here i sit with a baker’s dozen of sweet fat cherries. it is allowed, because these days i am a baker, don’t you know. ok, so it was just another loaf of banana bread, but it is a damn fine loaf of banana bread. i’m sure this is because it’s such a forgiving recipe; even with slightly less butter and quite a bit less sugar, and more bananas, it comes out good. this time ’round i threw in a cup of the sweet fat cherries, quartered, in place of blueberries, and i want to sit down and eat slice after slice, toasted and buttered.

week number three sans boy is coming to a close, and things are going much better than i anticipated. really quite good, actually. as he fixes up his country estate — digging up floors, pouring new concrete, liberating asbestos, hosing himself down at the end of the day with cold water in the backyard — me and the kid have sorted out a routine (starting at 5.30 most mornings) involving hanging out laundry; meals on the balcony; an occasional luncheon (with chips!) at the portuguese chicken shop up the street; walks in the park; perhaps a swim on an extra sweltery afternoon; cartoons and picture books; bathtime; storytime; and “hmm… isn’t it almost bedtime?”.

i have just enough work on for maeve’s morning and afternoon naps, and no resentment towards the boy sitting down and watching tv instead of attending to child… because i have to do it all myself. since the boy isn’t here to help me out by cooking dinner and using every single pot, pan and utensil in the kitchen, i have about half the number of dishes to do at the end of the night. the end of the night is a lot earlier because i eat dinner with maeve at 6.30 instead of 8 or 9 after she goes to sleep. there is no loud primetime tv, and no snoring in the wee hours sending me out to the couch. could i get used to this? eeeeeyes.

last night i shut down the computer and made up a sundae of raspberries, icecream and yoghurt, and a muji green tea biscuit. i ate it in bed, reading a “new yorker”, which maeve had dropped in the bath a month ago, and which i dried by blotting and smoothing each page with kitchen paper, before sunning it on the hot tiles in the backyard. bliss.