Spring! The day the sky turned blue.
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Midday at the market, for a moment, the clouds subsided & the sky turned beautiful blue. It prompted me to ask my fellow stall holder to look after my stuff & go for a quick stroll. We often take turns looking after each other’s stalls like that, for whenever nature calls or when we need to grab ourselves a lunch.
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When on my stroll, I often like to walk to the end of the market to see my friends at their baguette stall. On way, I noticed the cherry tree next to ‘L’eau à la bouche’ café was in full bloom. Wow, first sign of Spring & what a magnificent one! Mr.S from the café says that it bloomed almost all of a sudden. I took the murky picture above with my grubby iPhone. The weak but direct ray from the sun felt penetrating & tingling warm in the still crisp cold air. Perhaps the cherry tree decided to make the most of the sun’s rays & use the opportunity to blossom, just like how it prompted my little stroll.
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I felt peaceful. Or maybe I was just simply spaced out through lack of sleep. I went to bed after 4am on the previous night & woke up at 7:30 in the morning. I told a visiting friend about this, & she said “Tamami, but 4am is not ‘night’, it’s already ‘morning’! What-on-earth..?!”. Lol, yes, perhaps, but I didn’t feel the lateness atall! I was buzzing, working on my book! And it is just so exciting, ideas just keep pouring out & I know exactly what to write! Like the crisp blue sky, everything is clear for me on what to do. If only time allowed, I would work on it day on end!
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And besides, I didn’t sleep much prior to this book writing anyways! It’s just the way I am. On average I probably slept 5 to 6 hours or so a night, often going to sleep around 3am. There’s something I love about the undisturbed hush of the night, it’s as if suspended in time. I often read or potter around in the kitchen & ofcourse also do my blogging. And now that my book project has fully commenced, it’s the night-times that I must really work in, what with day-times being fully booked with family & market work, it’s the only reserved slot of time I have.
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The stall’s doing great by the way. Sales are on the up for definite compared to last Winter. (Phew!) And it’s still cold enough to have a decent sale on the truffles & hot chocolates. The market itself feels busier than ever before & this week was a perfect example of so.
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The last two weeks I deliberately produced less cakes so that I can finish slightly earlier on Friday night & also go home earlier than usual at 4pm on the Saturday to conserve energy to work on my book. Unfortunately it also meant no lemon drizzle cake the first week. I disappointed a few customers though so I just about squeezed time to make two for this week. But the situation is that a cake has to leave my line-up, & it’s either gotta be the lemon drizzle or the baked cheesecake (aghast!) Which one should go? Sale-wise, the cheesecake is perhaps less popular, but the look of it with the bird stenciling does stop people on track… Sigh…, which one should it be? It’s so difficult!
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(above cheesecake picture borrowed from This is naive.)
Hello Tamami
I wish I were there on that beautiful day at the market! Take it easy on the book so you don’t burn out of steam! Also I say keep both cakes.
Comment by Louise - March 7, 2011 9:33 am
Hello Louise!! Cheers! I know, it’s a bad trait of mine, going full steam or not atall…! I’ll try to keep pace, like a long distance marathon runner perhaps?? ^^
Comment by tamami - March 7, 2011 10:29 am
hi tamami
maybe you could experiment, taking turns to omit one cake & keep one and then vice versa.
see how it goes in regards to sales
Comment by Tian - March 7, 2011 1:48 pm
How exciting, Tamami! It’s like Spring is blooming your book! I love the picture of the cherry tree in flower and remember fondly our visit to the market last summer. Looking forward to updates on the cookbook! Cheers!
Comment by Diane - March 7, 2011 3:10 pm
Hello Tian! That’s a great idea – I might do that for a while… Cheers!!! x
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Diane, I’m glad you like the picture! The lens on my iPhone is so murky, I wasn’t quite sure if I should use this pic! Today we have a very similar weather, in the shade it is very very cold still, but atleast it’s sunny & the colours appear brighter! It does lift people’s moods it seems!! Cheers Diane!!
Comment by tamami - March 7, 2011 3:19 pm
gorgeous blue sky! i’m one of those ‘7hour’ sleepers ;) if the cheesecake keeps better in cooler weather, maybe a more seasonal approach will work out–lemon when warmer, cheesecake when cooler. glad you’re enjoying the book-writing.
Comment by petoskystone - March 7, 2011 6:57 pm
Petoskystone, long long time ago about 10 years ago, I used to be a regular 8-hour girl & then a 12-hour sleeper in weekends at times! Lol! :) Cheers for the tip!! ^^ And yup! Am indeed enjoying writing! x
Comment by tamami - March 7, 2011 7:47 pm
hihi Tamami,
you are putting me to shame with your boundless energy!! (my excuse is nursing a cut finger on 1 hand/arm and carpal tunnel syndrome on the other) am off to post on my blog for the first time in forever……keep up the good work and hope to see you soon :)
Comment by little chan - March 7, 2011 8:45 pm
Hihi Little chan!!!
I just read your post! Ouch…! Oh dear…! Sounds awful…! And as for the carpal tunnel syndrome, I never heard of it, but now I do. Take it easy young lady! Hope all is well otherwise with your plans – & cheers for the write-up on my brownies!! x
Comment by tamami - March 7, 2011 10:42 pm
After the harsh winter, I’m so happy that you finally have a beautiful spring day for the market! I love the photo too – the mistiness somehow makes it look even more spring-y.
I think alternating the lemon drizzle and cheesecakes is a fine idea. The main thing is to remember to be kind to yourself – it’s important! xx
Comment by Rachel - March 8, 2011 5:04 am
Hi Rachel! Always so nice to hear from you! How are things in the US of A? ‘Being kind to yourself’… hm, I’ll try…!! But this is the time I feel I must embrace the opportunity given & try to achieve my goals…^^ Thanks hon. x
Comment by tamami - March 8, 2011 11:37 am
Hi Tamami, I’ve been reading your blog for ages now, over here in Australia,but this is my first comment. Congratulations on the book, hopefully we’ll be able to buy it off the site when you’re published? Can’t wait. Those cheesecakes are so pretty, would be sad not to have them, but the lemon drizzle sounds delish, good luck deciding!!
Comment by Jade - March 8, 2011 11:54 am
Dear Jade, thank you very much for leaving your first ever comment! It means a lot to me to hear from readers! It’s the energy source for keeping this going for me!! Hopefully I get to hear from you more often?? ^^ All the best, t x
Comment by tamami - March 8, 2011 1:05 pm
oh no, i’m yet to visit your stall and will miss these… taking turns would be a good idea if it works for you, and will also motivate me to visit more often, hehehe. ;) Good luck and congratulations about the book!
Comment by Lolla - March 8, 2011 3:32 pm
Hello Lolla! :)
ah… yes, I’ll be alternating those cakes for a while I think… I’ll see how things go with that! Hope to see you one day at the stall then! ^^
Comment by tamami - March 8, 2011 7:29 pm
Lovely picture. Here in Ohio we have exceptionally gray winters, so I can appreciate how happy it makes one to see the sunshine and blossoms!!
I am happy for you that the ideas are flowing and the book is starting out well. I am a night person also, so I understand that sometimes thoughts are clearer then.
Good idea to alternate the cakes to save some time. Or, since your lemon cake is so popular, maybe some type of extra decoration could be applied to the top of that cake to keep the eye-appeal, just-gotta-stop-and-look-at-this-stall effect, just in case you do decide to drop the cheesecake.
Thanks for posting!
Comment by heidy - March 9, 2011 5:29 pm
Oh wow, thanks Heidy for the lovely comment!! Yes, alternating is the way to go for me it seems, atleast while I’m in this busy period – perhaps I can bring it back when the chocolate season is over as I’d have more time then! As for the lemon drizzle deco idea – ha! I never thought of that! Good idea!! I’ll look in to it! Cheers for the most helpful tip!! x
Comment by tamami - March 9, 2011 7:22 pm
such a strong quake! hoping friends & family are OK.
Comment by petoskystone - March 11, 2011 12:26 pm
petoskystone, it’s truly devastating. I feel so tearful watching the footage on TV. My relatives are all fine. They don’t live in Sendai, nor anywhere close. I can’t get in touch with one friend, & another friend’s mother is also unavailable to reach.
Comment by tamami - March 11, 2011 4:10 pm
pleased to hear you have been able to contact nearly everyone!
Comment by petoskystone - March 11, 2011 5:29 pm