I worked on Saturday night. I love working nights. I love the peacefulness that takes over the unit as night falls. Anxious parents relax a little and enjoy more peaceful time with their babies. The nurses get more time to chat, reassure and care. The pace slows down and the time spent with these impatient little babes who wouldn't wait is precious.
Working nights also buys me time with my own family, I am at home for their bedtime and then back in time to take them to school, I catch a snooze while they are at school and am there to pick them up. The Babies are little stars, they know that when I am tired, I as seriously tired, I regularly go two sometimes three days on naps and a few hours here and there, and they will help out and be good.
Somehow I have completely digressed from today's subject of Summer Reads. My point was that on Saturday night it didn't get dark until nearly 10pm and was light just after 4 am and I was lucky enough to see nightfall and sunrise in such close proximatey to each other. The Summer Solstice or Mid-summers Day really does mark the arrival of summer so I thought I would share some of my Summer reading this week. Starting with the little pile that I shall probably not even put back on the cookery book shelf for a couple of months, as they will be used so often.
The Sophie Dahl one is new, and I have not yet made anything from it yet but it is definitely my kind of book (seasons order!) and have some plans for a few of her dishes this week. Apples for Jam is one of my favourites (colour order this time) it is always out in our kitchen and as I am now the owner of a preserving pan courtesy of the church jumble sale I shall be making some actual jam from this book. The Jamie and Nigella ones are also great for Summer cooking. Stu and and the Babies (and I) expect certain things from Summer, The Beach, Bare toes, Long evenings, Pretty dresses and Nigella's Sticky Ribs!
I really need to go now, I have just flooded the kitchen by forgetting I had run a sneaky mid day bath and let it overflow. And I am working again tonight. And I am seriously tired!
What a wonderfully rewarding job you must have, (despite the lack of sleep, you poor thing!)
I have Jamie & Nigella, but Apples for Jam sounds and looks lovely, I'm going to have to check it out! My absolute favourite cookbook is Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook, we are having broad bean pasta (with cream and lemon) tonight with some of our homegrown broadbeans. (Its adapted from her Asparagus lemon pasta recipe). Definitely recommend it.
Hope you haven't had too much cleaning up to do and can still enjoy your bath. Those sort of things always happen to me too when I'm tired :-(.
Posted by: sally | June 22, 2009 at 02:47 PM
I'm going to have to some back and see you again. I like the Apples for Jam too. I also have the Cloudberry book by her. Teriffic pictures in both. But as Sally said, the Sarah Raven is brilliant - I haven't [yet] had a failure from it [the rhubarb recipes are particiular good].
Posted by: greedy nan | June 22, 2009 at 07:37 PM
Heard another Dorothy Whipple story on the radio y'day which left me feeling very cross.
Hope there wasn't too much mopping up to be done from the bath water.
Lisa x
Posted by: Lisa | June 22, 2009 at 07:50 PM
ooh what a heavenly pile of books, you can feel the sunshine leaking out of the pages xox
Posted by: driftwood | June 26, 2009 at 06:47 PM