The pleasure of lemon and cardamom

I had a restless night.  I was too hot, and flung my quilt onto the floor.  I heard the milkman leave our three bottles at the door at 4:05am, when it was dark and still outside.  Just before 6am, I heard a taxi drop off someone for the house over the road - they were very quiet but struggled to get their key into their door the right way up.  I listened to a few podcasts and tried to doze, but couldn't. 

And then just before 7am, when it was beginning to get light, I realised what had been keeping me awake.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Very faint, but persistant.  I could definitely hear dripping.  I went to the bathroom, and it got louder.  I hoped it was next door's problem, but when I looked out of the window, I realised it was ours.  We were on the phone to the plumber before breakfast, and he said he could come by in the afternoon.

I couldn't settle to anything all day.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Then the plumber came.  He dismantled the toilet, he muttered about valves and asked us where the hot water tank was.  He put in new washers, replaced worn pipes, mopped up the mess and checked everything was dry and fixed.  I smiled and was relieved.  We laughed and chatted about his toddlers and our neighbours, and then he went home.

Just as earlier in the week, I was revelling in the beauty of cherry blossom once I knew that a car emergency was resolved, now that there was no more dripping to worry about I could settle down to something peaceful and absorbing.

I made some lemon and cardamom biscuits.  These biscuits are delicious, and I was delighted to be able to use the edelweiss biscuit stamp I bought when I was in Brienz in Switzerland two years ago.  I mixed, rolled, stamped and baked with great satisfaction.  I wished the plumber had still been around because I would have offered him one with a cup of tea.

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The recipe is from the new Hairy Bikers series - Bakeation.  C and I have loved the first three episodes, which have taken in Norway, Benelux and Germany, and with the accompanying book on sale at Amazon for an insanely cheap £8.86 I bought it without hesitation.  It is fabulous.