Terrifically written, Jolisa. Made me remember things I'd forgotten, and now I want to rush to the library to revisit all these books - although I guess several others might have beaten me to it. I was a suspicious child (and have become a naive adult, haha) and I always resented it when something was, as you say, written down to children - which is why I loved Mahy's books. Exciting, challenging, and making the place I grew up in seem more full of possibilities and enchantment.

Any covert bread/oatcake/potato-cake/ damper/scone-making freaks out there? Who do not eschew breadmakers for the daily stuff?

Me. Although not covert. The very opposite. Love kneading dough. Used to make damper over the campfire every summer. Still perfecting scones, but so far the trick seems to be more butter than usual at every step of the way. And cream of tartar...

The other thing is that food photography doesn’t age well at all, there’s always subtle differences in how the food is presented (tablecloths, wooden tables, plates, cutlery) that make anything out of season stick out like a sore thumb.

I've seen this a lot in food photography over the years. When I started it was all about icy blues, baby pinks, and lightbox-style shots with no horizon/background. Now there's heaps of crisp top-down shots, dramatic shadowy lighting, and ingredients scattered all over the table. I love reading older cookbooks where they seemed to shoot everything under yellowy lighting, with as many props crammed in as possible. I'm no expert on this subject by the way, this is simply what I've observed.

Thank you, Tom! I assure you it's an easy recipe - a bit of heating, stirring, freezing and waiting is about it, really.

Maru!!!!! Can't express my love for that cat in reasonable manner, hence the excessive punctuation. This was seriously good for the soul.

I'm pretty sure it hasn't been mentioned so far - for those who haven't heard of them already, I find the magical wonder of the capybara, and the captions on this site dedicated to them, pretty cheering. http://bit.ly/6NLX8q

Will have to find this on demand as both topics sound extremely interesting. I feel angry every time I read Laws and dislike that he's got that platform, but also selfishly hope SST's numbers don't continue to fall, given the opportunities they've presented me with...

Peter, I saw that link on Twitter. Am enjoying reading the comments.

Danielle, I am so heartily in agreement with you about Singin' In The Rain. A full membership, while desirable, wouldn't be so practical right now but the sampler option sounds like a fantastic way to see this beautiful film on a massive screen.

And yeah, it is long, but at least the dream ballet is one of the most engaging and purposeful of its kind (don't get me started on the one in Oklahoma :/)