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edgwareviabank.bsky.social
F.
@edgwareviabank.bsky.social
270 followers 410 following 430 posts
Italian-born, raised all over the place, wound up in London for better or worse. Also: 🇮🇹 🇬🇧 translator & writer, hobby photographer, cat person, here for books & food. She / her.
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edgwareviabank.bsky.social
Do we think she knows about the knot of stress I've had in my stomach all week, and how if I could choose just one thing to do this morning, it would be sitting right here listening to her purr?
A calico cat leaning into the back of her human's hand for a sweet, sweet head bump The human's hand giving scritches to the calico cat's soft, soft neck
November 6, 2025 at 9:29 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
On a long train journey home, I felt like music with "evenings getting darker" vibes, and landed on Muse's Origin of Symmetry, which I hadn't played in ages but still believe to be one of the best albums ever made. Funny it had to be right now: 22 years from this gig, almost to the day.
Nostalgia thread alert: did I ever tell you about the time I saw Muse live for just over 20€? Well, I'm about to. I still have the ticket. It's framed and has autographs on it, though all that is a much later (2010s) addition, and a story for another time.
November 2, 2025 at 6:18 PM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
If I ever become the president of something, make sure the Honey & Co. Baking Book is the holy book I get sworn in with.
I made the mahleb kourabiedes from the Honey & Co. Baking Book, and can report they are excellent with a cup of espresso. 🍜 🍽️
November 2, 2025 at 5:09 PM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
October reads on @thestorygraph.com, picking up right where I left off last month (i.e. books that made me unspeakably sad). I turned to mysteries for a palate cleanser, and The Missing Cryptoqueen was just as good as I'd hoped from listening to the podcast.
Books I read in October, let's go. 1) "Crying in H Mart" by Michelle Zauner: the end of a two-year-and-counting Libby queue. Well worth it. I really like her writing voice (more than her music, which should be right up my street but hasn't drawn me in as much), and all along, the book felt as if I was listening to a close friend sharing her deepest feelings on grief, belonging and identity - or it's perceived loss. A lot I could relate to, partly because we are so close in age, and despite having grown up in very different families. Also unspeakably sad every time I reminded myself how young the author's mother was when she died, which was roughly every other page. 2) "Sugartown" by Caragh Maxwell: here comes unspeakably sad book number two. The "return to humdrum life in bleak hometown" narrative was catnip for me. Also, absolutely gorgeous writing. There are books that make me think that if I can't create even half of the world and atmosphere they do, I might be better off not writing again. And well this is exactly what I want my novel to sound like. So there. 3) "An elderly lady is up to no good" by Helene Tursten: highly recommended in many places as cosy crime with dark humour, didn't hit the mark for me. I found it repetitive and not particularly funny. Luckily, it's very short and I finished it in two days. 4) "The missing Crypto Queen" by Jamie Bartlett: couldn't miss this as I'm a huge fan of the podcast. Loved seeing the story covered in much mode depth, but please please please release a new episode at some point, will you?
November 1, 2025 at 9:55 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
In July I got Anna Jones's A Modern Way to Eat for £2 at a local library used book sale. It's been the gift that keeps on giving. The other day we made the loveliest red lentil dal with sweet potato and coconut; this morning it's maple and blueberry ricotta pancakes. In this house, we eat well.
Fancy ricotta pancakes with lemon and orange zest added in the batter, and a topping of blueberries mashed with maple syrup 🍜🍽️
October 25, 2025 at 8:52 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
Also, spoiler alert. Not too bad for a honest day's work.

Living in London may have its drawbacks, but if I start telling you about all the gigs I've been to here that I never thought I'd get to see in my lifetime, I'll be talking long past bedtime.
Mission complete. I just got tickets to see Rilo Kiley in June 2026 and won't shut up about it.
October 22, 2025 at 10:09 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
Get in there! I saw this just the other day, so, trying to find out if it works for the presale. www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/ril...
October 22, 2025 at 9:07 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
I have a work meeting at 10.30, so of course, OF COURSE, what else was I expecting here.
I'm number 677 in the queue with 45 minutes wait ahead of me. Silly me for thinking I might be in and out of the queue before my next work meeting. As if the 2014 Kate Bush tour debacle never taught me a single thing about getting gig tickets in London.
October 22, 2025 at 9:03 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
Yesterday we put on Look Into My Eyes (2024), and aside from this moment of calm, the cats spent the night yowling. They were clearly displeased that I fell asleep mid film and delayed their meal by having to rewind. Or maybe they wanted to make it known that they really don't buy into spirituality.
A tabby cat on a sofa, watching the opening scenes to Look Into My Eyes (2024). She didn't last long, and spent most of the film doing parkour on the bookshelves and yowling near the kitchen door. Not really buying into this medium stuff, eh, girl? I found the film interesting, though couldn't help feeling, around three quarters in, that it was dragging on too long. There were scenes that got me thinking that visiting a psychic may not be as outlandish an idea as I always believed, but when the film lost momentum, I snapped out of it quickly and reverted to my usual skeptic self. TV off, spell ended, cats fed, everyone happy (or as happy as can be giving the car crash of a week we just had).
October 17, 2025 at 9:58 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
Routine scuppered by very bad work news. Poppy tried to cheer me up by making shapes in front of the TV. The film was Limbo (2020), which I liked, though I see the irony of picking a story about people in a situation they can't control when I've just been dealt my own unhealthy dose of uncertainty.
A cat standing on two paws, very close to a TV screen playing a film, her neck craned to one side as if she was giving it her full attention. She then proceeded to spend the following ten minutes sitting on the speaker, right in front of the subtitles. This does not bode well for the documentary about birdwatchers I want to see this evening.
October 17, 2025 at 9:43 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
They think they're getting treats. Instead, we're playing a Conor Oberst album from start to end while I make dinner. This is going to be our routine for the entire next week, they just don't know it yet.
A calico cat and a tabby cat staging a sit-in on the kitchen threshold, because this is usually the time of the day when I cook and Partner takes on the role of the Good Pet Parent that gives them treats. Just me making dinner today, sorry girls! It must be said, however, that I heard no complaints about my singing.
October 13, 2025 at 6:47 PM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
Ok, that's more like it. This batch of cream split right when it was meant to be ready, but a Reddit baking thread saved the day. In case you've been wondering, which I'm sure you were.

Well done me for craving a cake only a random Italian blogger with a 2000s-looking site ever wrote a recipe for.
It appears we are going to have cake for tomorrow, after all. After my vegan filling substitution fail, I turned back to the original recipe and...nearly botched that too. A few drops of hot milk and the split cream came back together. The magic of Reddit threads. We're back in business, baby.
October 12, 2025 at 7:00 PM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
Exhibit 1: the photo from the recipe.
Exhibit 2: cold hard reality.

Good thing I have little to no self esteem left. Good for your entertainment, I hope, at least. And now, off to Sainsbury's to get milk for a different recipe, since vegan spread won't make the creamy pie filling I thought.
The picture from the recipe I followed. Thick, creamy chocolate spread, a vibrant brown colour, ready to be eaten by the spoonful or poured into a pie crust. HOWEVER. I can confirm my hazelnut and cocoa paste is edible, but it looks nothing like Nutella, nothing like the recipe post, and pie filling it is not. I inscribed the word "FAIL" across the top with a spatula, because if I can't even laugh at myself, what do I have left?
October 12, 2025 at 11:13 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
September reads on @thestorygraph.com. A month of big emotions I tried to sum up in the alt text. One of these books drained my heart of all hope and filled it with despair, and it's not the one about the IRA (that was no piece of cake either, but it's also the best book I've read this year so far).
Books I read in September: 1) "Say Nothing" by Patrick Radden Keefe. Excellent storytelling, very accessible even to a reader like me who wasn’t very familiar with the subject matter. Perfectly gets across the price of violence and the toll conflict takes on every individual involved. 2) "How to be a French Girl" by Rose Cleary: a sort of coming-of-age story that starts with beautiful writing about aspirations and identity, and spirals into a stalker / obsession narrative that left me cold by the end. 3) "I Shouldn't Be Telling You This (But I'm Going To Anyway)" by Chelsea Devantez. This may just be the first celebrity memoir I never once felt like throwing out a window. Which is funny of me to say, given there’s a whole chapter dedicated to how much the author loves celebrity memoirs. Her life story isn’t easy reading, and while there’s obviously humour throughout the book, none of the subject matter is handled lightly. A few sections about family bonds and talking to her younger self had me shed a little tear, which brings the number of books that made me cry in my whole life to a total of 3. 4) "La Sconosciuta della Senna" by Guillaume Musso (English title: "The Stranger in the Seine"). A mystery set in Paris, with interesting characters and a promising premise. I didn't love the mystic turn it took, but the writing was good enough to get me to the end. 5) "Rejection" by Tony Tulathimutte. What a wild ride. There's nothing I could ever write within a character limit that would do it justice. It's 4 stars with a grudge. I get what the author was going for, and he resoundingly achieved it. At the same time, I've gone through pages upon neverending pages that exuded misery so contagious I felt the need to wash it off. So can I really say I enjoyed it? It made me feel similarly to Patricia Lockwood's "No One Really Talks About This": talented writer, excellent grasp of their generation, but it takes a terminally online soul to fully appreciate, and that's not me.
October 1, 2025 at 1:48 PM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
Your Italian friend is back to remind you that you should never underestimate the power of a cup of espresso and a little treat from the bakery.

The power multiplies tenfold if the treat is a custard bun from Tetote Factory. This is the rule, which I just made up and completely stand by.
Tetote Factory in South Ealing make buns with the best, smoothest, most delicate custard I ever had, and I'm probably lucky their opening hours are not very work-friendly, because otherwise they'd likely be the main beneficiaries of my salary. Bun pictured with my post-lunch espresso in a red-and-white Julius Meinl branded cup salvaged from the in-laws' restaurant in Italy, because I'm vintage.
September 26, 2025 at 1:34 PM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
More shots from my Possibly Cursed Film Roll, because my week's shaping up to be a wreck, and I want to remember I'm capable of making stuff I like. Vibe: the long peaceful park walk I wish I could have today.

📷 Pentax Spotmatic F
🎞️ Kodak T-MAX 100
📍Giardini di Boboli, Firenze, Italy
#believeinfilm
Giardini di Boboli, Firenze, 2025. One of two dog statues guarding a pathway that leads away from a small lake. I was standing at the back of the statue, to make it look as if the dog was peering into the hedge next to it, staring at who knows what. In black and white, the statue and the hedge are almost the same colour, the dog almost camouflaged. It's exactly what I was hoping for and I'm so happy to have achieved it. Giardini di Boboli, Firenze, 2025. My turn to peer inside a hedge and spy what's behind. In this case, it was a small square with a fountain. It looked so peaceful, no visitors around. It's a simple shot, framed by out-of-focus branches at the sides, and I don't know why I like it so much, but I do. Giardini di Boboli, Firenze, 2025. A large grass expanse leading to a stone wall with an impressive view over the city. Naked branches to the left, a stone pillar to the right, and a tree right in the middle for a vague sense of symmetry. I wanted to embrace as much of the space around me as I could, and at the same time, the small groups of people sitting on the grass give the photo depth too. When the scans came back, my first impression of this one was timelessness. It reminds me of the sort of picture I might have found in my parents' archive of printed photos from the '70s or thereabouts. It feels like it could have been taken at any time.
September 17, 2025 at 9:02 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
So much kept going wrong with my B&W film roll, I thought it might be cursed.

The scans came back, and the only thing that's haunting is the "deserted 1900s buildings in the Italian countryside" vibe. Which luckily is what I was going for.

📷 Pentax Spotmatic F
🎞️ Kodak T-MAX 100
#believeinfilm
A black and white photo of a derelict three-storey building with the traces of an old painted sign. To its left, what once used to be a water tower. Taken from the main road just outside my partner's hometown, if it wasn't my photo I'd never guess it's been shot from the side of a busy road with speeding cars. A close-up of the empty building in the previous picture. Two rows of windows show; all closed, aside from the top middle one. The pattern they formed was too good not to capture. How does this come about? A gust of wind? Does anyone ever go in there? And wouldn't I love to know. A black-and-white photo of a covered walkway in a small, nearly empty countryside hamlet. I stood right in front of the entrance so I could center it in my picture, nothing but water-stained walls on the sides. In the distance, more arches, and the patterns of light and shadow they create on the ground. Welcome to Middle-of-Nowhere, North-Eastern Italy, Europe, World, Universe. Same walkway as the previous picture, different spot. I walked through it a few metres until it crossed a gravel alley flanked by two rows of doors. One of the houses was surrounded by plant pots, on the ground, on the walls, everywhere. After shooting this, I lost my balance trying to get back on my bike and nearly fell with the camera around my neck, which is one of the many ways this film roll's curse has endured throughout the year. Just then, an elderly lady got out of the house, and I had to reassure her that I was okay a million times. The look on her face seemed to say "how are you so clumsy at your age", which is absolutely what any Northern Italian grandma would say to any complete stranger. I love the final picture, though.
September 11, 2025 at 4:25 PM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
Easy @thecatreviewer.bsky.social 10/10 to the tuxedo beauty who brightened yesterday's walk. Perfect Poirot moustache, friendly head bumps, what's not to love. Also 10/10 to its long-haired pal that arrived out of the blue, because what's better than a new cat friend if not two cat friends at once?
A tuxedo cat sitting on a wall. Outstanding Poirot moustache and permanently surprised expression. Better still, when I approached, it was clearly very keen to be my friend. Scritches and head bumps ensued. Three is a party! A long-haired black cat pops up out of the blue right behind my new tuxedo friend. Not as bold in its search for affection, but what a beauty.
September 10, 2025 at 9:07 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
The weather on my holiday back home might have been moody, but if there's one thing we weren't short of, it was beautiful sunsets. And just like that, nostalgia for a summer that hasn't even ended yet begins to kick in.
A near empty road stretching towards the horizon in the Italian countryside. A stunning orange and blue-grey sunset in the sky. If there are smudges in the foreground, blame it on the filthy windows in my mother's car. A green field, darkening in the evening light, with the perfect outline of mountains in th background. Above the mountains, clouds turning orange in the sunset, looking as if they'd been painted with brushstrokes. Another fair warning for car glass smudges, you can blame that on my parents if you like (as if my windscreen would be any cleaner if I owned a car in London). An airplane wing immersed in what is possibly the prettiest pink sunset cloud I've ever seen. A stunning view of Hyde Park from a plane flying into London. When I take aerial pictures like this they usually look crap, but the summer evening light here was just delightful.
September 6, 2025 at 9:41 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
August reads on @thestorygraph.com: . Three excellent novels with different flavours of workplace drama at the core, plus Selling the Dream, which was so good it deserved its own post a couple weeks ago.
Books I read in August: 1) "Sono Fame" by Natalia Guerrieri: a short novel about the tribulations of a young delivery driver in a turbo-capitalist city. Brilliant prose, and a piercing bleakness it took me several days to shake. 2) "Death of a Bookseller" by Alice Slater: dark humour and creepy vibes without a hint of outright violence, and the most memorable characters I encountered this year. 10/10 would recommend. 3) "Selling The Dream" by Jane Marie: I posted about this earlier in the month, but in short, if you have even the most passing interest in scams and MLMs, read it! 4) "Help Wanted" by Adelle Waldman: exactly the sort of character-driven, subtly funny workplace drama I wish I could write.
September 1, 2025 at 8:21 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
We think this one must be on a Most Wanted List somewhere, but joke's on them, we're not snitching.
A tabby cat, who may or may not be a prolific and elusive international criminal, looking innocent as all hell as she takes a short break from causing incalculable damage to a piece of wrapping paper laid on the floor.
August 24, 2025 at 6:56 PM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
Chunky nonfiction book: check. Vintage beach towel: check. Erratic North-Eastern Italian weather: check. That'll be me sorted for the Bank Holiday weekend.
Completely engrossed in Patrick Radden Keefe's "Say Nothing". It's the third summer in a row I'm taking one of his books to the beach, and I'm taking every sweet hour of sunshine and uninterrupted focus I can get. That said, back to regular service (grey miserable rain) from Monday, I'm told. Better have another book lined up for the hours of uninterrupted focus I'll get while locked inside at my parents' house.
August 23, 2025 at 4:38 PM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
Saved @seejanemarie.bsky.social's book for my summer nonfiction spree. Well worth the wait. Brought me back to the pre-pandemic days when I listened to The Dream to on my commute, and had me spend half an hour talking at Partner to process my disbelief that Bomb Party is an actual thing that exists.
Reading in the garden on a warm August evening. This week's book was Jane Marie's "Selling The Dream", which covers the MLM industry from similar angles as her podcast The Dream, with the addition of a few bits of MLM history and politics that were new to me. Enjoyed her writing as much as I did listening to season 1 of The Dream - it kept me engaged on a topic I have read a lot about over the years but keep wanting to dive deeper into. Special mention to the epilogue chapter, which introduced me to a MLM with a product so preposterous I'm still shocked it exists (Google Bomb Party at your peril - or don't!).
August 17, 2025 at 9:00 AM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
What did you say, human? You planned an hour of writing in the garden? Let me disabuse you of that notion and catch a live fucking rat I will bring inside and kill right under your desk.

(pictured here: the moment after I gave her treats and told her she is Such An Enormously Accomplished Hunter)
Oops, I did it again / I caught a live rat / and now you've gotta clean / ooh, human, human.
August 12, 2025 at 5:32 PM
edgwareviabank.bsky.social
Breakfast of champions. Coconut + pistachio + mahleb courtesy of eBay + the rest of last month's sour cherries, frozen specially for this occasion (it's a birthday cake or sorts).

Give me a cookbook with more consistently excellent sweet recipes than a Honey & Co. book, and no, no you can't.
Cherry, pistachio & coconut cake from a Honey & Co cookbook that was a very happy find in a Hampstead charity shop (always check out the cookbooks at the charity shops in posh neighbourhoods, my friends, they never disappoint). If you've read this far, I might as well tell you that yesterday was my birthday and this was my treat of choice. Which leaves us with two slices each now, a glorious weekend of cake for breakfast, just the way it should be.
August 8, 2025 at 8:44 AM