home and away

We've just had a wonderful week staying in Russell in the Bay of Islands. Russell is a lovely town and there's plenty to do up there.

I'd recommend

• a visit to Waitangi and the new museum

• a boat trip to Urupukapuka Island - the pohutukawa and flax were in bloom and full of bees and tui plus you often get to see dolphins in the harbour

• doing the full circle walk from Russell to Opua to Paihia. It's a bit of a stretch - 14km - but you can stop half way at Opua for lunch at the marina.

• Pompallier House - they now have a small café. You can sit on the verandah drinking coffee and eating croissant while looking out on the garden and harbour.

• swimming at Long Beach

And back home, the cornflowers are in full bloom and bringing lots of bees into the garden. And the christmas cake is fresh from the oven. It's a "blonde" fruit cake that can be made close to christmas. The recipe is Eliza's fruit cake by Annabel Langbein. It contains prunes which give it a wonderful, moist texture. Last year I spent ages decorating the cake with concentric circles of blanched almonds but this year I got lazy and simply scattered sliced almonds over the top. Have you made your cake yet?

Reading:
Tin man by Sarah Winman. This is a novel about what might have been, memories, sexual identity and love - of childhood friends Ellis and Michael and, later, of Ellis and Annie. It's a well written book but it lost me about two-thirds through. ***

Bertie's guide to life and mothers by Alexander McCall Smith (44 Scotland Street series) I found this in one of the local book exchange cupboards when I was looking for something light and quick for a holiday read. Which is exactly what I got. I like McCall Smith's #1 ladies' detective agency series but Bertie's guide was just too twee for me. **

Listening: Tiny desk concert by Cat Stevens