Radicchio, so pretty, so revolting

It really is beautiful. It made me ache with longing while it was growing. Fantasies of radicchio with walnuts and goat cheese might have occupied an unreasonable proportion of my early winter thoughts.

Radicchio 'Treviso Precoce Mesola' (seed from Thompson & Morgan, UK)

little spears of happiness

Let it be noted, I am a bad seedsaver. Bad. There was a time 10 years ago, when I was a carefree postgrad with a half day farming job, and an only slightly overdue thesis, that I would lovingly bag and hand pollinate my cross-pollinating heritage veg if I grew more than one variety, select the best plants, harvest and carefully dry seed for replanting.

what Sundays are supposed to be

On final deadline for huge project. But managed to do a real Sunday anyway. At least I did actually work all day yesterday...

Olympia Bakery pastries — not the best in the world, but the almond croissant and hazelnut danish with a not bad takeout coffee get an awful lot of mileage out of the setting.

(photos of me by Rosie):

Then  a brief foray into spring at Kirstenbosch - the glasshouse and gardens all bursting with flowers, but this Cyrtanthus only just about to open. Graham Duncan somehow manages to coax these shy princesses to show us their stuff.