A week out of focus

 

The past week has passed by in a blur. It started with a party at our local bookshop where I stood,signed and looked wild-eyed as a pile of books grew smaller and smaller. This was the first time that we had seen the book in any greater quantity than one. Freddie got into the swing of things, perfecting a flourish in his signature. My messages started out carefully chosen and daintily written. Several glasses of wine later and I was scrawling "Eat yer veg!".Hannah Miles from Hannah's Country Kitchen arrived with a huge basket of beautiful vegetable cakes. Then there was the fun of visiting bookshops and stores and finding the book on their shelves. A car picked us up to take us to the BBC to be teleported around the UK in a virtual radio tour from Scotland to Northern Ireland, down to the Solent and up to Northumberland, eight interviews in a day. Whenever there was a gap between interviews we escaped the hessian-clad walls of the BBC studio for an aquarium shop next door; swapping one goldfish bowl for another. Freddie was silent when asked, "So has your mother psychologically manipulated you?" and then quietly muttered into the mike, "I don't think so." whilst mouthing to me, "what does he mean Mum?". He spilt an entire cup of lukewarm cocoa over his trousers during one interview. An hour later and the room smelt of sour milk. "At least its not television", said Freddie, as he stared at this huge brown stain on his trousers.
A reporter from a Sunday paper came to see our kitchen, the scene of a thousand vegetable challenges. We called Freddie in from the street where he was batting a ball against a wall and he politely answered questions about his vegetable adventures, turning to me every two minutes to ask if he could eat a third piece of chocolate cake.
Other highlights of the week include...
Squeezing myself into a tight black lycra tube, following a recommendation by a friend that if I did, it would look as if I had dropped a dress size. In fact I looked like a giant black slug.
And Alexandra helping me at one in the morning to finish cooking four dishes from the book the night before a TV interview.(Following a last minute request from a TV producer, would you be able to bring in some food with you?)

 

So far we have some wonderful vegetable faces in - but we need more. Australia has yet to send us one which is very disappointing! ( Confused - see two posts down...)