This is what I'd do if I were rich.1. Have staff. A gardener and a cleaner. I wouldn't employ a cook though because that's the one housewifely duty I love. But gardening can be tiring for a miniature arthritic woman whose idea of gardening is throwing a few seeds in an unsuitably sized pot. And whose idea of cleaning is a twenty second re-arrangement of dust. But cooking a meal and baking a loaf and a cake is pure happiness.
2. Visit places. Places like Italy and the U.S.A. Italy for handbags and art, the States for stores, doughnuts and folk.
3. Buy a cottage. And furnish it like a writer, with solid furniture, an Aga and an abundance of freshly picked flowers.
That is what I'd do if I were rich.
This is what I'll do today. Make a chicken casserole for tomorrow, start a shopping list, make a Manchester Tart. I have fond memories of eating this for school dinners in about 1966. So I searched the web and found the recipe for it. Whether or not it'll bear any resemblance to the original I have no idea but it'll be fun trying.
Monty is on a pile of un-ironed shirts and John's mum is ill but a few tender daffs have popped up in the front garden and with the melting snow cascading down the stems I'm sure Spring is round the corner.
