Apparently it’s National knitting week. So here is the slightly updated magic square blanket. A little behind with it, but still plodding along. I know that that squares are all different sizes! Such is the charm of this project. Have also put more beads into it.
The grapevines have really developed this summer, and are creeping in every direction. Think I need to build the cane supports upwards as the vines are getting taller.
In something of a surprise, I’ve spotted what looks like a bunch of baby grapes. Odd, as grapes are usually ripening about now. Rather than forming baby bunches. Will be a nice surprise if they are baby grapes.
Tiddly tiny aubergines have been harvested. As the nights draw in and there is a distinct chill; the plants might hari kiri themselves at some point.
This is by far the most number of aubergines I have ever harvested. Ma assures me that these will form a curry of some description. They are small and some have been gnawed upon. Just don’t make me eat them.
I got a little bored of chopping tomatoes, so only half of that trough actually made it into chutney. Lots of green tomatoes, with a onion, garlic and ginger base.
Were added to cider vinegar, purée tomatoes, mustard, cumin, chillies, cayenne, paprika, turmeric, peppercorns , fennel and white mustard seeds. Cooked slowly until a large amount of the liquid has disappeared.
I did put a fair bit of tomato purée so that it didn’t look like a green mess. So far it tastes as though it has a kick.
A couple more cauliflowers were harvested today. The third was actually on the turn, with the florets looking a bit with worse for wear. One is larger than the other. The baby one was used to feed us at lunch time in a a stuffed chappati.
This is it. The one and only reason growing yellow tomatoes. I wanted to make a yellow tomato chutney relish thing. This is an recipe for chillied tomato relish that I have adapted. You will see from the image what has been added. Whilst I have failed to grow any orange habaneros, two hot Thai chillies did find their way into this relish as well as one big red one and two green birds eyes. I have plumped it all out with yellow peppers.
Doesn’t look too bad, but perhaps too many mustard seed. A bit tart at the moment, but it will be sitting for at least a month.
If you like downton, the village, Jeeves and wooster. You will like this. The setting of the stage, is brilliant. Well crafted and reminiscent of the Edwardian-I think-era.
Then there is the story. Two, interwoven romantic narratives. Tugging at the heart strings, you also feel your sides split with hysteria. Never has The Bard been so funny. Well, the propeller company’s Midsummers night dream is the closest comparison.
The setting is good, lavish, resplendent. When the ladies of France and the princess arrive, you are transported back to a window in history. The age of aristocratic elegance. The king, his courtiers, have the most beautiful dressing gowns as they swoon over their respective ladies on the roof.
The Spanish fella, and his valet, offer the second love struck story. No idea who he is, but that is the role that would be Stephen Fry’s if he fancied it. Or Alexi Sayle, for that matter. His story does lose a bit of weight and just fizzles out. I did find the scenes with the curate and master a bit superfluous. Perhaps my hearing is bad, but the master was barely audible.
The ladies do not swoon, they have the stiff upper lip here. They have the swagger of champions as the boys huff, puff and basically trip over their tongues. The boys, are in the full throes of love; as the girls push and pull without flexing a thing. They play games to agonise the boys. Shakespeare’s women, are in this instances, strong, wilful, and independent.
The play descends into a mirthful farce, song dance. The play within a play. With a cracking soundtrack, that gives the whole show a level of opulence that one wouldn’t expect for Shakespeare.
Not knowing the story, I fully expected the couples to end up together. That doesn’t happen, more fool me. Big surprise for me, given the romance. There was a lump in the throat as at the end; four soldiers march across the stage. A reminder, of how it’s partnered play ‘much ado’ is set in the same house after the Great War.
Looking forward now to ‘Much ado’.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my roses. They are beautiful, and mine have been really productive. A real pleasure.
Except this one.
This bloom, the blue moon hybrid rose. This has to be the most miserable rose I have had the misfortune of cultivating. It grows rather spindly and slowly, throwing up only a handful of blooms. Compared to the rest of the plot, this is a fairly bottom set rose.
This has to be the least successful year for me regarding chillies. Not a single one has been borne to fruitition, even with the poly tunnel. I had more success last year with out one! The orange and chocolate habaneros, bengle and Dorset nagas, serrano, jamaican jerk are lovely and green. There are clutches of where flowers. But not even a smudge of fruit. They are warm, mostly with the mild temperatures we have been experiencing; watered too. But this year I have experienced a complete and abject failure.
This is the only sunflower that has survived this year. As you can see, ids something of a seven headed hydra.
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