[Acrylic-bob]

It's Good Friday today. (There's not a lot that gets past me!)

I had my first Hot Cross Bun this morning. The gentle aroma it gave off as I toasted it brought back happy memories of my first real job. I worked for Walter Smith's Confectioners on Whalley Road and for the three weeks leading up to today the bakehouse was always filled with the heady scent of mixed spice. We made hundreds and hundreds of them every day all rolled, pricked and glazed by hand. Hard work and very hot, but oddly satisfying. There was a sense of achievement at the end of the day, one that was all the more poignant for me since I was still a practising catholic then.