Oh, how I love the  early morning ritual of watering the strawberry patch. After showering the plants, I check for those stealthy snails that have made their way into the garden overnight to take massive bites out of the fruit. I pull out any weedlets (my word for baby weeds), lest they invade the entire bed. Then I watch dozens of bees flit to and from strategically-planted lavender bushes to lamb's ears, and seaside daisies, and on to the freshly moistened flowers of the strawberries. It may sound silly to you, but watching this small but nonetheless glorious event makes me sigh with joy. 

'Eat your greens too, darling one,' I suggest to my Peter in a gentle, mother hen fashion. Sometimes he forgets about them and then they've gone cold, which seems to give him the perfect excuse to push them to the side of the plate.

The frosts have come earlier than usual this year and I was fortunate enough to have plucked the last of our basil and baby tomatoes from potted plants in the courtyard before they felt the cruel bite of winter. 

'If it's work, do it fast. If it's food, eat it little by little', says a Filipino proverb. Perfect, for that's exactly how I like to savour these bite-sized morsels of Inihaw na Baboy or grilled pork skewers with banana ketchup.