I have my best ideas on waking. I seem to get flashes of inspiration between the nether world that is neither slumber or wakefulness. You might even call them Eureka! moments…………. My husband hates them, as I usually want to discuss them with him immediately. This usually involves waking him up. It never goes down…
I have finally worked out how to migrate my blog to its new URL. So, please if you find yourself on this page, do take a look here to find what’s happening to me, my life and my writing!
Like lots of things, I have ruminated on writing a diary. for a long time. Around 40 years by my last calculation. As a young teen, I kept one that was red that had a key , but it lasted a matter of weeks. I lost the key, and had to slice the piece of…
As with my first expericence at Hay, none of the speakers entered into the exclusive conversations I dread, but more opened up the book that is their life, sharing some of their secrets from the pages, and baring their imperfections as well as their triumphs.
I love my Aga – everyone knows that. It’s an undeniable fact. It is at the heart of my kitchen and warms the house gently in the colder months here in France. However, there comes a time of year when it starts to take on a furnace like quality and overheats both the kitchen and…
PROOF-LOW-RES-WW-Issue 73-April-14_Print Ready-1 I am known for my eleventh hour behaviours. No surprises then that I have finally submitted my “New Member Profile” to the Woman Writer, the journal for the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. Not bad going, even for me – a full 12 months after joining! Anyway its tucked away on…
I am not entirely sure of the reason the French call April Fools Day Poisson d’Avril. I do now feel a stronger affinity with it given my surname, and seeing this mighty beast of a fish recently caught at our local Pescalis in Moncoutant, it made me remember one particular sting I was caught with…
Originally posted on Helen Aurelius Haddock – A Writer's Blog.:
This is my last offering in the series of Retro Cooks that I have featured in Flavour Magazine. They say always save the best until last, so I have. Here she is , my personal favourite, Clarissa Dickson Wright. RETRO COOKS – CLARISSA DICKSON…
I was very sad to learn that Clarissa Dickson Wright has died. She was one of my all time favourite celebrity cooks, and I was fortunate enough to meet and interview her a few years ago. She was about to bring out her one pot cook book called Potty, and we spent and hour or…
In the UK, I’d always had trouble getting my husband to go to the supermarket with me. A man of guile and means, he was quick to garner a stock of plausible excuses to fend off my weekly requests for him to join me. I used to tough it out alone, and the best ever…
One of the things we all love when on holiday is a good old nose around the shops, and of course France is right up there when it comes to anything to do with food. Here the word “Artisan” or craftsman is synonymous with food purveyors, and visits to emporiums like these pictured below, rarely…
The early days of February are the longest. March is a few short weeks away, yet the weather is still unkind, and we tire of being indoors after the dark months of winter. We all long to be outdoors, and enjoying the wonderful café culture France has to offer. This is one of my favourite…
Originally posted on Helen Aurelius Haddock – A Writer's Blog.:
France is a place of clichéd landmarks: Say Provence and infinite fields of lavender will appear along with its attendant charms and sun drenched monuments. Say Ile de Ré and golden sandy beaches and the white sails draped around its chic harbours resonate in…
We had an “at home” day yesterday. I had some hideous home furnishings project I had to finish, and Nick had some work to do “on the computer”. Ever the dutiful wife I politely asked him what he was doing, and ever the impolite husband he retorted. “You wouldn’t understand” He was bang on the…
I am in the midst of my Sunday morning trawl through the blogsphere, and I have just read Jaqueline’s Brown’s delightful French Village Diaries. As a fellow foodie, Jacqui has posted up a lovely piece on Chandeleur – or French Pancake Day. For those that know me, I hate Winter, and refer to it sullenly…
Helen Aurelius Haddock - A Writer's Blog. 