... is taking some doing. I honestly cannot believe this book has been such a slow one to write. I've added to the word count, but I just don't seem to be able to get a long, concerted run at it at all. Since Christmas I've only managed to steal a couple of Saturdays for writing. The Easter holidays were a dead loss - after several days in work and two trips away, the holiday had gone. I also took on extra work - marking exam papers this summer - because I'm aware that my on-going dental repairs could potentially put quite a hole in my finances, so that was the half term holiday accounted for...And then there was the school show, all the Summer term stuff, a choir trip to Paris...And now the holidays, so longed for, are speeding past me at a ridiculous pace. I've managed a couple of good writing days but it is very slow going: writing makes the time speed up so much. There's a big chunk of middle I haven't tackled yet - mainly because I can't decide how to do it - and I think I just need to dive in and get on with it.
Meanwhile, on the cake-eating front, I have been much more successful and there are lots of good things to report. Having toured around over the last couple of months I would like to single out a few fabulous cake emporia for special mentions. Velvet Elvis - a vintage shop in Durham - do lovely cakes in their first floor cafe which has stunning views across to Durham Cathedral. In the same town the wonderful Tealicious serves fabulous cakes and light lunches on lovely vintage crockery. If you are in the Lake District and spoilt for choice, you might want to sample the coffee shop at the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick - proper Victoria sponge! Or the fabulous chocolate brownies at the stunning Blackwell - an Arts and Crafts House near Bowness. Visitors to Stratford upon Avon are spoiled for choice, but if you can get a table, the Fourteas Tea shop is a lovely experience - all 1940s decor and music. I heartily recommend their £5 clotted cream and jam scone with a pot of tea combo'! But the best cake of the summer so far has to be the Bakewell Tart at Newby Hall near Ripon, North Yorkshire - the best Bakewell I've ever tasted! (and that includes ones from Bakewell!)Sadly, I'm not getting up to Scotland at all this summer, except in my head. Maybe this time next year...
