment in France, I don't have an oven so baking cakes is something I can only dream of doing. So I made the most of it by making a lemon drizzle cake, a sultana cake, a cherry and almond cake, and my favourite...a mocha cake. Recipe below, originally given to me by a friend but a bit messed with to make it better!
- 4 tsp instant coffee granules
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp hot water
- 2 tbsp golden syrup (great tip to get the syrup out of the spoon is to alternately add the hot water and syrup!)
- 6oz butter
- 6oz sugar
- 2 eggs
- 8oz self-raising flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 4 tbsp milk
- 150g chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate works just as well, cheaper too!)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160° and grease a 20cm round cake tin
2. Mix the coffee, cocoa, golden syrup and hot water until a smooth paste
3. Add the butter and sugar and cream
4. Then add the eggs, milk and flour and beat until smooth
5. Stir the chocolate into the mixture
6. Turn the mixture into the tin and bake for around an hour and a half (it does tend to vary whenever I make it for some reason!). Anyway, bake until the top is springy...
7. Turn out of the cake tin and leave to cool on cooling tray
8. Eat!


The evening was spent with my parents, so glad to see them and spend time with them. It's so nice to have a day where I have finally stopped and not have to do anything or look after anyone...instead I think my parents are very much looking after me! It's strange, in a way, being back home. Now I am older I am never certain whether I'm the child, the guest or somewhere in between. I don't think I could call myself a guest, because whenever I am back, it is most definitely my home...but living on my own/with friends for most of my year, I can never quite decide what it is now to me. All I know is that here is "home home", Warwick is "university home", and Caen is "France home"...but at the same time home is the people, not the place.

Read this today, and it really struck a chord (sorry to get all philosophical): I think there is in the heart of a man a place made for wonder. It sleeps inside, awaiting fulfilment. All one's life, one gathers treasures to fill it. Sometimes they are tiny glistening jewels: a flower blooming in the shelter of a fallen tree, the arch of a small child's brow combined with the curve of their cheek. Sometimes, however, a trove falls into your hands all at once, as if some greedy pirate's chest spilled before an unsuspecting beholder. I think this is truly what my friends and family are to me, treasures that keep on surprising me...I am truly blessed to have them.