I have a new cookbook. For the past five days it has been my constant companion. A friend ordered it for me from Flow magazine and I waited patiently for it to arrive.

Of course, as always tends to happen, it arrived when we were away on holiday. So I had to wait even more patiently because, once we were home, unpacking, laundry and normal life took over.

Like a cuddly toy or a blankie, it is always close by, just in case I have time for it. It comes to bed with me at night and in the morning I bring it to the kitchen. Later in the day it rests on the coffee table for a while and today I even brought it outside.

I wondered yesterday how long it will be before I have time to open it and look inside. Up till then all I knew was that it looked retro cool, felt nice and book-like, and held the promise of containing many, many good things.

Today I made the time during nap time. While The Bavarian and the older two were out for a cycle and Number Three was down for his nap, I raced through the jobs – unloading and reloading the dishwasher, sweeping the floors (mucky from a weekend spent largely in wellies), putting on a wash and taking another in off the line (oh the utter joy of being able to hang the washing out and take it in later dry).

With all my work done and a pot of tea brewed, I sat down outside and began to browse, beginning at the back as I always do. Don’t ask me why. There I discovered a flap containing to gorgeous posters – double-sided, with a pattern on one side and a picture on other. This one was very apt for today, I thought.

For fear of being interrupted mid-article, I decided to flick through and scan some articles and recipes. I hate to be disturbed when in the middle of reading. Now that I know what is in the  cookbook, I have earmarked bits for later.

I say cookbook because that is what Flow calls it. In reality though, it is akin to the activity books I buy the boys  – full of things to do, cook, read and make. With fabulous illustrations from a whole range of designers, Flow Cookbook is an absolute delight to dip in and out of.

Packed with stickers for homemade gifts as well as paper crafts like doughnut bunting and origami ice cream cones, I can see it continuing to be my constant companion over the coming weeks.