Tag Archives: blue sky

The Distant Blue Sky

It is currently dark, windy and wet. It is also chilly. This is not what I expect from June, and it is very disappointing.

I can see some bright blue in the distance, so it might lift a little. However, June 2024 will definitely be going down in the book as “could do better”. That’s a chilling phrase isn’t it? Or it was, when it used to appear in my school reports and initiate discussions with my father about my levels of industry at school.

After two false starts, and cutting out 3-400 words, I am no further forward than I was when i began. Some days are like that. That’s the problem, I often have so much to write about that I can’t write anything. And just because I write something doesn’t mean that it’s going to be interesting or suitable.

We are having a committee meeting of the Numismatic Society tonight, and it is probably going to be dull. I’m in limbo – I’d like to start a recruiting drive and reinvigorate the  medal section, but I’m not going to be here to carry it through so it seems pointless starting it. It’s always struck me as being unfair to set something going then back out and leave the work to someone else. That’s happened to me before and I don’t want to do it to anyone else.

It’s strange how many times you come across people who have plenty of ideas, which they present as a rare and precious gift. They have no idea how common ideas are. even good ideas are ten a penny. What is the rare and precious gift is the time that is needed to turn the idea into something useful.  The people with ideas are usually the people who don’t have time to do anything.

I’ve seen it so many times. The man who wanted us to go recruiting in schools, but was aghast, and acted as if we had insulted him, when we told him we would support him wholeheartedly.

“What?” he said, “You expect me to do it? Where do you expect me to find the time?”

Probably, we suggested, in the same place we did, with the time we already spent on running the club.

He retreated, muttering, and suggesting that our attitude was poor. The word “insulting” actually floated back to us as he left.

It’s raining again, and although I have finished the blog post I have done no actual work, so I had better get on.

There is, I see, another strip of blue sky in the offing. This is good, even though experience suggests that it will be followed by more rain.

That, I suppose, is a metaphor for life, as well as the inspiration for the title.

 

Worms, Cookery and Bread

For tea on Wednesday we had chicken, mushroom and bacon pie with tarragon. Yes, we’re in “tea” territory here, and even if we weren’t I spent my early years in Lancashire, so it will be “tea” wherever I go. On the side we had baked potato and sauteed kale. (It’s stir fried really but people always seem to call it sauteed). Of course, those people know how to access the French accents on their keyboard; I don’t and on my screen the word is underlined in red. We had a proper meal because we left work as early as we could and got home in time to do some proper cooking.

That’s what we’ve been missing recently, time.

We did a bit of easy cooking with the group -jam tarts using ready-made pastry and the jam we made on Tuesday from the blackberries we picked on  Monday. It’s known as Any Berry Jam. I would include a link, but I can’t find it. I’ll try later. There was very little washing up and we had very little inclination to stay longer, so we went home, where I cooked again.

Joy.

Tonight, we will be having soup and a sandwich because we tested sausage rolls for the food blog. I am putting weight on in my capacity of pie tester.

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Quick blackberry jam tarts

It was a very pleasant day, and there were several butterflies on the wing as I drove down the lane. I snapped the two Red Admirals just behind the centre and the very tatty white on the verbena is by the polytunnel.

The marigolds are having one last hurrah, whilst the Cape Gooseberries (or physalis, ground cherries or Inca berries if you prefer) are still struggling to ripen. The ones that were left from the vicious attack last year are a little behind the ones we grew from seed.

The last wheatsheaf loaf broke. This year they all seem to have deformed as they dried out and have actually broken instead of cracking as they normally do. I think it may be because I should let the dough rest more before use.

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Sad fate for Wheatsheaf Loaf

The wormery is going well, though we will probably release them after tomorrow’s session. They have produced tunnels, they have dragged bits of grass down and they have even moved a paper triangle, though not as impressively as in Darwin’s original experiment. In their defence, my worms are smaller. 😉

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Wormery, with paper triangle showing