Field Notes

Short notes on reading, cooking and weekend walks.

A slower loaf

I stopped fighting the clock with bread. The dough now goes into the fridge after its first fold and stays there until the next evening. It asks for…

The ridge walk in September

We took the long path along the ridge, the one that adds an hour and removes most of the people. The heather had already…

What I read this summer

Four books, which is two more than last summer. One long novel that I resented for a hundred pages and then could not put down, and three short ones…

Tomatoes, year three

This year the plants went in two weeks later and it made no difference to the harvest, which tells me how much of my earlier fussing was…

A short list for spring

Fix the squeak in the back gate. Re-pot the fig. Learn one new soup. Walk to the coast at least once before the paths get…

Three winter soups

Leek and potato, the plain kind, with too much pepper. A lentil soup that started as a mistake and became the house favourite. And one made from…

On keeping a paper notebook

I went back to paper for the small things: lists, a line about the weather, what was for dinner. It is slower, which turns out to be the…