I’ve been working in Derby for the past two days and stayed over at my colleague’s cute little cottage in the Derbyshire Dales whilst I was there. Lucky me!! Last night, her hubbie cooked us a delicious Spaghetti Bolognaise (so good I forgot to take a photo of it!).

To start we nibbled on some Crudités and homemade Aioli. I helped make this (a garlicky-mayo dip that should be very simple to make from scratch if you do as they recipe says and pour the oil in DRIP BY DRIP! Alas! I borrowed one of Kay’s cute vintage floral aprons to stop getting any splashes on my white linen dress and thought it looked rather fetching actually! However… we cocked up the garlic Aioli dip and I ended up having to whisk up another egg yolk and then add the oil and egg yolk mix that we’d messed up to that… it turned out just as yummy, not quite as thick in consistency, but still very tasty!)

Our Crudités selection consisted of chunks of fresh tomatoes, fennel drizzled in lemon juice, sliced red peppers, and homegrown yellow courgettes, celery sticks and a sprinkling of lemon thyme flowers. BEAUTIFUL!! As the night got a bit cooler, not wanting to head back inside just yet… we wrapped ourselves in wool blankets and nattered away into the evening. Eventually we went back into the house and flipped on the tv. BBC had some brilliant music documentary’s on last night. We watched: Amy Winehouse - The Day She Came To Dingle - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l4929 and then when that had finished we got thoroughly engrossed in a documentary about the ‘Queen of Africa’ The Miriam Makeba Story. http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01l8vw7/

Two MUST-SEE documentary’s for music fans out there! I was humbled at the raw talent and passion for music.

And so, after a great night’s sleep, this morning announced another glorious day in the Derbyshire Dales. We went outside and had breakfast on the terrace, as you do! Muesli and natural yoghurt, chunky brown toast with homemade Damson jam and a cup of english breakfast tea. A perfect way to start the day!

Photography © Lucie Kerley

(Please excuse the poor quality of these images… I’m still waiting for my replacement iPhone so having to make do with the camera on the 3GS)