Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

Must I be thinking about Simon & Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair?" Yes and no. Yes, because that's where I got the title of this post from. No, because I'm not really going to talk about the song or the fair.

Earlier today when I was making sauce for the spaghetti I told my husband I needed thyme. Just the thought of its aroma is enough to make me crave for food. Simultaneously, I thought of the line "parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme from the song and I said to myself, "these herbs used to be distant and strange in my cooking." I even thought they were girls' names when I first heard them in the song. But now they consist the recipe in almost everything I cook where I usually only used onions, garlic, black pepper, and ginger. The last two are rarely used now. But parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme...they are all in my garden where I can pick a sprig or two anytime I want them.

It's finally here!!

I mean, summer! Although British Summer officially began last month when we turned the clock one hour ahead on Easter day. Oh well, I haven't done talking about the weather, am I?. Here in the UK you can't possibly skip the weather topic every single day of the year.

Last week while waiting for the bus we were shivering when the cold wind blew and my colleague asked, "When is it gonna get better?" You see? If they--the English--are longing for warm weather, how much more do you think I am? Last week's temperature was between 7 and 14 C and it even went down to 1C at one point.

After the long harsh winter, everyone is just longing for the sunshiny day. Luckily, last weekend we were treated with temperatures rising up to 24 and carried on until today, it's just fantastic! My colleagues ask me if I am happy now. I can't complain anymore although at night it feels so hot I want to sleep naked.

One disadvantage though, my plants need more watering.

We had a barbecue today

It's not yet the best Sunday of the year but we already got a barbecue.Three Italian Stallions, an English, a Scottish, and a Filipina (women, that is). We got sunny spells and chilly breeze alternately and in between we were donning on and off sunglasses and coat. We just got to have a barbecue day today. We can't wait for the weather to get better and it's the middle of May, for Pete's sake!


Last week was chilly and on Tuesday when I went to work at 7 am it was 1°C. After braving one of the worst winters in the UK I am terribly DESPERATE for summer. So learning about the rising temperature, my little society met up for a chat over barbecue. It was awesome! We hope to do it again next Sunday.

While we were brooding about the weather I realized barbecue is not a biggie in the Philippines. Everyday is basically a barbecue day. Here in the UK barbecueing is like celebrating for the sunshiny day. And then we talked about the latest winner of Euro million who is from the UK which until today no one has come to claim it yet and it's a whooping €84M! We all were like "If I'd won that much blah blah blah..." and I quipped "bye bye England!" And to tell you frankly it's not only us immigrants who hate the English weather. Even English themselves. Ever since I came here 2 years ago there hardly is a day where weather is not talked about.

If the world changes course

Now what in the world am I talking about?  I took a shower at around 8 pm and the sun was still in the horizon. In the shower room it felt fabulously warm. And I thought to myself, "I wish it's always like this". But of course it's not gonna happen because the world is revolving unless it stops or changes its course. But then I paused a bit. Hang on! If it's always spring or summer in the UK, if the world would tip on another side so that equatorial line would be in a vertical position then... Oh no! Maybe Philippines and other hot countries would have snow. And then many would die because the houses are not equipped for the weather. Oh no! I don't even want to think about it.