Sunday 1st September

(Sunrise 6:15, sunset 19:45 which means still thirteen and a half hours of daylight. I have lived in Indonesia and Singapore as a teenager, on or very near the equator, so all days were hot, and all were roughly 12 hours long. Going home for Christmas would get off the plane in our winter clothes straight from boarding school and arrive to a sweltering heat. Waning crescent moon, just a fingernail of light in the sky)

But my post is really about apple crumble. I made it in the crockpot. 'Why would you do that?' I hear you ask.

Because you can? Because it saves putting the oven on? Because, for me, it is by far the least energetic way? You put your peeled, cored, chunked apples, with sugar and cinnamon as you deem fit, into the bottom of the crock pot. You make your usual crumble mixture (I used a food processor, again for low personal energy consumption) and spread it on top. Cook on high for 3 hours, but put a clean folded tea towel under the lid to catch the drips. After the three hours, remove the tea towel and replace the lid wedged ajar, to let any moisture escape,  for another 30 minutes on high.

But perhaps my post is about a new sitting place in the garden?

I worked out today that there is room for a garden bench just outside my work desk;

It will catch the afternoon sun. We tested my plan with this older, beginning to rot bench, and it fits perfectly. There are two further advantages; I can leave an oxygen cylinder just inside the door and come through to sit outside, and the armrest is a useful balance aid for stepping in and out of the house. (That bag on the bench holds the portable oxygen concentrator I was using at the time).

So I can sit on the bench and look down the garden towards the apple tree, still laden with fruit hidden among the green leaves. (The plastic bottle is there to protect the parasol stand.)

Or is this post about sin, forgiveness and redemption? After all it is Sunday...

I was thinking of the song 'Adam lay y-bounden' and looked it up on Wikipedia. The words date back to the 14th century, a song of wonder at the consequences of such a small thing as eaten an apple... and how, because of that action, the whole history in the Old and New Testament and the events of the Nativity, Crucifixion, Resurrection took place...

Following several links as I delved further into the labyrinth of Wikipedia I found this, by John  Milton on how good came from the evil, in Paradise Lost book 12

And this interesting poem by Robert Frost;

 

Have you really read through all my ramblings right down to here? Goodness, you have really got some stamina!