Say hello, wave goodbye (or should that be au revoir?)

As always, since retiring from teaching, life has been busy- yes the cliché is true! Parent #1 has just celebrated a significant birthday, child #2 has just graduated from university and child #3 has just passed her driving test – a set of events that have concentrated my mind on the passing of time. Age has also been to the fore in recent sporting events: Ivo Karlovic v Feliciano Lopez at the 2019 French tennis grand slam – combined age 77, the oldest in the professional era; Coco Gauff, 15, currently wowing Wimbledon; five teams at the women’s world cup fielded 17 year olds and one had a player in her 40s. Youth has also been present on the world stage with Greta Thunberg’s climate change ‘movement’.

It is a critical time of year for many young people, be it leaving school for the world of work or university, graduating from college/university courses and seeking the next challenge. As a former teacher, I have so much respect for the young of today who, in my experience, are an impressive, interesting, creative and dynamic generation. They will have been hearing ‘inspirational’ words of wisdom from teachers, lecturers and parents as they move on…’go out and change the world….don’t be afraid to make mistakes…actions speak louder than words, so…be young men and women of conscience, competence and compassion….go out and thrill the world’ etc… The best advice I have heard though, which applies to any of us whatever age we are is: ‘be happy living your best life’.

Eating: Given the current warm spell, salads have been on my mind, but with child#1 working full time and ‘needing’ a filling meal, I found a recipe for an avocado salad which ticked all the boxes…the sweet potato (roasted in cumin) giving it ‘heft’, the seed sprinkle ‘texture’, the green beans ‘freshness’, the feta ‘saltiness’ and the honey and soy dressing a nice ‘kick’. Recipe from March edition of Veggie magazine.

Drinking: Rosé for me is the wine to drink when the weather is warm enough, but finding one that has enough about it to match with spicier food can be difficult, especially if you want it dry (and I do!). The above, sourced from Virgin wines, ticked all the right boxes.

Listening to: Promenade by Niall Kelly. I was prompted to listen to this by a friend with whom I used to work – it is a great listen, especially when cooking. Favourite track at the moment is The letter.