Week 2: Flowers, food, friends and family

One year my sister decided her New Year's Resolution was to always have fresh flowers in the house. I think this is a great idea. I'm not saying I'm going to do that myself, but I have decided I will buy myself flowers from now on - I love them, but I only get them when I'm doing plays, so why not buy my own? This is a close up of some hydrangeas.

I've always been fascinated by pomegranates; they are simply weird fruit. With mysical and classical allusions, they glow like the tempting morsels. They have allured me since I first saw Rossetti's Proserpine, and I bought a couple so we could eat their bitter-sweet seeds with French vanilla ice cream.

Lindsay wears a purple dress that she reckons looks exactly like something her mum used to wear - she has a knack of picking up great finds from the Salvation Army. Giant salad model's own.

For Jenni's birthday we have morning tea - homemade cake, scones, tarte abricot and strawberries. She says this gathering is typically what the public expect from civil servants.

For something completely different, we go to Harcourt Park to watch the international jousting championships - much skill is on display and it's all a lot of fun with people wandering about dressed in mediaeval garb hammering out breastplates of armour, embroidering tapestries and drinking mead. We join in with the latter. My sister brings her children along to watch the festivities but they are not all so sure about the proceedings.