Meet The Artichoke Girls – Kim

Meet The Girls – Kim

Artichoke Girl Kim Ropero came to our rescue just after Christmas when Donna & Sarah were becoming slightly overwhelmed by everything that was happening at Artichoke & were struggling to recruit additional staff.

Many of you will have spoken to her but unless you came into the shop will not have seen her as she has steadfastly refused to be on camera. I have had to sneakily download this photo from her Facebook page & crop her mother out of it!

Kim lives in Swaffham & with her husband, Richmond runs Kiri Cooks an outside catering company that in the summer months runs The Apple Cafe at West Acre Gardens near Swaffham.

The gardens are beautiful, a real plantsman’s nursery, selling unusual varieties of seasonal plants & Kim’s lemon polenta cake is to die for. She went back to the day job this week, but before she went we grabbed her for our latest homage to Vogue’s 73 Questions

Diamonds or Pearls

Pearls from the Philippines, they are beautiful

Big knickers or small knickers

Medium ones, big ones remind me of Christmas presents from a practical Aunt, many years ago and I didn’t like them then. Small knickers ok, not those uncomfortable g strings though.

When you wake up in the morning what is the first thing on your mind

Coffee, I must have coffee

What was the first album that you ever bought

I just don’t remember, the first one I was given was Yellow Brick Road – Elton John

What is your favourite colour

Blues & greens and all shades in between

What was the biggest lesson that you learnt from your mother

Be kind, you don’t know what someone else is going through.

What three things are always in your handbag

Purse, paracetamol, tissues

What would you never wear

Nowadays – stilettos – I like shoes I can run in, I trip over in heels

What is your favourite city

Venice, it is stunningly beautiful in March and with very few people.

Which country would you most like to visit

Ukraine in peace time – which I hope is soon.

What do you normally eat for breakfast

Fresh fruit and yoghurt

What is the oldest item of clothing in your wardrobe

A jumper from my Seale Hayne College days, full of holes and out of shape. But it holds so many good memories.

What is your favourite family heirloom

A writing desk that my Nana left me. She worked at Kelly’s Directories during the first world war. After the war, she had to leave her job, to be taken by a returning soldier and was given this writing desk and thank you letter.

What is your favourite flower

Perfumed and faded Cabbage Roses

What is your favourite season

Spring, longer daylight, shoots and buds everywhere and mornings full of bird song

Who is the most famous person you have ever met

Artist and Sculptor Antony Gormley who is also my landlord at the Apple Café. I couldn’t ask for a better landlord.

What is your favourite item of Artichoke Clothing

I loved the teal knitted gillet this winter, and going into spring – the Stehmann Loli 602 spotted capri trousers.

Do you have a phobia

Yes, mice. Silly I know. I worked as an agricultural student on a farm in Essex one summer. One of my first jobs was to clean the granary. Quite a few mice.  The manager gave me an industrial hoover. He said it had never been cleaned so fast.

What is the first thing that you notice about someone when you first meet them

Their smile, and if they smile. I was told that in Russia, smiling, when you meet, someone  makes people look idiotic. I think that might just have been her though.

What are you reading at the moment

I have just finished “Restless” by William Boyd, which touched on England trying to get the USA into helping in the second world war, with English and Russian spies. Interesting. Now about to start “Eating to Extinction” by Dan Saledino

Cake or ice cream

Ice cream – love fruity ice creams like damson, and one we made at Christmas, tamarind.

What is the best part of your job

Making people happy with our food, in the beautiful setting of West Acre Gardens Nurseries

If you could make a documentary what would it be about

Cooking at Home in The Philippines. They have amazing skills, flavours, regional dishes, kitchens, utensils, ingredients and many great cooks. Very few have ovens in the home, so cooking is done over gas fires, charcoal fires, outside fires, and often during power cuts. So many people get involved – its not just left to one person every night. That was how I met Richmond, he taught me to cook using local ingredients, fresh from the market, as I didn’t have a fridge. Living there, inspired me to cook again.

Water : sparkling or flat

Sparkling for feeling festive and flat for everyday

What is your guilty pleasure

A Salt & Vinegar Crisp Sandwich

What is the greatest invention of all time

Electricity – I had a year living without electricity when I first went to the Philippines with VSO. I had camping gas stove, paraffin lamps, candles and a battery radio for The World Service. Its ok, but oh, when I had electricity, it was bliss.

What is your biggest regret

Taking my fathers advice of not buying a house!

What is your favourite taste

I love Guyabano fruit – or sometimes known as Soursop, it is heaven.

What film made you laugh

I loved “Educating Rita”, it made me laugh, cry, smile and was the reason for me going to Agricultural College and doing a degree when my first marriage didn’t work out.

Do you believe in free will or destiny

I think we are conditioned by our family’s up-bringing. We often think things are quite normal when growing up, only to find its not! The way our parents were raised and their parents were raised, all leads into how we are raised. – invisible family pathways.  It can be an eye opener to find there are alternatives in life!