Wet.

A wet grey day.

After a solid 9 hours sleep I woke with no rib pain at all for which I am truly thankful. I still planned to have a quiet day though with the constant rain I wouldn't have been doing much anyway. I needed to go to the shop to buy some kitchen foil for the salmon I'm cooking for dinner tonight and you've guessed it, I had a short beach walk. I had simply intended to go down the steps at our end, walk to the slipway and up the slipway to the shop but the rain wasn't too bad and I was being assisted by the wind. I carried on most of the way to the first rocks not realising quite how hard it would be once I turned to walk into the wind with the icy rain driving into my face like sharp pins. I still enjoyed my walk even though I arrived home dripping wet.

This afternoon I finally got round to beginning knitting a pair of fingerless gloves with the wool I bought a while back. I had hoped to knit while I watched tv but it was too hard trying to keep the tiny needles under control especially as the wool is multicoloured and multistranded and with a cat on my lap. In the end I found it easier to knit at my desk.

This evening I'm making baked salmon and I thought I'd make some bread and butter pudding to go in the oven as well. When I was checking the amounts in my Readers Digest recipe book first published in 1973 I came across the wonderful description - 'this traditional English nursery pudding which appeals equally to children and husbands.' How dated that sounds.

Yesterday I watched a programme on ancient Greek statues and it got me thinking about the way that Greek, Roman and Egyptian statues were not the elegant white classical figures we're used to seeing and admiring. Instead they were brightly coloured much like Hindu temple figures in India today or statues in Catholic churches. This led me to looking for photos and articles on line.

The reconstructions look almost garish but they have been well researched. Many flakes of colour still remain despite the statues often being thoroughly scrubbed before being put on display. The scientists analysed the flakes and made up similar paints. Also the original painters scratched faint lines on the marble to mark out the patterns which have been faithfully reproduced. Gold and precious stones were also used to make the statues more eye catching.