Friday 30th June - just a weeny bit weird?

Cross Stitch Collaboration Update;

We have managed to exchange our June stitcheries just before the end of the month - Ang received my box yesterday, and hers arriveded here this morning.

Now, I promise you, we try not to even hint at what we are doing, but more and more often we are clearly thinking along the same lines;

here are my initial ideas for my piece;

Originally I thought of some kind of hexagon back ground, with a bee, or maybe bees, and perhaps a hive, and could I fit the words of the old rhythm about swarms? 

like this, perhaps, with the bees in and around the words, and something pictorial - hive and folowers at the bottom, or between the words?

 It all got too complicated and I completely changed my mind. Perhaps I'd revisit this for July.

Here's is Ang's piece;

She made larger, honey-coloured hexagons so that each one could be filled with a different blackwork pattern. Isn't it brilliant!

I was going to use an all over hexagon pattern for mine, as you can see in my first doodles. But I think Ang's version is terrific, and would make a great sampler! 

Ang also slightly re-jigged the top left border to solve the problem of the empty space in the 'no cross, no crown' piece for April. ('I have a cunning plan....') 

The 'flat presents' are a sample sachet of granules for adding to pots and containers to retain moisture, and a matchbox size box of bee friendly seeds.

So, if I gave up on the bees, what did I sew instead?

I liked the effect of the completely red 'no cross no crown' piece, but didn't want to use red, or the equally traditional black thread. Green seemed a good choice, for the bird - probably meant to be a dove, by my garden is full of pigeons - and plants. This is part of a Victorian design for a border, with an alphabet added top and bottom.

Here's my chart;

As usual, once I've sorted out my ideas I chart it on a photocopy of the actual fabric, magnified to about 140% . As I go along I can mark the design, either by colouring in shapes different sections, or by numbering the stitches in each row to help me keep track of where I've got to. 

But both of us thinking of bees........ I wonder what we are both going to do in July? Perhaps I should do something Christmassy to be sure of being different?

Thursday 29th June - day of rest

Well, it was for me, mostly. Himself had a couple of things to do;

I phone my father on Thursday mornings to find out what grocery shopping he needs, for breakfasts and evening meals. Then Himself goes to the supermarket and does the shopping, then round to my father’s flat to replenish the fridge and cupboard, remove anything that's beyond the 'use by' date and just keep an eye on things.

I haven't joined in since before I went down with a chest infection at the end of May; I just don't have the lung power to walk round the shop or up to his flat, even though I can use the lift. But we've in an efficient routine we seems to be working.

He's also brought back some herbs for me to plant out tomorrow and croissants for breakfast at the weekend, yum yum!

The other day I discovered this compressed tee shirt lurking in a drawer. It was a giveaway from an IBM computer event, from maybe 20 years ago? One of these 'just add water' stunts.

After about fifteen minutes it had soften enough that I could turn it over to see how the trick was done;

Much later I was able to unfold it completely and reshape it. It's XL size, and pretty shapeless, but will make a lightweight top for heatwave nights.

Another bit of space cleared from all the drawers full of stuff. Good.

A couple of hours of rain this morning means we needn't water the garden. Here's hoping for the same tomorrow morning. 

Wednesday 28th June - a 94th birthday lunch

and the easiest desert I've ever made!

The birthday lunch went well - my brother drove over from his house (3 hours away - good job he likes driving), collected my dather and we had lunch, the four of us, in the garden. 

They arrived very late, with unfortunate consequences for the beef and the brocoli, but completely understandable.  Although my brother was with my father in plenty of time, one of the things he brought was a memory stick with about 50 pictures from the 1970s, when he was living in the Far East, and of course they had to be watched before the came over. We've been given a copy for ourselves and I am looking forward to seeing them.

Particularly poignant, because of course my mother was alive then, and my aunt, and they were both so pretty and glamorous.  

Menu; beef Wellingtons from Marks and Spencers - won't buy again, they were ok, and very 'special occasion' but... Beef gravy from M and S was very good.

Broccoli, roasted aspagus, boiled Jersey Royal potatoes.

Wine - a very pleasant Fleurie, one of my father’s favourites

Desert; home-made panna cotta, strawberries (with or without cream and sugar), cheese; a chunk of cheddar and a triangle of brie oozing off the board 

Coffee

After which we chatted for a while, and the sun came out, and the heat and the second glass of wine meant that it was time for my father to be taken back to his flat and have 'a little sleep', and my brother to set off back home.

I was always a little nervous of making panna cotta, but I trued it 2 weeks ago for the first time and so far it's been the simplest thing;

4 leaves of Dr Oetker gelatine will set a pint of liquid, according to the packet. I have tended to make half a pint using 2 leaves. Both time this has given me a rather solid set; so more liquid would have better.  

The first time I used 50/50 double cream and milk, sweetening with vanilla sugar. The second time I used 50/50 Greek yoghurt and a mixture of one shot of strong espresso coffee and milk. (I don’t think I'll repeat this experiment, or at least, not coffee flavour)

Today's was perfect; I used 50/50 cream and a Polish panna cotta cream liqueur given to us a thank you for looking after next door's cat. I made this up to about 6 fl oz and used 1 sheet of gelatine. The liqueur is very sweet (think baileys) so I didn't add any more sugar. 

Method; soak gelatine exactly directed on the packet.

Gently warm the liquid you plan to use; a Pyrex jug in the microwave worked for me. You want it hotter than warm but no where near simmering or boiling. 

Retrieve the now soggy gelatine from the cold water and dissolve it into the hot milk/cream mixture. Make sure it us completely dissolved with no bloody bits.

I pour it into small coffee cups; a generous half pint will fill 4-5. The 6 fl oz quantity filled 3 little cups.

Cover with cling film and allow about 3 hrs to chioland set. I serve them in the cups rather than attempting to turn them out.

It does mean I can make a delicious dessert for the two of us whenever we like.

No pictures of them; they've all gone!

Tuesday 27th June - semi comatose

 That's us two. Slumped in front of 'trash tv' as I call it... train journeys, antiques, repeats of bake off... but why?

Well, having read the above advice I wandered out into the front garden to take some cuttings from our two overgrown rock roses. We'd been discussing what to do with them... Yoicks! The white one had engulfed our ancient and beautiful fuschia. Somewhere in the depths of the foliage and woody stems I could just make out a few determined Ruby red fuschia flowers. I took my cuttings, six white, and six pink, and then Himself set too with loppers and cut it back to just the main stalk. This took all morning, and he was only able to get it all in the garden bin by chopping the branches into tiny little pieces.

Meanwhile I carried on tidying and watering, and went and made lunch.

We've a strange bare patch in the front flower bed now, (which makes it much easier to keep an interested eye on the comings and goings along the road!) It will be even easier once the other bush is taken down, once the garden waste bin lorry has been.

I tried taking basil cuttings from a supermarket pot basil plant last week. I snipped some likely looking stems and put themin water. Then I divided the massively pot bound original into four and replanted them into a much larger pot. They are thriving,  and the cuttings have all grown roots, so now I have one huge pot of basil and four tiny ones.

Encouraged by this success, I have picked some stems of parsley and put them in water. Fingers crossed they root too...

I have three kinds of mint, parsley, coriander, thyme, rosemary and basil. All except two of the mints started life as supermarket pots.

Monday 26th June - staying in

 Somebody had to, and I was perfectly happy for it to be me.

We had two scheduled deliveries of medicines which needed to be signed for, and then two more which arrived sooner than I was expecting. 

One was four pasta bowls in the Spode Blue Italian pattern. I'm slowly replacing the older crockery as we break it with these - fairly expensive unless you can get seconds  which I did! The Blue and white pattern reminds me of my grandmother's willow pattern china.

The other was a cheap solar fountain which I have been wanting for ages;

Sitting in the sun and listening to it burbling away making happy splashy sounds makes me smile. The height of the fountain varies with the brightness of the sun; when a cloud briefly came the fountain became a series of apologetic little hiccups until the day brightened up again.

The garden looks lovely at the moment, providing you pick your viewpoint very carefully. 

For example, the vegetable patch... the cropped photograph

and the original...

Oh yes, editing is everything!

Sunday 25th June - while the sun shines.

I got out the paints for first time in ages this morning; I wanted to have a go at painting a picture of a wild flower hay meadow. I'm still hunting for the video of a tradional meadow being harvested, but can't track it down at the moment. It's a longish process; cutting it one day, raking it into rows which need to be spread and turned every day for for several days to be sure of getting it dry enough to then bale and stack. It involves time, labour, and anxious weather watching as you need four or five consecutive dry days or everything is ruined.

It's not surprising that silage became so popular; cutting and baling all in one go...

Make hay while the sun shines, they say, with good reason.

However I need to plan doing cross stitching BEFORE the sun shines into my sewing space. I managed to complete the large central motif as the sun was beginning to make bright stripes across my desk. Just the bottom border to go now.

Friday 23rd June - but will they grow?

I have sown more french beans, peas, spinach and spinach beet this afternoon.

The broad beans have got some promising pods growing,, and there are a few on my one remaining pea plant, so I am hopeful for a slight harvest this year. I suspect the potatoes rotted in their pots, and will tip all the contents into the compost heap, or use it for mulch. Thank heavens for shops!

I've also done some more cross stitching after taking a break - I did try earlier in the week, but had to unpick what I'd done s soon as I finished - too many stitches crossed the wrong way round. I'm stitching on what will be my piece of cloth, as was tempted to just let it go - maybe if there had been just one stitch the wrong way round...

Air Fryer Experiments;

Christine's Oatie Biscuits - 

You know how sometimes you meet someone, and you hit it off, and you know that you could be good friends, but somehow time slips past and you don't use your time wisely, and then... you realise you've missed an opportunity and 

oh well. She died (breast cancer) several years ago, and I remember her real Goodness, her remarkable gentleness and honesty. every time I make these biscuits.       

It's a pretty basic recipe - I've photographed the page from my tatty recipe book

If you make half quantities, you can cook just four in the air fryer at 150C for 15 mins. Roll the rest of the dough (assuming half quantities) into balls and put in a lidded container in the fridge.

This way you will only eat four biscuits at a sitting, (or two each shared between us) instead of pigging the lot in one go. The next time, take out four little balls, leave them to soften for about 10 mins at room temperature before cooking them.

I'm very keen on using these reusable non-stick silicone air fryer liners;

 for all sorts of air fryer cooking - they come in different sizes.

But as you will see, the recipe predates all the air fryer excitement. 

Thursday 22nd June

 

Eight little radish tops sitting on a piece of damp kitchen paper on an espresso cup saucer. I'm not sure what the point of them is. I found a neglected bag of radishes starting to grow in the bottom of the fridge, and as I trimmed a couple to make a snack for myself I thought I'd see if they would grow. The sickly-looking pale green shoots on the first four soon darkened, and the next four are looking better too. Will they grow into more radishes? How long will it take?

I had a completely frazzling morning teaching a piano lesson which got interrupted about four times with telephone calls I needed to respond too, if only to say 'call me back in half an hour'. Once the lesson had ended there were a further three or four calls and ring-backs and things that needed answering, so that once they were all  dealt with I just sat there thinking 'what just happened?' and feeling as though I'd been pushed through a hedge. 

Next task was to choose the Bible verse for the home group meeting this evening; that was easy in the circumstances;

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives." It continues with "Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid". From the Gospel of John, chapter 14 verse 17.

Okay, that might have been a bit 'tongue in cheek' but it was the right one for tonight.

(In our home group we take turns to choose a verse, spend five minutes considering it in silence and then share our thoughts. Then, I'm afraid, we get distracted and start discussing all sorts of things...)

The afternoon's piano lesson was sheer delight - I have a student learning 'Maple Leaf Rag' at the moment. I managed to divert her from 'I Giourni' by Einaudi - I'm NOT a fan, but do understand that his pieces are very popular.

Here they both are - make up your mind which you prefer.

Joshua Rifkin played the rags for the film 'The Sting' - that was a while ago now!

 

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Tuesday 20th June - average speed, around 17 or 20 mph

We went to London yesterday. We left at 6.15am, to be sure of getting to the hospital in time for my first appointment which was an echocardiogram (routine checkup), bearing in mind the journey time to the hospital can be anything up to 3 hours, and then one has to allow for parking, and the time it takes me to get from the entrance to the cardiology department towards the back.

This time we managed both the Hanger Lane roundabout AND the Hendon Flyover without any undue excitement. 

We finished the scan, appointment with the consultant, 6 min walk test (258m this time; not my best but not my worst) and emerged into the fresh air at about noon reassured that there's no change to how I am getting on.

Beautiful wildflower planting outside the hospital entrance

There's an M&S next to the hospital where we bought a picnic lunch and walked back towards where the car was stashed, in one of those 'rent-my-drive' spaces. 

We ate our lunch at the edge of Hampstead Heath, sitting on a large log in the shade of some trees, watching the people enjoying the space.

Then home... a couple of tricky moments at the Hendon Flyover, and even an more tense time at Hanger Lane, but all's well that ends well and we made it into the correct lane without being hooted at!

Comparing travelling to London by train and car; car is exhausting, and no quicker than train. Both ways involve an early start and a long day. 

However, car is considerably cheaper even taking petrol and parking into account. We usually have to buy full price day return train tickets because of the early start. This time there was a sting in the tail, however; the parking space was deceptively small

That's the back of our car, millimetres from the gatepost

 and as you can see, there's a hidden drop at one side. Errrk! In positioning the car so that one doesn't step out of the door and instantly fall down some steep steps, we ended up clipping the wing mirror. So this time round, the repair will more than cancel the saving!

Average miles per hour; 17 on the way up, and 20 on the way home. Journey times; about 2hrs 45 mins outward and approximately 2 hrs 15 mins home. Roughly what it takes by train and bus and tube.

So, why do we drive up now? Ah well. We are still taking every precaution to avoid catching covid, due to the state of my lungs and also the immunosuppressants I take. If we were travelling by public transport I'd need to wear a 'proper' FFP2 mask. Unfortunately wearing any mask makes it harder for me to walk, and as for bustling or running for a train.... no, not going to happen!

I'm pleased that most people feel happy to throw off the restrictions of previous years, but people like me (around 500,000 or so) are still, well, stuck in a kind of groundhog day existence. 

The driving is incredibly tiring at the moment, but all that, hopefully will be changing when we finally take delivery of our next car, ordered last September and due end of July or early August. It has a hybrid petrol/electric, and is an AUTOMATIC!!! 

Sunday 18th June - Rain!

We slept through the thunderstorm last night, and woke to the school hymn (it's a Christina Rossetti poem)

Morning has broken,

Like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken

Like the first word. 

The paths were already dry, but the leaves and grass glistened with drops of water. And the smell - is it called 'petrichor'? The smell after rain on dry land? Just lovely.

The sun soon broke through and by mid morning it felt as hot and dry as ever... until Kate in the afternoon when it rained steadily, purposefully, drenchingly.

I am embarking on the trickiest bit of the stitching now for the cross-stitch project, having finished the right hand motif during the livestream of the church service. I'm saving the easier bottom section until last. 

I've half dozed most of the afternoon. I'm in good company:

Saturday 17th June - better than Friday

That's not to say there was much wrong with Friday, but today was better.

How?

I just had more energy, completed a couple of tasks, and feel the lighter for it.

Cross-stitch8ng, and un-cross-stitching, and un-re-cross-stitching and re-re-cross-stitching happened after lunch. Probably not the best time of day as it was getting hotter by then, but overall it was progress. I sit here to sew;

but with the curtain open. In the afternoon the sun works round to shine in through the patio doors, so I close the curtains to make it a bit cooler. Everything is cleared away, ready to begin again tomorrow morning.  I shall probably stitch while the church service is livestreaming. Either that or knit more sock...

Lunch was spaghetti with sausage meatballs. Himself is usually in charge of the victuals, but today he was feel uninspired by the sausages listed for today, whereas I was feel8ng in the mood to cook.

A rummage in the cupboard produced a jar of red pesto which had been lurking for a while. 'Stir 1-2 tablespoons per person through cooked pasta and serve hot' was the serving suggestion on the label. 

Here's what I did;

I divided each of the 6 sausages into four pieces. They have changed the skins, these new ones are so thin that next time I will just cut them, rather than skinning them and rolling them into little balls. Then I cooked the little meat balls in the air fryer for 5 mins at 180. While that was going on I sliced a red pepper into thinnish strips. After the five minutes were up, I lobbed the bits of pepper on top of the meatballs and gave them another 10 mins. If you don't have an air fryer, a frying pan would do.

The 150g (enough for 2) spaghetti took 10 minutes so this was going on as well. Just before the pasta was done I added a handful of frozen peas. 

Although I made 24 meatballs the plan was to eat 12 and save 12 for another meal.

So, I drained the pasta and peas, returned it to the pan,stirred in 4 tablespoons pesto, 12 meatballs and all the red peppers. 

Served it with parmesan and and black pepper and some basil.

Now we have 12 meatballs in the freezer, and half a jar of pesto in the fridge ready for another time.

My haul of tsundoku continues to grow.... kindle keeps offering me books for 99p... yesterday I stumbled across an episode of Hamish MacBeth on television and guess what, one of the books is.... 99p! 'Death of a Snob' by M C Beaton of Agatha Raisin fame. Now I don’t care for much Agatha, but Hamish...

Thursday 15th June - Books! Tsundoku!

 I am devouring books at the moment.

I don't usually list what I am reading in my Commonplace notebook, but this month I thought I would... inspired by my 'upstairs' book, 'A Book Of Book Lists' by Alex Johnson

full of 'quite interesting' information. Such as, according to 'Dnld Trmp's' website, 

all of the books he personally authored are best sellers. 

Really? Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, My List.

So far I have completed

Ayala's Angels by Anthony Trollope (Victorian light romantic comedy)

A Room With A View by E M Forster (Edwardian light romantic comedy)

Amongst Our Weapons  by Ben Aaronovitch (re-read) (I love the Rivers of London series)

Murder In Province by T A Williams (fills the time well enough - I read the first two so I knew what to expect. But I wish the dog wasn't called Oscar because I kept thinking he was one of the people in the book)

One Enchanted Evening by Anton du Beke (better than I thought)

and I've started 

Sleeping Tiger by Rosamund Pilcher (1960s light romantic comedy)

All of the above books, apart from the Ben Aaronovitch, have been on offer recently, and indeed still may be, on offer with 'Kndl' for 99p. Less than a coffee and a cake! 

Which brings me to a Japanese word I learned recently; 

Tsundoku (積ん読) refers to the phenomenon of acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one's home without reading them. It is also used to refer to books ready for reading later when they are on a bookshelf.

(wikipedia)

At least is they are on the 'kndl' they are not piling up all over the house. This is my current 99p tsundoku library;

The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins Valdez (the book club choice for this month; I am nerving myself up to start in case it is 'searing' or 'heart-breaking' or 'emotional' etc!)

The Bean Tree by Barabara Kingsolver (she has just won a major prize for women's fiction for her latest book 'Demon Copperhead', a reworking of 'David Copperfield, so thought maybe I ought to give her a try)

Sprig Muslin by Georgette Heyer (ever-reliable and fun Regency Romance. I can't remember this one from the title but I will know it as soon as I start. I've read them all - and have a shelf of self-destructing PAN paperbacks dating back to the 1960s which I can no longer read because the pages are so yellowed and friable) 

Wednesday 14th June - Flowers, Sewing, Knitting

 I'm so pleased to be up and doing again. Maybe doing a bit much? I can feel my eyelids drooping a little... Ah well. That's what happens...

I spent an hour and a half this morning sewing the cross stitch project. Getting properly started and making some progress - and no unpicking - is a relief. I find getting started is always the hardest part. I've done enough to think that, barring serious mistakes, it is not as complex a design as I feared.

Then I had the usual zoom chat and piano lesson with a friend where we put our worlds to rights and incidentally do a bit of piano. 

Lunchtime! And because I had taken off my step counter wristband at the beginning of the lesson, it now recorded at mere 128 steps for half a day! I do try and take it off for playing the piano, as I can gain anything up to 1000 steps (teaching Scott Joplin Rags and any kind of 'oom cha cha' LH is particularly good, or bad, for step counting).

After lunch I answered a question about my work-in-progress sock that was bugging me; did I have enough yarn to finish the pair, or would I need to start the last ball for the second sock? I did all sorts of complicated weighings of sock (2 inches to go), needles (2 stuck in the sock, one free). In the end, if I had thought about it, all I had to do was weigh the sock, weigh the yarn, and think. (Never do anything the easy way, if you can make it more complicated somehow...?)

But in one way I am glad I did, because on the piece of paper I used is this;

'Apricity' the warmth of the sun in the winter'. What a lovely word.

Later in the afternoon I wandered into the garden and started transferring some of the little plants I've been growing on since they arrived as thimble-sized plugs. Of the 72 wee little babies - too young to have left their nursery, surely! - about 56 survived. The main casualties were busy lizzies and rudebeckias, but the petunias, nicotianas, lobelias, gazzinias, bacopas, begonias and pelargoniums are mostly doing well. I just hope the snails don't find the containers I planted today.

This was a nice cool place to set up a little workstation. In the window box are individual lettuce seeds, on in each pot. On the table; right at the back the latest arrivals, some coleus plugs, a re tray with a few remaining petunias and the nicotinas, in the pale tray the geraniums.

On the ground; a mniature Christmas tree - if it survives then 2023 will be its third year, some mint, a tub with petunias, bacopa, and some snapdragons (I think) self seeded from last year, two smaller tubs with petunias and lobelia. 

Here are the three cardoons, already about twice the size they were when they went in. I was thinking of stashing the nicotina plants in the spaces around them.
 

The sweet pea has some companions now, I am pleased to see.

Tuesday 13th June - sooner or later

this human dynamo (meaning the New Me) will wind down and need a recharge...

Still, I've managed to deal with a couple of jobs that have been completely beyond my powers for a couple of weeks; 

Hoovering downstairs has been an impossibility but at last I got it done. 

Likewise cleaning the loo... it wasn't desperately 'unsavoury' but...

And I have completely changed the cross-stitch design, charted it, re-charted it, started stitching, and then said 'aaargh' (o something like that), ripped out what I had done, and re-charted it. So still nothing on the fabric, but threads chosen and this is absolutely probably the final version.

Oddly enough, I'm still looking forward to doing some tomorrow. 

One sweet pea flower has come out. I suppose I should pick it, to encourage more flowers, but suppose there aren't any more? I'll leave it alone for now.

Monday 12th June - Reboot!

 After nearly three weeks feeling stuck in the doldrums I am now ready to launch back into action.

Today I have Done Stuff;

Changed the pillowcases, and hopefully the sheet ntonihht. I have ripped it (not literally!) off the mattress,  as a statement of intent, so tonight we will have to finish the task.

I have just about untangled the unholy mess that is my record keeping of who paid me how much for what and when; when piano students pay half-termly or in blocks of eight lessons (eight? Why eight? That's neither a half term nor a whole term? Madness) or a sort of guesstimate of how many lessons they think they can fit in, or after each single lesson, it doesn't take long to lose track. Especially if they then miss a lesson, when I credit or reschedule. 

Chest infection induced brain fog just made everything- well, foggier. 

I have planted two erigerons into bigger pots, added strings and supports to sweet peas, sown six lettuce seeds into individual pots to go in the window box of shed, and also a tray of radishes. Why are they called French Breakfast radishes, and do the French really eat radishes with their coffee and croissants for breakfast? 

I have charted the current cross stitch 3 times, and, once I have erased the current version,  will chart it again tomorrow. 

And I have taught a piano lesson to a teenager. One of those lessons where I explain how to play it smoothly, they pay no attention and carry on regardless for a while, all the time ignoring my cries to desist, before stopping and in an aggrieved tone of voice demanding to know how to make it sound smooth. 

The lesson was over zoom, and I am not, and never have been a 'knuckle-rapper' teacher so all ended well. Eventually. 

Summer Supper; (we had this on Saturday)

 Fresh capelleti or ravioli or similar, the sort that comes packed in clear pl*st*c with a nice long date (sorry, ecofolks)

Sauce (more of a dressing, really); walnut sized piece of butter, lemon zest and juice to taste, finely chopped spring onions and parsley, suitable greenery like fresh spinach or pea shoots or whatever, roughly chopped if necessary.

Grated parmesan and black pepper

Gather up and prep the sauce ingredients first. Cook the pasta according to the packet. Ordinary pasta is OK but I like capelleti.

Drain the pasta, return to the pan and stir in the sauce. Serve with parmesan and pepper. Pine nuts might be good too, or perhaps chopped walnuts. 

Saturday 10th June - be careful what you wish for!

No news yesterday,  and today the political news today has been astonishing, one thing after another!

I gather Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries resigned last night, and then a couple more resignations today. Whatever one's political affiliations are, it is all a bit startling. 

(Please remember that this is not a space for political discussions!  As with Brexit, opinion is divided in my wider family and calm discussions are best achieved by acknowledging our differences and then just Not speaking about it. There is plenty of 'sturm and drang'* on twitter if you want to join in over there)

I much prefer talking about the weather... Summer has arrived with hardly any Spring, as in warm balmy days. We woke up this morning thinking we should have had all the windows and the door open, as in the hot months last year. And have we switched to the summer duvet? I can't remember. And tonight I shall look out my summer nightdresses (short sleeves).

Friends came round for a cup of tea at about half past 4. We sat in the shade of the apple tree, relishing the breeze, serenaded by an enthusiastic blackbird, eating the shortbread that she brought back as a present from a recent trip to Scotland (delicious, made by someone called Chrystal, if you see it, try some!). This time she brought a punnet of huge ripe strawberries from the local co-op. Strawberries and shortbread, what a heavenly combination.  

Now that's the kind of news I like...

*Sturm und Drang comes from German, where it literally means "storm and stress." Although it’s now a generic synonym of "turmoil," the term was originally used in English to identify a late 18th-century German literary movement whose works were filled with rousing action and high emotionalism

From the Merriman online dictionary 

Friday 9th June - wot, no news?

 No, not much news, not really. I mean, stuff has been happening,  but although at times it has raised me to boiling point with something like rage, it has not been stuff that I would want to post about to the wide wide world. In these situations 'least said, soonest mended' has to be the starting point... 

So, having managed to say little, that has left me with less to post about.

Like, we've had pizza and wine and cheese and Scottish shortbread not all at once for supper (I've finished the antibiotics and we've done all we're going to do today). Is that news? Not by the current click-bait news we see on TV, Internet, and everywhere.

'Woman keeps temper and doesn't go off the deep end' doesn't have that sensational sort of ring.

Instead, I've raised a glass and blessed good friends, near and far, and especially Best Beloved who does a wonderful job of looking after me and my family. Bless you all.

Tomorrow will be a brand new day..,

Tuesday 6th June

 Two friends came round for morning coffee today.

I had a go at making biscuits in the air fryer but the first batch were less beautiful;

That's because I dropped the grey silicone air fryer basket liner. The biscuits were still soft and fell out all crumpled and folded over. Luckily there was a second batch which came out perfectly.

And even more luckily, one of the visitors brought freshly made scones clotted cream and a jar of strawberry jam!

We sat in the garden waiting for the sun to reach the patio table, listening to the birds, watching the Robin's struggles with the suet cage on the bird feeder, the blackbirds scuffling along the flower beds...

Just gently chatting about gardens and flowers and a holiday in Scotland...

An hour of pure perfection. 

Sunday 4th June

 Sometimes there just isn't much to say. Let me see...

We had morning coffee and pain au chocolat (not Real ones,  those 'jus-roll' ones which just reminded us how good a proper pain au chocolat can be!). A friend dropped by on her way back from the early service church at just the right moment, and we sat in the warmth and dappled shade under the apple tree for the first time this year. Lovely.

We had after lunch coffee and the rest of the ersatz chocolate rolls sitting in the sun on the patio.

My brother rang to discuss ideas for our father's impending birthday 'so, what are your socialising thoughts now?'. We've had this conversation before. 

Nothing has changed. I am still one of the 500,000 or so people strongly advised by their medical consultant to avoid meeting people indoors, wear a mask, stay away from crowded spaces... it's not just about taking immunosuppressants, but also only having such reduced lung function, such low oxygen levels, blah blah blah. I do get so tired of explaining all this. Partly because it brings it back home to me how much I am missing out on, and this is how it has it be at the moment.

This affects my husband too... he is having to live as I do, and does so willingly, bless him.

We make the most of small pleasures...

But we shall make plans to celebrate the birthday; they can go and have lunch together somewhere special, and maybe we can all meet for coffee and cake or whatever in a suitable spacious tea garden.

Then we took a little drive to find an 'in-post' drop off box to deposit the latest 2 parcels of books going off to ziffit. The books that ziffit don't want will all go to the Brithish Heart charity shop.

I've finished 'Ayala's Angels' by Anthony Trollope. I confess to skimming some chunks. It is just like every romantic fiction plot ever, better written and more amusing than many, by a Victorian author writing in Victorian Times. I've moved forward in time; I've started 'A Room With A View' by E M Forster; Queen Victoria is still alive, but Tennyson is dead, so that makes it after 1892. I saw some of the film a long, long time ago. I mainly remember Simon Callow as Mrs Emerson,  and Helena Bonham Carter as Lucy Honeychurch, but I've never read the book. It is Delicious!

Perhaps I had more to say about today than I thought!

Friday 2nd June - I'm at the stage where

I feel so much better that as well as sowing the carrots again (the watering can wasn't that heavy) and

slipping some copper rings around the stalks of a couple of broad bean plants to fend off snails and slugs

I also staked my one remaining pea shoot this morning.

Then I came over all jelly legged and went inside. I did manage to make the mid-morning coffee without mishap, although there was a moment when I nearly poured milk into the water glasses...

Cross Stitching

I thought this would be a nice quick one to do for May;

As usual I did my charting on an enlarged copy of the actual fabric which seems to almost work for me

Although something changed in the execution and I  needed to copy the half-finished work to help sort out what to do in the white space.