Tag: Easter

Easter Greetings

I haven’t much time to write lately as we’ve had a run of back to back illnesses which floored us all, but we’ve enjoyed a fun, chocolate and family filled Easter holiday weekend.

We celebrated our oldest daughter’s fourth birthday in February with a little birthday party with all her cousins and best friends from nursery. Meanwhile our youngest is now 18 months old, she’s settled in to nursery, learned a handful of words (Mara, shoes, yeah, no, baby) and is climbing everything.

It’s been a long winter, but buds on the apple trees, blossom on the plum tree and daffodils in the border are the most welcome signs that spring is here at last. There are trays of tomato and teasel seedlings on the windowsills inside, and blue tits flittering and twittering outside the kitchen window as they choose one of our bird boxes to nest in. Growing a little bit of our food and watching the wildlife in our garden always helps me to feel connected to nature and to slow down.

This weekend, while the girls took turns on their slide, my husband scooped leaves and blanketweed out of the pond, and I spent some time in the greenhouse sowing cucumber, celery and melon seeds, before the sky darkened and we were pelted by hail stones trying to rescue the washing drying on the line. Then there was the excitement of pulling on wellies over our pyjamas for an Easter egg hunt in the garden yesterday morning and chocolate for breakfast afterwards.

Very much looking forward to spending more time in the garden and beyond after a long winter cooped up inside. Happy Easter all! X

Review of ‘Chocolat’ by Joanne Harris

FullSizeRender (1)

Chocolat had been sitting unread on my bookshelves for more years than I can count, but last weekend on a whim I settled down to read it while nibbling pieces of chocolate Easter eggs, which seemed wholly appropriate as the story takes places between Shrove Tuesday and Easter Sunday.

Chocolat follows Vianne Rocher and her daughter who sweep in on the winds of a carnival bringing flavour and colour to the drab and parochial French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes.

The novel is written in the first person, but switches between Vianne and Francis Reynaud, the village priest who takes umbrage when Vianne opens a Chocolaterie on the first day of Lent. The pace of Chocolat is meandering, yet the antagonism between Vianne and Reynaud builds suspense and drives the story on to its inevitable conclusion.

FullSizeRender (5)

The village of Lansquenet itself is rife with secrets, gossip and simmering tensions but Vianne finds friends among the other village outcasts and rebels, their kindness and camaraderie in stark contrast with Reynaud and his cronies’ hypocrisy and meddling.

Chocolat is a story that doesn’t reveal its secrets too quickly and kept me wondering right up to the end. I really enjoyed the supernatural elements of the story, there is magic in Chocolat, yet it is always understated and never becomes too fantastical.

The descriptions of Vianne’s chocolate creations are unsurprisingly mouth-watering and Chocolat was a delightful story that left me hungry for more. Have a lovely week.