Okay, here we are, my (mostly) weekly ramble through what’s been touching my interest over the past week…
Abba
Did you know that last weekend – April 6 – marked 50 years to the day that Abba won the Eurovision Song Contest with “Waterloo”? Fifty years. Wowsers. I remember singing to it on the concrete block barbecue we had in the backyard in Carlingford in suburban Sydney. I must have been, at seven (or eight), a very early fan. Mind you, we also sang things like The Carpenters’ “Top of the World” on that concrete barbecue.
I remember buying that first Abba album with my saved birthday money – and still have it on vinyl – and when they came to Australia pored over the daily newspapers for pictures and stories.
The closest I ever got to seeing them, though, was at the Voyage show in London. Even though they were Abbatars, it was one of the best things I’ve done (although my husband might disagree).
Fifty years later, Waterloo still sounds good.
This week I wrote …
While it took me a few days to get a feel for what Philly No. 3 will be about, it’s now trundling along quite well and is like catching up with old friends. It’s also been great to reacquaint myself with Chipwell - through the magic of the pics I took on my last visit to Yorkshire late in 2022.
and researched …
Let’s say anyone going through my search history would find it … interesting. From witches' pots (in last week’s post), I wandered into witchcraft trials in Yorkshire and meandered back to Mauchline Ware—a sort of tourist attraction from Victorian times.
Pronounced Moch’lin) Ware, these were made in Mauchline—a town near Ayr, in Scotland—and if you were a tourist in Victorian times, you might have brought one back from your travels with you.
Two brothers, William and Andrew Smith, built a factory in Mauchline in 1925 to make snuff boxes. By the 1830s, two things happened: snuff was going out of fashion, and the middle class had begun travelling. The canny brothers saw this and expanded into making wooden items decorated with scenes of popular tourist destinations. At the time, thanks largely to Sir Walter Scott’s novels, tourism to Scotland was particularly popular, so it was the obvious place to start. Then they took it one step further by making them using wood from the slopes of Stirling Castle or the fields of Bannockburn. It added to their authenticity. There was even a tourist guide to Doune Castle with Mauchline Ware binding, which on the front cover stated the wood had come from the Old Gallows Tree at Doune Castle.
Soon, they produced souvenirs for places all around the world.
The photos below were taken at York Antique Centre, which is sort of like Philly’s Chipwell Barn Antiques, but each dealer has a cabinet rather than a shop. There are over 120 dealers here.
When I’m researching Philly I’m also trawling through antique auction results and found this lovely Edwardian cape that Bell will wear at some point in the novel. For the useless book of knowledge, the hammer price was £200.
and watched …
Scoop – the Netflix dramatisation of the car crash interview Prince Andrew gave the BBC. While I enjoyed it – Billy Piper, Rufus Sewell and Gillian Anderson were all brilliant – I found myself googling the newsroom backstory and the real-life drama there.
I also began watching White Lies, a tense thriller (on Stan) starring Natalie Dormer set in Cape Town, South Africa. I’m three episodes in and have no idea where it’s going.
This week, I’m reading …
As always I have a few books on the go and this week I’m reading:
· Murder Before Evensong – a cosy crime by Reverend Richard Coles that I’m loving.
· I’m taking a break from listening to Howard’s End by E.M. Forster – our book club choice – to listen to Julia Chapman’s Date With Justice, the latest in the Dales Detective Agency series, a series I adore. Weirdly, the ebook won’t be available in Australia until July.
On the cookbook front, I’m reading The Secret of Cooking by Bee Wilson. This is honestly one of those books I want to stop and cook my way through – and I may, in fact, do just that. So far it’s as good as Nigella’s How To Eat – and that’s a massive call.
A recipe …
In the novel, Philly makes this salad for Robbie (using purple sprouting broccoli he grew in his allotment) and serves it as a side with steak. I made it as a stand-alone lunch and added some rinsed spelt that I boiled for 20-30 minutes until it was soft.
Also, because I can’t get PSB (although I do love it – and not just because it has the same initials as Pet Shop Boys), I used broccolini, which is kind of the same.
And if you’re an anchovy hater – look away now. No pic, sorry, I ate before I styled it.
Broccolini and Anchovy Salad
Broccolini or purple sprouting broccoli
300g purple sprouting broccoli
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp chilli flakes
¼ tsp garlic powder (or some pre-crushed garlic)
½ red onion, finely sliced
1 tbsp sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 tin anchovy fillets
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ lemon, juiced
Handful toasted flaked almonds (optional, to serve)
Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC (180 fan)
Mix 1 tbsp olive oil in a bowl with a good grinding of salt and pepper, chilli flakes and garlic powder. Add the broccolini and massage the oil in making sure everything is nicely coated. Lay out on a tray then bake in the oven for 10 minutes, turning halfway.
While that’s cooking, put the sliced red onion in a small bowl with the vinegar, stir it about and leave for a few minutes so the onion can mellow.
For the dressing, tip most of the tin of anchovies (including the oil) into a nutribullet or mini food processor – saving just a few to serve whole. Add the garlic, another 2 tbsp olive oil, lemon juice, a few turns of black pepper and 2 tbsp hot water to make a thick sauce.
Toss the broccolini and the (drained) onions together, drizzle over the sauce, the extra anchovies and almonds (if using).
Seeing those little wooden boxes took me right back to childhood and remembering my mum used to have a small round one on her dressing table. I shall have to ask her if she still has it. Very interesting finding out their history. I’m very much looking forward to the next Philly book
Hi Jo, I think this is the first time I realised you've branched out to SubStack! Interesting to realise it's 50 years since Abba won Eurovision. I have no memory of that. I think I was around 10 then and may have been living out in rural Queensland where we only had the ABC! You continue to amaze me with all that you squeeze into life, the writing and reading and research and travel and astrology and walking and cooking and more! I'm very keen to catch up on all the books you've written once my life settles down a bit because I know that the ones I have read I enjoyed very much! It must be lovely to create a world into which you can escape and explore and develop as your mind imagines! Thanks for linking up with #WWWhimsy - hope to see you again & have a great weekend! xo