The first few flowers are out on the winter jasmine – a cheerful sight on a somewhat grey day.
Month: October 2024
garden bits
The clocks have changed, but it’s a bright sunny morning, and a few flowers seem determined to make the best of it. The morning glory “Grandpa Ott” was very late starting this year, but seems determined to make up for it, and cosmos will fight on until we get serious frosts.
clock change
The clocks have gone back, and we’ve entered the “dismal days of darkness”, though it’s actually a bright sunny morning today. I haven’t done quite as well on the diet-and-fitness as I’d hoped. I log “warm months” and “dark months” separately, as I’m much more restricted in cold and damp. This year saw a summer daily average of 4681 steps (down quite a bit from the corresponding period last year of 5140, but better than 2020/2021/2022). Periods of illness in early summer, and current hip problems, are partly responsible.
Diet is OK, steady on “just over 1800 calories a day”, and averaging two meat-free days a week. Sadly, weight is slightly higher than I’d like – it’s been hovering around 68kg, rather than the 66.5 I aim for, and I can’t really let it creep any higher. So, overall review is a slightly disappointing “could do better”, but at least not quite a “must try harder”.
garden bits
The leaves are off the Black Pear, though still hanging on on the Deacon’s tree. I’ve picked the remaining Black Pear – those that had escaped gales, codling moth, and bird pecks – and stored them on the slats in the shed.
The badger is clearly active at the moment- latrine holes in the former courgette bed, and in the heap of soil it’s excavated from the former compost bin.
Other garden work was to pull up the last of the decaying courgettes, and take down almost everything that had bamboo frameworks to climb up – that’s the runner beans, and two sets of sweet peas. I’ve cut the top off the Morning glory, but otherwise left it, as there are still plenty of flowers each day. Three figs look as though they might possibly ripen, though the fig leaves are yellow and falling, so I’ve brought the fruit in and stuck them under cover with a banana – more in hope than expectation.
So, mainly a bit of tidying up in the unexpected sunshine. Only an hour’s work, but I’m still getting very breathless and weak after rather little exertion – the respiratory infection that started over five weeks ago has not yet fully cleared up. Indoors, I had a Homefire delivery of heat logs and kindling early in the week, which I put away in the cupboard yesterday, as I had to have the Riso out for printing. Today saw a small delivery from Lekto, of what they call “night briquettes”, compressed bark supposed to burn for up to eight hours. It’s an experiment, but I do have the problem after the stove has been going for several hours of the room starting to get too hot! Mock-coal briquettes aren’t really an answer, as they need wood with them or they go out.
And today is the last “light” day. Back to GMT and darkness, if not at noon, certainly at teatime. Ugh! Winter season food: there’s a large casserole of Boston Baked Beans in the oven, to have with Brussel sprouts.
Autumnal day
Among the colourfulness of the autumn leaves, it’s easy to see why it’s called “The Black Pear of Worcester”. The wind’s getting up, and will probably strip the leaves, but the pears usually hang on until I pick them in November, to be stored until ready for eating in March.
I was in danger of falling behind my target of two meat-free days a week. I’m not very fond of Quorn mince – it’s rather tasteless, and is of course ultra-processed food. However, in a well-reduced tomato sauce, with garlic, a branch of thyme, and a little smoked paprika, it makes an OK foundation for a veggie lasagne. The first picking of leaves from the winter lettuce was a good accompaniment. Leftover quorn lasagne tomorrow, and two portions to go in the freezer.
I’ve picked the last few Annie-Elizabeth apples, so for later there’s apple dunfillan – a nod to the Scottish influence in my family. Although it’s something that I was brought up with, most people – including most Scots, I think – have never heard of it. However, it’s something I like to make once or twice a year as a filling autumn/winter pudding.
Green Mount
Wednesday 9th was a flying visit over to Green Mount. The British Heart Foundation can apparently only visit on Thursday mornings, between 0830 and 1200h, so I was best placed to deal with them. Preparation involved sorting the “rehoming” list so that it was arranged by room.
I screwed up on the trains! The first one I caught turned out not to stop at Hanborough station – unheard-of! I havered between carrying on to Oxford and catching a cab, or getting off at Charlbury and waiting half an hour for the next train … as the rain had stopped by then, I chose. Charlbury. As so often, the train was delayed by having to wait for a train from Oxford to come off the single-track line, but fortunately only by five minutes, so I was OK to catch the bus from Hanborough station to Freeland turn (the request stop at Cuckoo lane having been abolished some years ago).
Walking across the Common in the damp dark brought back all kinds of memories! I don’t think I’ve done it since I left school in 1973, though it was a daily part of my childhood. Now massively overgrown, and at this time of year the concrete path rather slippery wit fallen leaves, with a cloudy sky (and only tje first night of the New Moon anyway). Still it was something I was glad to do, a part of wrapping up my emotional engagement with 62 years of history in the village.
Up at 0700h on Thursday 10th, so as to be vaguely together for BHF. They arrived about 11, and were both reassuring and competent, so all good. Jane gave me a lift to Hanborough station after lunch, so I was home by 1500h. Exhausted, I slept for a couple of hours, and then for eleven hours overnight (not waking until gone 1030). The cold-type virus (covid test is negative) that I’ve had for over a fortnight is lingering, and leaving me very easily tired.
So this was posted on Saturday 12th, a chilly and rather overcast day, where I’ve largely been sitting in front of the fire. I did manage to label and put away this year’s batch of green tomato chutney, but have been otherwise inert.
turning the corner …
Having woken at 6am and got up, I was feeling so grim that I went back to bed at 1030, and didn’t wake until about 1300. A massive change – I think I’ve turned the corner after nearly a week of this lurgy. Temperature close to normal, headache diminished, coughing and snottiness reduced, and not feeling completely incapable, though it’s been a question of “doing things” for twenty minutes followed by resting for 40 minutes!
Glorious sunshine this afternoon, which meant that I could have doors and window open, boiling up pickling vinegar while picking remaining tomatoes and cutting down the plants. There were very few nearly ripe ones worth putting on the windowsill to see if they change colour, but no problem getting the 3lb of green tomatoes my chutney recipe needs. Plenty of windfall apples to add in, though these are still mainly the ones that have fallen early due to codling moth infestation so need a fair bit cut out before use. The last, glorious, Deacon’s Pear picked to have at supper time – unless severe gales are threatened, I’ll leave the Worcester Black Pears, picking them in November and storing until February/March before use.
urgh!
I went down with a vile sore throat last Thursday, so didn’t go over to Green Mount for the weekend. It’s progressed to coughing fits, general snottiness, headaches, and a mild temperature whenever the lemsip wears off! The fire has been lit for periods of most days…
It’s always a bit chancy deciding when to stop encouraging new flowers by dead-heading sweet peas and start allowing them to set seed to save for next year. This year, I got it rather wrong! Too late, and many of the seed pods started getting mildew and other things due to the extreme dampness of the past few days. However, I found a couple of dozen pods that dried out OK. The variety is the original sweet pea – “Cupani”, dating back to 1695.
