Marauding Hedgehogs and Dodgy Wi-Fi

The reason you haven’t gotten a letter from me in over a week is not, as some would have it, that I have been mauled by an enraged giant hedgehog. Nor have I locked myself in the McVitie’s factory until they agree to fly crunchy and absolutely fresh dark chocolate digestives to New Jersey.

The view from the adorable cottage door

However, the wifi at the adorable cottage I was staying at in Herefordshire did act as if wild hedgehogs were threatening it. The connection was intermittent at best, and probably only worked when we weren’t around. And yes, Mom, we did spend lots of time playing outside, so it’s not like I’m addicted to the internet or anything…but it was frustrating to have the internet stall every time I’d set out to write a substack and regale you with tales of Welsh cakes and cheesy cheddar nibbles. And oh how I wanted to send you a recipe inspired by my friend Susie for Mug Shot Cakes: “Cakes So Very Ugly, But Deliciously Satisfying.”

A simple treat for my son: A bacon butty made by grandma.

(And it wasn’t just this here substack impacted. The notes I wrote my college students to tell them I would be absent for the first class of the semester didn’t go through. That was a messy few hours as I sorted out the “Where are you?” queries. Big Sigh.)

Now I am in back in the very fluffy land of Bosco, Calvin and Clyde, who were each in their own way, as ecstatic to see us as we were to see them. Yes, that was my family last night leaping about in the hallway like a bunch of goony birds as we greeted the dog and cats after our long journey home.

I will have a real, genuine, juicy, recipe-packed newsletter for you tomorrow, but in the meantime, I wanted you to know I hadn’t forgotten about you all. In fact, I think about this wonderful community of readers constantly and I thank you for making this such a special place.

View from half-way up Sugar Loaf Mountain in Wales. This and other horses (and mannnnny sheep) rambled along with us.

This substack is a reader-supported publication. If you’re able, paying for a subscription helps pay for biscuits, crumpets and groceries for recipe-testing, recipe development and supports me—a freelance writer. The pay scale for journalists and writers has not kept up with the cost of living. That’s why having a substack newsletter has become such a terrific venue for so many writers. Best of all, however, it puts me, Bosco, Calvin and Clyde in touch with our readers like never before. Thank you.

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