THERE ARE BAD TIMES JUST AROUND THE CORNER

Having listened to our new Prime Minister's dark and direful warning of the horrors to come it comes as no surprise to discover that the Samaritans are now obliged, when conversing with a client to admit that suicide could be an option. After listening to Cameron this morning I think it may be a distinct possibility. Until of course you realise that he actually said very little to the point. Of course there was the usual rhetoric, then can the priceless line “We are all in it together.”

Speaking personally I do not recall having anything whatsoever to do with ordering the the cart we all find our selves in. Do you remember spending all the millions that seem to have vanished without trace, did I blink and miss some vital detail? Perhaps I have this wrong, didn't the banks speculate in dodgy markets with money that should have been invested safely. Didn't they deliberately lend money to people with no hope of repaying the loans,for the sake of their personal gain? Didn't the bank executives cover up these mistakes at the highest level. I am very sure that the then government bailed out these institutions with money they did not have, and I am equally sure that no one asked me if I minded. The banks that were nationalised by the Labour government have declared large profit s and paid out bonuses and dividends, hang on a minute, if I paid for the banks to be saved the I must be a shareholder? What's going on?
One thing is certain Brown and Cameron have one thing in common,the determination to make us poor saps pay for the questionable financial practices of a very small section of the community.

Now we know where the buck really stops,it stops with us!

HOT AND VERY BOTHERED

I love warm weather,generally speaking,but not when I have lots of hot and bothersome chores to do . All week I have been hot and could' nt be bothered , and today the birds came home to roost,all the chores had to be done at once.
Bed making, never my favourite job at the best of times, today it was a nightmare, half way through I stopped for a cup of tea,I think a gin and tonic would have done more good but the last of the gin has damsons soaking in it for use as a cough cure in winter. After that there was the pleasure of an enormous pile of ironing, the job I detest most in all the world,I would rather clean out a septic tank, I kid you not. Just in case you were wondering I have actually cleaned a septic tank so I speak with conviction,its a nice wholesome task compared to the hated ironing. In a state of collapse I decided to go for a buggy ride.When I got to the river I saw four geese with a total of nineteen goslings between them, ten minutes later a kestrel took a newly fledged blackbird just s few feet away,she stayed on the ground for a full three minutes being mobbed by two jays and the adult male blackbird,guess who forgot to take the camera , so you will have to take my word for it my darlings!
On my arrival home I discovered that I had stayed out longer than I intended,and was obliged to cook dinner against the clock,what fun. It turned out rather well much to my surprise,although a lot less complex than usual. Definatly not my finest hour. Some days you just can't win.

Then I went into the garden and, behold,the badger had stayed this flipping great paws, the garden was immaculate, no great holes, no wilting lettuces.The flower garden basked in the cooler evening sun and looked heavenly,and my son had remembered to upload some favourite tracks on to my M.P.3 player,life is great after all,and there's always tomorrow,if the Gods allow.And so, in the words of Pepys, to bed.

The Ghosts of the Old Royal Mint

Every one has heard about the many spectres inhabiting the Tower of London,few however realise the the nearby Old Royal Mint has an equally impressive array of ghosts. These dedicated spooks appear nightly and perform with great diligence until, at daylight, they quietly disperse. It is said that a few of them also haunt a nearby tavern on occasion,in their search for the oblivion of sleep They perform their nightly activities without the accustomed rattling of chains and only the occasional moan.,and always go above and beyond the call of duty. Never in the field of human endeavour has so much been written by so few at such short notice. I salute them and in there honour have renamed my favourite cookie recipe.


Night shift nuggets.

Makes 14
75g/3oz porridge oats
50g/2oz plain flour
50g/2oz butter
50g/2ozgranulated sugar
1 level tablespoon golden syrup
half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1.Mix together porridge oats and flour
2.Melt butter in a large pan with syrup and sugar
3.Stir in bicarbonate of soda into mixture in pan
4.Add flour and oats and mix well
5.make walnut; sized balls of mixture and place well apart on a well greased baking sheet.It helps to wet your fingers a little as the mixture can be a bit clarty.
6.Bake them in a moderate oven, gas 4, 350f, 180c. For 11 to 15 minutes,check after 11 they should be golden brown and still soft.
7.Let cookies cool slightly the move them on to a wire cooling rack.
8.You can replace part af the oats with coconut if you like...............

I have been very lazy today;baked a few cookies,and surrounded the vegetables with wire mesh to keep the badgers out. It looks more like a stalag than a garden!

SALAD DAZE

Phew! What a scorcher. I got the bread made early this morning to get it over with before things hotted up. I spent some time cleaning up the bird feeding areas, rats can be a problem if you are not careful .It has been an amazing day for birds, the young robins have fledged all four of them,the parents are at full stretch just keeping the out of trouble. The male robin and I are old friends, I knew him when he was young and spotty! The pair of woodpeckers are at the feeding station constantly, I imagine their young will be fledging very soon. We always know when the nuthatch chicks have hatched as the parent birds suddenly stop being shy and will even take food from the window sill. Magpies are always around where there are young birds , this year we have more than usual Jays also are frequent visitors these days. There are starlings, dunnock ,.blue tit, coal tit, great tit, wrens, blackbirds, black cap, wood pigeon, gold crest , all nesting around the house and feeding regularly,its wonderful. A am able to wash the dishes or peel the spuds while this flurry of life goes on right in front of me .I am so lucky.

I decided on a very simple meal for this evening as it is so hot. I just served a whole roast chicken with lots of garlic cloves, a huge salad fresh from the garden and of course some of the bread I made this morning,jelly with fruit and cream for afters.

It's cookie baking day tomorrow, I have not yet decided what sort to make,perhaps I will try something new for a change.

Well off I go to water the flower garden, it looks as floppy as I feel.

DEREK BIRD RANDOM NUTTER OR VICTIM

Yet again we watch with horror at the mayhem that one man with a grudge and a gun can cause. Yesterday we heard what a quiet man Derek Bird had been, today all that has changed and although it seems that he had in his own mind reason for his actions it does nothing to dispel the horror of it all. The truth is that any one of us at any time could be the victim or under extreme pressure the perpetrator of this type of of dreadful crime.

There can never be a good reason for taking a life, that's easy to say when in a rational frame of mind, people like Derek Bird and Michael Ryan were not rational when they killed. Nothing any one can do or say can explain an event such as this and nothing any one can do will stop such a thing happening again. The shock and pain will live in the minds of those involved for ever,for the rest of us, we shall forget, until the next time, perhaps that is after all, the real problem. I saw a man shot in the head some years ago, it has stayed with me ever since,but over time the picture fades little by little, until something like this happens .My heart goes out to the victims, their families, and the people who just got caught up in this awful business. I hope that time will soften the sharpness of their pain, though I doubt it.

Soup from Scratch

What a lovely sunny day. I had every intention of spending it planting out the remaining vegetable plants and sowing some more salad,but it was not to be. I often suffer from muscle spasms and today was one of those days,it never seems to happen on a wet day so that I would not feel frustrated by not being able to get into the garden .Hey ho,so I decided that as it was bread day again I should make a vegetable soup, hoping that with soft new bread and a strawberry jelly it would prove to be acceptable for my son in his present predicament. Thankfully all went well.

VEGETABLE SOUP

1 red pepper
1 carrot
1 parsnip
2 stalks of celery
1 potato
6 spring onions
2 tablespoons walnut oil
1 oz butter
milk

Chop all the veg and fry the onion and pepper in the oil and melted butter for 5 minutes.
Add the rest of the veg and fry for a further 4 minutes stirring occasionally.
Add enough water to cover the veg and simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on.
Cool a little then pass through a sieve or put in a blender until smooth.
Add milk to make the thickness you prefer,season, reheat and serve with fresh bread or croutons. You can make this soup with any combination of vegetables and its always lovely.

The Rosemary and Tarragon are perfect at the moment so I made some herb oils. I just pick the herbs while they are dry pop them in a jar and top the up with oil; after a few days the oil takes on the flavour of the herb,they are good with salads and pasta dishes.

My cat has discovered the catnip plant which I put in the garden last week. She was rolling about all over it with a look of pure pleasure about her. I doubt if the plant will withstand many such onslaughts. Again I say, hey ho !

STUCK UP AND SOAKING WET

Well the weather forecast was correct for once, it rained all day and it was very muggy into the bargain. I was awakened at the crack of dawn by my darling son ,who had just arrived home from work Besides the usual welcome cup of tea which he always makes for me he exhibited a small piece of tooth which had detached itself during the night..There was also a corresponding hole where the fragment had been .I was still very sleepy, not having had the usual,more gentle awakening however as soon as I could manage to prop one eye open I displayed as much parental concern as was humanly possible, and promised to make an appointment for him with the dentist ASAP. This proved rather tricky as we could not remember the name of his dentist. The print in the yellow pages was so small that it defeated me utterly. Then I remembered the internet and about an hour after my son had retired to his repose I found their name and number and made the promised appointment breakfast was rather late, I shall say no more.

I was glad that I picked the gooseberries yesterday as I was able to make the jam without getting wet,my triumph however was short lived. After making the jam and during a lull in the awful weather I decided to go for a breath of fresh air, the kitchen had become rather steamy and I and my clothes dreadfully sticky so I changed my clothes and off I went. No sooner had I reached the river the the rain began again in earnest,so I managed ten minutes out side and gained nothing but a load of wet washing,a plentiful enough commodity at the best of times.

This has not been the best of days,but there is always tomorrow. My cat Twiggy and I spent time watching young starlings leaning to feed themselves ,the exasperation of the parent birds was tangible. They have my sympathy.