A strange weekend. I have felt suspended, have no energy and feel as if I have been waiting for something to happen. Have even been too lethargic to do much cooking.

Yesterday went to Cayton Bay so Ade could surf. I sat in the car for seven hours, reading. Although the weather was quite nice – well it was bright and slightly less bleak than usual, except when it started to drizzle – I didn’t even go for a walk along the cliffs or down the beach, which normally I love doing. We ate the last of the banana bread that I baked last Sunday and it was still dense, moist and delicious. Ade said it was just what he needed after three hours battling the waves in the North Sea. So, what’s my excuse…..?

Today, Ade has put together my new, much dreamed of bike, which is a Dawes Duchess and looks like the sort of sit up and beg boneshaker that sinister spinsters of a certain age ride in Midsummer Murders. I cycled up and down the street, twice and have abandoned it outside the kitchen window after stubbing my toe when I forgot that I should use the brakes to stop. Ade has also planted six types of sweet pea, cress, spring onions, purple sprouting broccoli, chillies, sweet peppers and four types of heritage tomato, which is the beginning of the gardening year for us. I use the word “us” very loosely, as I spent the afternoon sitting reading in a deckchair in a patch of sunlight in the green house. It’s a good job I have had a pile of good books to plough through.

Haven’t even had my phone switched on all weekend as I haven’t wanted to speak to anyone. Maybe I am just recharging my internal batteries before spring kicks off in earnest.

We did eat the first meal outdoor meal of the year at lunchtime which should be celebratory. Maybe I should have opened a bottle of champagne? Cooked Croque Monsieur and salad for Ade. I had the Slimming World version of this French café favourite – a slice of ham and a mini babybel light melted onto a slice of toast. Yum?

Not sure if we will get to eat dinner outside, but I am counting the days until we can. There is definitely something in the air that my taste buds are responding to and I want zingier flavours and lighter textures. I am doing something with prawns, a pink grapefruit, mint leaves and a bag of watercress that I recently saw in a magazine tonight, which seems to fit the bill. Maybe the vitamins in that will give me a new lease of life. That or a couple of months in the South of France might help.