Acknowledgements

Gratitude for guidance and friendship are due most particularly to Monica Rawlins, whose memory lives on at Brynmerheryn, to Will and Jane Edwards and family who look after me through snow and sunshine, and to the many other kind neighbours in Wales mentioned in the book; and also to my friend and literary ally, Frances Davies of Cambria magazine, but most especially to photographer Clare Richardson, whose skill, sensitivity and ability to capture the moment illuminates these pages.

My thanks, too, for patience and tolerance in the kitchen and elsewhere to my daughter Honey and children Iona and Orin, and to daughter Poppy and husband David Lee, taster-in-chief for the recipes in this book and father of Jessie, Bonnie and Harper, who have been assisting me in the kitchen since they were old enough to bang a table with a spoon.