Apologies for being absent for so long but I have been very busy which has left me too tired to blog or just plain too busy.  Lots of usual busyness i.e. working and commuting and domestic stuff.  But also a lot of delightfully wonderful busyness with very dear friends.

I met up with Billy who I havent seen for years and he suggested meeting at La Polentaria in Soho, London.  I had polenta bruscheta with tomatoes and purpley bits. Followed by creamed polenta with braised aubergine which was delicious. Best of all though was seeing Billy again 🙂 I have not eaten as healthily as I should have done.  That was a MASSIVE understatement, unfortunately.  This bowl of goodies was a good start one day though so it has not all been a disaster. Another day I had a bowl of soup and some bread with Laura at Timberyard.  It is always a pleasure to see Laura, even though these were not very happy circumstances. There are changes afoot, neither of these I am very happy about.  This is the entrance to the station car park I use. Known as ‘The Somme’ to the locals for obvious reasons. It is not for the faint hearted and is quite the challenge to exit gracefully and without covering oneself in mud, something I have failed to manage on occasion.  But it’s free to park here.  Or at least, it has been.  We had letters last week telling us to keep out for 4 weeks from tomorrow which I suspect will mean it will be tarmac’d over and then we will have to pay to park there. Humph! The car park news pales in to insignificance compared to news that Food For Thought, the vegetarian restaurant that has been going for 40 years, and which remains very popular and successful, is to close.  The reason, is because of a rent hike which is inflicting all small business owners.  One day, every high street in Britain and all of London will be identical, selling a narrow range of products supplied by large chain stores.  It makes me so sad and angry to see the demise of lovely local shops, cafes, bars and restaurants so while it is still there, I intend to enjoy their wonderful food. I shouldn’t enjoy their ‘Scrunch’ too often !  As you can see, I have eaten some vegetarian meals in the past week but no meat or fish.  I am back to vegan now but at least vegetarian was better than back to my standard diet from the past. On Friday I went down to Lyme Regis to stay at my sister Lucy’s place with some of my very best friends.  I arrived for lunch, as did Gini, and we set off in to Lyme to the Town Mill bakery.  We shared a roasted vegetable and Feta tart with salad.  It was delicious and it was lovely to catch up as I haven’t seen Gini this year.  We were away to celebrate her birthday and celebrate we did! So much celebrating in fact that Saturday passed me by in a photo free blur.  So here we are on Sunday, outside the River Cottage Canteen in Axminster.  An excellent choice by Sally. This is such a lovely place to eat. I indulged myself and had a saffron and orange vodka martini which slipped down a treat. For my main I enjoyed the roast butternut squash and chickpea stew, with kale and smoked tofu.  I didn’t detect the tahini dressing. We then headed down to Lyme to the beach.  Well wrapped up we braved the high winds and rain and enjoyed the exhilaration of an afternoon on a stormy beach.  We have been friends since we were at school together which is fabulous.  I am really sorry that I didn’t have a picture of Michelle to include here – sorry M. It was exciting watching the waves crash over the Cobb. We also braved a walk along the Cobb and did get wet as the waves came right over. It was hard to tell where the Cobb wall ended and the sea began. Having enjoyed Lyme we hopped in to the car and went to West Bay, aka as the “Broadchurch beach”.  Anyone who watched Broadchurch will recognise this famous backdrop to so many scenes. We retreated after a while to Slader’s Yard. A cream tea beckoned – oops! It was lovely. After saying goodbye to my friends I headed West for lunch with Ian and Helen and also caught up with Mera and Jack.  Then home.

I am now on holiday for a few days and will be back to a very high plant food vegan way of eating.  The pounds will have piled on over the weekend and they need to go!