Can we make our own 'from our own correspondent'

[teafortwo]

I love love love this radio show...

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/default.stm

Can we please please please have a thread that has a vibe a bit like this?

We can have a bunch of parents who live all over the World in all kinds of countries (including Blighty), with all kinds of neighbours and themselves living in all kinds of situations (rural, city, suburbs and anything inbetween) explaining what is happening where they live. Day to day things (what is on sale at your local market, what you ate for lunch), portraits of figures in your community (e.g a lovely old village character), big news stories (e.g student riots), little news stories (a much loved dog has died that used to wander around the town centre), arguements in the cafe (sport, politics, religion), music and dance (e.g I notice all Parisian teenagers like to do this weird wiggling dance and they even have lessons for how to do it on national telly), observations on things that are different from where you come from (I don't know...e.g a New Yorker's take on living in the Lake District), interesting discussions on languages spoken... etc etc... I think it could be fun!!!

So tell me...

Am I making sense?

and..

What do you think? Shall we give it a go?

Seriouly(what???) - I meant "seriously" - typing, talking to my Dad on the phone and mopping up little accidents is too much for this Mum... you can seee ittt inn the speling!!!!

Weather Report from across the polar circle.

The last 24 hours we have seen it all. Even snow, if we pretend that seeds from among other plants theMyrull/Eriophorum were snow. The air is filled with them. It looks like candy floss, or small cotton balls in the air. Some the size of a little finger nail, and some larger. Sometimes I have to use my window whiskers, as they are coming in such amounts, it looks like a little snowstorm outside. They are swirling around, sometimes going up, sometimes down, they go where the wind will take them. The streets are covered, nearly in the same way as a London street is covered in pink cherry blossom petals in late spring.

Then the rain, torrential rain, falling down heavy like somebody were sitting on a cloud emptying down buckets full of water. Luckily not lasting long. My boys were sitting by the front door looking out mesmerised.

This morning, my oldest was going to spend a day at the beach with his class. I looked out of the window. On one side, inland, it was sunny. On the other side, the clouds were heavy and black, the fog was rolling in from the direction of the "bird islands". (We call them that, it is easier. They are big black rocky islands, with hardly any vegetation, where puffins nest. They are bird sanctuaries, and setting your foot there is probhibited.) But what to pack for a day at the beach? In a country where the middle temperature for July is 11 degrees celcius? Above zero, not below, I might add.
Fleece, wellies, t-shirt, jeans, sunlotion, suncap, and a light rainshield, and he would be covered. Sadly it was too cold to bbq their hot dogs, but they cooked them back at the school.

And the berries? Not ripe yet. We will try next week. If only we get a few warm days, a little more sunshine, I have promised to make blueberry pie!

It is so so humid here in Paris - I would do anything to be somewhere where it is 11 degrees and being snowed on by seeds sounds fun. But I will have to do with reading your post, closing my eyes and just imagining it for two minutes - mmmm!!! Lovely. QS you should write a book - it would be a best seller!

Keep us posted on the berries - we are hoping from Wales to Sydney, from Nigeria to Canada etc etc for a really delicious blueberry pie for the boys - your oldest definately deserves it after that school trip bbbbrrrrrr!!!!

Fab thread.

I'll report on life in a small town on the edge of the Black Forest.

Last week schools broke up here, one of the last areas of Germany to do so as school holidays are staggered according to region here.

The first day of the holidays was marked by a children's 'Flea Market' when the whole of the town centre was packed with children of all ages selling and buying used toys, games, books and clothes. For sellers there was no need to register, you just turned up early on the morning, baggsied your spot and laid out your stuff on a blanket. It was quite a sight and much more fun than Ebay.

What a fab idea for keeping children amused in the summer hols, Taipo! That is a good idea to put in the ideas box!

I am off to London first thing tomorrow to spend a few days with an old and special friend and then to my dear family home in Suffolk.

I find visiting London very strange as, although it should feel like it is mine in some way, being the capital of my homeland, infact it is the place out of all the places I have ever visited where I feel most alien.

It is strange and beautiful, loud, wild and vibrant, forgiving and humane, grand and strong and for me completely overwhelmingly exotic!

But you know what? I really truly know I could never live in London! I think this is because London is a party but I am a school night.

So bye to all you foocs for a few days. I can't wait to read all of the many many posts you will all write for me to pigout on when I next pop in for a read and type!

Thanks for this thread.

And enjoy London. The second love of my life. It claimed 15 of my happiest years. Most of my important memories were created there, in the most vibrant of cities. I find it much like a patchwork quilt.

The large trees, with its dappled shade, on footpaths along the Thames, quirky little neighbourhoods, with white stucco facades with pastello pink cherry trees and ivy on the front, with cutesy window boxes and little smiling checkered windows. And dark blue or green or red doors. "yes my dear, how are you my dear, what can I do for you to day, my dear". Where friendships take ages to form, and whey they do are rock solid. This is where my children was born, and I would sit in a park, opposite a playground, look at the trees, the flowers, the river alongside it, drink equisite cappucino, where the froth was thick and creamy, and think to myself "I must be the happiest woman alive, to live here, right now.".

But life moves on.

Enjoy London, enjoy Suffolk.

Well it's not much warmer or drier in Dublin Ireland, but at least the strawberries are ripening. I had a fabulous taste explosion of sunwarmed apline strawberries straight off the runner last week when we had our summer (two days - a record). Myself and DD skipped off to Dublin's bay of Naples - Killiney bay and Dalkey for a few days and had a lovely time at the Blessing of the Boats Ceremony in Bullock harbour, Dalkey last sunday. This weekend is a bank holiday and we're off to DunLaoghaire for the World Music festival, and the obligatory icecream from Teddy's near the pier.

Lovely to hear all of the updates from all over, and am thinking of you wellies. We try and forget that Northern Ireland has had similar atrocities, and has similar segregated schools etc.. but the peace and reconciliation work is ongoing; hopefully some EU monies will come your way to fund that process where you are - and justice will be served on Karadzic in the Hague.

Mooching in Montreal: Love in a cake

I have tasted perhaps the best cupcakes I will in my life. I say perhaps, as I?ve only had cupcakes once, so I may discover better ones, but I doubt it.

A friend affectionately refers to the baker as Cupcake Girl. CG bakes the most fantastic little pockets of airy deliciousness you could ever imagine. She is tucked away in a hole in the wall bakery complete with vintage chandelier, pretty teacups and chintzy outfit. A swing for swinging while deciding what to try is hung in the window. She bakes alone; I doubt she could teach someone how to recreate the lightness of her cupcakes and the creaminess of her frosting.

Open only in the afternoon, when she has sold out, she shuts the door and goes home. No special orders taken (I have it on authority if pressed she actually will, but you need to intimate you?ll clean out the shop with one purchase if she doesn?t.)

She bakes three types of cupcakes, chocolate chai, vanilla and lemon coconut. I think DH summed up it best, when asked what he thought; he nodded and said, ?I don?t think I?ve tasted a cupcake like that, ever?. (I don?t know if he?s ever had cupcakes before either )

Cocoa Locale on YouTube

Oh dear, now my mouths watering thinking of her cupcakes, but alas, she?s on holiday until mid August!

oooohh. I lurve cupcakes....
Melt at montreal.

Zazen - good to hear strawberries are ripening. I am more than ready for some jam making. Nothing is like making strawberry jam with my mum, a whole day of strawberry and sugar gooey sweetness!

Greetings from Buenos Aires, where the big news is probably still the end of the farmers strike a couple of weeks ago with the defeat of the government on soya taxes in the upper house.

But we have very good bakeries here too, and so I am thinking about croissants (facturas) for breakfast.

Winter here, so a very pleasant 10-15 degrees during the day at the moment.

I love Buenos Aires.

What lovely cupcakes! Wasn't there a Hollywood film about a woman who ran a similar kind of cake shop and then inevitably fell in love and there was a beautiful ending ... can't remember the name of it but that place brought it to mind.

Longwayfromhome - you're up very early! What is the time difference?

Thanks for the hopeful thoughts there zazen. Glad to hear there is some progress in NI.

Teafortwo - where are you in Paris? I am in Montparnasse for the day on Monday?

Ah yes, I'm 38 weeks pregnant, hence being awake in the middle of the night ... 4 hours behind the UK here.

FOOC from North Yorkshire...

Woke this morning to bright sunshine, but oh what a night. We had torrential rain and thunder and lightening. Upto 6 power cuts and the whole house including the cat in ourbed

DS1 asked "why is the sky angry mummy" and "Why has it stolen all our light". The best I could explain was that the clouds were bumping into each other, which seemed t satisfy my ever inquisitive 3 year old.

Eventually the rain adn thunder subsideded and all 5 of us curled up and slept. Thankfully DH has a battery clock, so was up in time for work and left the rest of us in bed.

Me and the boys are up, but the cat is still on the bottom of the bed

I've just been to the dock here in Dhaka. What a sight. A seething,teeming mass of people. Houseboats,little fishing boats, huge three tiered boats going to the Sunderbans, where the last few tigers are.

Whole place choked up with water hyacinths. Kids swimming naked and rolling on huge metal buoys like circus performers. Cripples, orphans, hustlers, hawkers, everything you can imagine.

As always happens here, we attracted a crowd of about 30 people who followed us everywhere. Stopped off on the way home at the old Armenian church where dh and I read out gruesome epitaphs from gravestones and the kids played with some goats.

Brownsuga
You reminded me of a similar cafe in nearby Cologne Törtchen Törtchen. It is tucked away in a side street and offers fabulous cakes and pastries, delicious cappuccino and hot chocolate made from Belgian chocolate chippings. A frothy little pink shop

Quick update: am hoping to go and take a photo tomorrow of a 'to lease' sign on the main road into town from here, bearing the immortal legend 'Expose yourself here'. DH and I laughed for about 20 mins

Love this thread.

The truly great thing about Toronto is that it's so multicultural, yet really chilled. Over the summer, there's practically a festival every weekend for every nationality that resides here. Coming up is Caribana to celebrate the Caribbean.

There are also distinct neighbourhoods where the original immigrants settled, there are five Chinatowns, a large Little Italy, Corktown and Cabbagetown (the original mainly Irish immigrants were so poor, they planted cabbages in their front gardens for food) and more besides.

Yesterday, I had a stroll down the Danforth, which is the Greek area of Toronto. A king's ransom of patio restaurants tempting us with their mezze and souvlaki with a few old bars interleaved (the equivalent of old men's pubs back home), with stereotypical old Greek men hanging out with their buddies passing the time of day. It just felt like being on holiday.

Love the look of Cocoa Locale. I also have a fancy cake shop round the corner from me called 'Flaky Tarts', which offers wedding, occasional and whimsical cakes. Always makes me chuckle, I should make the effort to pop in for a whimsical cake one of these days.

Mmmm, salivating at the Cup Cakes.

Here the pastries aren't much to write home about, but we have a fab 'empanadilla' place nearby.

Empanadillas are a bit like smaller Cornish pasties, but with a much wider variety of fillings. They are traditional Galician cuisine. My favourites from this place are 'zamburinas' (queen scallops), 'chocos' (cuttlefish,in their ink), and 'bonito' (tuna fish ). They're normally fried, and the dough is to die for.

It's so popular that recently they had to expand the premises because there were queues outside the door regularly. They only open for 3 hours at lunchtime and 4 in the evening, and close at weekends, but are always packed to the rafters.

It's become a bit of a Thursday night tradition for DH and I, plus SIL and her bf to go along, order a plateful to share along with a beer each and enjoy the piping hot, greasy, doughy yumminess.