Iced cake and The Sea House

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This cake just looks like the real thing, by that I mean the view from my front window as children play out in the snow on the green.
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Saturday was spent looking out at the snow falling from just after 9 in the morning till 4 in the afternoon, with about 5 inches of fallen snow. We had a cold winter last year, but this is the coldest and snowiest I've experienced in my life.
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Ye four bright wires, so slender and so smooth,

How many wakeful nights y've helped to soothe!

Nor have you fail'd, through many a darksome day,

To keep the potent fiend, Ennui at bay:

Affording occupation mute and kind,

Taxing no powers of body or of mind,

Leaving them free their higher due to pay

Fresh air to breathe - to meditate or pray

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When I read this short piece of poetry typed at the bottom of a page of knitting tips sent to me by Diane, and when Diane explained to me where she had copied it from and how much she enjoyed the book, I looked it up. Even though there were mixed reviews, when I saw that for Steerborough read Walberswick, I called up the Library Catalogue on line, and knowing there was a copy at our local library, went straight away to collect the book.

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So in between cooking, cleaning, and knitting, I've been reading The Sea House by Esther Freud. Set in the fictional village of Steerborough, it follows the twisting paths that people take and the places where those paths meet...this is taken from the jacket of the book.

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In the book Gertrude reads this to Max from an anthology of Suffolk Verse. Whether this is from an anthology or whether it is one of Freud's own I do not know....If it is her own then Esther Freud must be a knitter and a poet too.
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We've stayed in Walberswick three times, and each time it has been magical, inspiring, healing, and it is as if there is a string which ties me to that village. As I read through the book, it was as if I was there. I loved each day to walk around to peer at the houses, to make up stories, to explore, and to marvel. Reading this novel has transported me back, and now I just want to plan my next visit there.

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Memorable things which have happened to me whilst in Walberswick:

Meeting one of the nicest friends in the whole world: Vickie
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Seeing a whole large patch of purple orchids
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Stumbling onto a nest of eggs on the beach
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Having to jump into the sea to rescue Jessie
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Eating fish and chips on the beach at Dunwich
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The vast skies with clouds and stars
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Getting fresh fish from the quayside
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Tea and gooseberry ice cream at the cafe
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A whole shoulder of lamb slow roasted at the Bell Inn
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Working on my first piece of lace knitting
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Walking and Cycling along the quiet roads
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Always stopping to watch the pigs and the piglets