soul food

it's funny how our memories work

i remember my mother saying a verse a couple of times when i was quite young

and i've never forgotten it

if of thy worldly goods though art bereft

and from thy slender store
two loaves are left

sell one and with the dole

buy hyacinths to feed thy soul

from the gulistan (the rose garden)

muslihuddin sa'di

13th century persian poet

the bulb forcing vase is an op shop find 

i wouldn't have known what it was when i saw it were it not for a dear elderly english friend who used to have several of these vases on her kitchen window sill with hyacinths in them each year

i put the bulb in the vase about two months ago and placed it in a darkened cupboard

i took it out two days ago because it had started to flower

the quotidian

sometimes it's the simple things
like a rogue elderberry umbel hidden among the canopy of undulating foliage

the berries crushed with sugar to form a tiny amount of vibrant syrup

and drizzled over a meringue with cream

sometimes it's the simple things

like an autumn afternoon chatting with a friend
drinking cups of tea

and sewing, reading magazines and eating

yes, sometimes it's the simple things

that lift our spirits 

meringue nests with cream and elderberry syrup