I’m sure I’ve had this on Sunday Music before but it’s my birthday on Tuesday and last week, when I was feeling pressured and tired, this came on and it made me happy! Because if you have a dog and a banjo (and you’re a hillbilly) then ‘yessir, we’re talking happiness here’…
Happy Friday!
Folks it has been a week. I’ve been having some minor house drama and it feels like the world is on fire. Boris Johnson is Prime Minister and no one seems to care…
Here are this week’s links…
My Boris Johnson story. This is so worth reading…
The Vote Leave gang now running Britain do not want to govern. They want to win. If one more brexiteer says that we won the War, I’m going to scream. We did at tremendous cost and we wouldn’t have won it if not for the Russians and Lend Lease (and can we all also note what happened when America called that bill in). The truth is that we are not at war, most of the generation of people who fought in that war and are still alive, voted remain. It’s the boomers who have no clue what it was actually like to live through a war that overwhelmingly voted for Brexit. (not all boomers, Ma!). Finally can we think about the language we’re using, we’re not at war ffs, not even close.
Mr Johnson swears off an early election, but his sweaty aroma says otherwise
Boris Johnson plans to frighten Europe then charm it. Here’s why he’ll fail
No-deal Brexit was once a sick Tory joke. Now it’s serious
What Jacob Rees-Mogg’s language rules reveal about him. I would say that they reveal he’s a hopelessly out of date idiot who is more concerned with rules, seeking the vision of a Victorian society that only ever ran for the rich and never for everyone in the country. Which is why he’s all grammar rules and Brexit instead doing something about homelessness and poverty…
UK’s cherry industry bounces back after almost withering
I followed the advice for Paris’s hottest day – it didn’t help. Paris has had a longer heat wave but they did more than London did. When we had 37C, it was 33C in the house. I basically wore a nightie, sat in front of a fan and had several tepid baths to keep cool. It wasn’t a fun day but it was survivable without air con. But that was one day and I’m privileged, I can work from home, I have fans and access to running water. When we tip into this being the weather? What then?
You can have a church or be a free woman – but having both is a struggle. This is worth reading. I come from a different tradition but ultimately left because I didn’t fit into any of the boxes that the Church had for me and thought that my faith was as valuable to God as that of the parish priest.
A Trump trade deal with Britain will unleash a bonfire of regulations
How we stopped counting calories and learned to love Spindrift
Chronic wounds: the hidden health crisis hitting 2m Britons
Boar wars: how wild hogs are trashing European cities File under things I didn’t know!
We are nearly at the end of gooseberry season at chez Dempsey and it’s been amazing. We’ve had about 5kgs all in and even for a gooseberry loving pair it’s been a lot. I’m not sure what the variety is but they can be eaten straight off the bush so we’ve eaten loads of them just as they come. I’ve frozen some and I’ve made compote.
Compote is always really simple, take 500g of gooseberries and 125g of sugar and throw them in the pan. Heat gently until the gooseberries have burst and the sugar dissolves, about 15 minutes.
I like to eat mine in yogurt or on ice cream, but it’s jammy enough to go in the middle of a cake with some cream!
So the shed is finally tidy. We have new shelves (thanks Kathy and Adam!) and new drawers (Wilko’s finest!) and thanks to lots of tidying, it’s looking tidier. Ma still thinks there is too much stuff but I think we have the stuff we need!
I still need to paint the shed again though!
We were on the plot for about 4 hours but it didn’t feel like we got much done. Harvesting. (this season’s summer squash count is 44 courgettes and 4 crooknecks).
Then I pulled down the sweet peas from the lettuce bed and the spinach that didn’t grow. Ma sowed the chard in a bed at the top of the plot. We then spent some time with the tomatoes. First Joe’s, which we tied up and tidied.
Then some of mine, which I’m getting to this week.
It’s the time of year that I always leave the plot with green fingers.
As I said last week, we’re at an inbetween time but the cucamelons are about to flower
And everything seems to be ok.
It’s not been a brilliant couple of months for getting the TBR lists down because the library re-opened and although it’s not as big as it used to be, it’s still the library!
The Blade Itself: The First Law Book One – Joe Abercrombie
This was on the Kindle TBR and I enjoyed it but then it kind of stopped. I know it’s part of a trilogy but it set everything up and then stopped, I still have very little idea where it is going, I did try to see if I could get the second book at the library but I’m not sure I want to spent another £14 finding out what happens!
Sarina Bowen, I liked it, the story has been hinted at in the other Brooklyn Bruisers books and it made me happy to be in a world that I know nothing about. I did like that the heroine although was having issues with her career, she was the one with the money and that although she’s loved up and working on her issues she still has them!
Hurrah for a 40 something couple, who have been through the mill. I liked that even though the hero could be bitter, he wasn’t nasty about his ex wife and that his relationship with his daughter was such that she could see where he hurt and adjust, even though Dad wasn’t saying anything. While I understood the heroine, it took me longer to warm to her but I did love the competence porn. She was good at her job and respected for it, even if she was distant from the staff. Overall, it was lovely and once they had overcome their issues a HEA ensued…
The Ingredients of Us – Jennifer Gold
This was a free Kindle book of the month and I’m glad it was free because I didn’t like it at all. I didn’t like the structure of the story, generally jumping back and forward has to have a point and honesty I couldn’t see it. I also didn’t like anyone in the book, so I didn’t care…
Say No to the Duke – Eloisa James
Another Eloisa James, I love the way James’ books always end with lots of children but I also really love that this book has an aunt who is amazing! Because spinster aunts are amazing and one day my nephews will get it!! The only tiny problem I have with this book is the PTSD, did soldiers get in in the Revolutionary War, probably, but I’m not sure that the emotions and feelings about it she ascribes to the upper classes are of the time but it’s a romance not a history book and I did enjoy it.
Gilded Cage (The Dark Gifts Trilogy 1) – Vic James
This was a Kindle free book that’s been sitting in the TBR list for a while. It’s an interesting setting. Basically an alternate Britain where a magic class of people are the aristocracy that deposed Charles I and set up a state where they are the only ones with power and very ungifted person has to do 10 years as a slave. And that is how the world and the economy runs and it’s as horrific as you’d expect. I enjoyed it enough to buy the rest of the trilogy and will probably get around to them next month.
War of the Wolf – Bernard Cornwall
So I was in the library picking up a book I had on hold and there this was in the recently arrived books. I love this series, with the improbably aged Uhtred and you can see how much and how little the world is changing and how the idea of an England is taking shape. Uhtred is going to be the oldest man alive in England by the time the books are done!
The Cruel Prince – Holly Black
This was also on the display shelf in the library, I love Holly Black and I loved this. How do you hold on to yourself in a world where nothing is human and how do you survive? Can you without losing something vital? I really like that Jude decides to win power, not love. I have the second book on hold already..
The Obelisk Gate – N.K. Jemisin
This was the book I had on hold, I loved it. I liked the idea but also the way the story is told. It’s not until you read something that isn’t automatically based in white, western culture that you realise that not everything has to be. I really enjoyed this and have the last one on hold at the library!
Happy Monday! Last week we had a mini heatwave, it was intense, it was 37C in my house on Thursday, I took many coldish baths and sat in front of fan. It’s calmed down now and thank God. So we are still going to hell in a handcart but I’m with Dante, hell is cold…
So aside from the heat, it was a fairly average week, work, I saw Kathy, Adam and children on Wednesday night when I went to pick some shelves and Kathy and the children again early Thursday morning for a plot tour. The kids were so funny, trying to work out what they could pick and identifying (or not) what was growing!
Friday was a day off and a much needed haircut! My hair is back to looking good again and what magic is it that I look less grey after a haircut even though I don’t colour it anymore? Also I swear my teeth look more wonky as I get older!
On Saturday Ma and I went to the theatre. We saw The Lehman Trilogy and if theatre is your thing, this is worth seeing, three actors being technically and emotionally brilliant! Even if we were in the gods and the ice cream was nearly a fiver!
Afterwards we had dinner at Brasserie Zedel and the pinkest napkins that ever were!
Sunday was a day for allotment and laundry. Awesome and busy. The plot is green after all the heat and then the rain and the shed is tidy!
This week is my last week before a week off and the first week of a new boss, or at least a new person to look after. So make sure everything is handed over, tidy the flat before the family arrive for lunch next Sunday, allotment tidy on Saturday, and pack for going to Newcastle on Monday and having birthday fun!
What is everyone else up to?
I know loads of people who have birthdays today. One of them is my Uncle Ian.
This always reminds of Ian, I have no idea why…
I recently changed up my skincare, usually I’m very loyal to the products I use (and for the record this picture is how I’d like to look every day but often don’t!) but my skin has always been a reflection of my health generally and my menstrual health in particular. I’m well and truly into peri-menopausal territory nowadays and it was really showing on my face and in the increasing greyness of my hair. (I’ve stopped dying it because I’m hopeful that I’ll end up with the beautiful grey hair that my aunt Jude has and not the salt and pepper that my mum has and loathes! As my dad and my aunt had the same colouring, I have the same colouring that dad had and he wasn’t particularly grey when he died, I live in hope!)
It was time to change up my skincare to adjust to the new reality. I’ve already talked about the Glycolic Toner in this range, which had helped some but I felt that I needed to change up my cleanser. I’d been using the Waitrose Baby Bottom Butter or the Waitrose Pure Hydration Hot Cloth Cleanser for years but I think maybe they’re too heavy for my face nowadays. I don’t know, I do know that my skin didn’t feel great anymore and I didn’t like it!
Generally, when people talk about hot cloth cleansers, they give two recommendations, the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish which I’ve used before and like but is expensive or the Superdrug Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser which stings my face, I’ve tried it in both the normal skin and the dry/sensitive iterations but both of them sting. I’ve been aware that my face is just weird, I still recall a Clarins cleanser and toner that turned my face tomato red whereas I love the lotus oil and it’s perfect on my skin. I’ve given up trying to work it out, I just go with what doesn’t sting!
Anyway, I digress. I already use the toner and I’ve been using the Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Overnight Peel, once a week for years, so I decided to give the Hot Cloth Cleanser in the range a go and it was a revelation, the tiny spots I’d been getting under my nose disappeared and my skin just felt better.
Because all of the products are priced at £5.99 and are so often on either buy one get one free or half price, it’s much easier to buy something to try, recently I’ve started using the Brightening Micro Polish once a week and the radiance balm, adding it to my foundation to lighten it up a bit and that’s all pretty good too.
Go forth and play with skincare, if that’s your thing!
Happy Friday! Well folks, it’s happened, Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson is Prime Minister and has appointed a cabinet. God help the country. And a good time to remind you of this.
Here are this week’s links…
John Marsden on the ‘toxic’ parenting pandemic: ‘I’ve never seen this level of anxiety’ It’s interesting, we develop resilience through failure and coping when things go horribly wrong. We learn that we can cope, we can try again and we can move forward. If we never have the opportunity to learn that in small ways, we’ll have no ability to cope with the big stuff. When I was a kid and I told my mum I was worried about something, for all her ‘Cruella DeVille’ tendencies, Ma didn’t ever tell me she would make it all better, because sometimes it wouldn’t. She would listen, she would offer strategies, she would help if necessary by talking to teachers etc but most of all she let me know that it was ok to feel like I felt but that she was confident in my ability to cope with it. Obviously there were times when her job was to go to the school and sort it out but I recall it happening a couple of times generally when there was bullying, I didn’t consider myself a bullied child, I didn’t care enough about what others thought, so if there were whispers and being called posh (we weren’t) then that didn’t worry me, I had books and the library. However, there were two physical incidents, when I was 11 I got hit around the head for refusing to move out of someone’s way so they could do something horrible to them, it was brave I just didn’t think it was on (and actually I didn’t tell Ma about that, someone else did) and when I was 14 or so, a boy punched me when he called me names and I retorted and other people laughed at him(I am my mother’s daughter after all!) what I actually remember about that was thinking that he’d learned that from his dad. Anyway there was blood on my uniform and I couldn’t wear my uniform jumper the next day so I didn’t and there was a strongly worded note to my form tutor and a call. He got suspended. After the call. This is a massive digression, basically the job of a parent is to make themselves redundant, which Ma did because I can cope with most things.
What Happens When Queer Eye’s Experts Get Personal. Unexpectedly, I really like Queer Eye, I don’t like reality TV generally but when I was ill over Christmas, I really enjoyed it. I just like them because yeah they are completely over the top, but they are often right and they are really nice about it. I’m less enthralled by the cooking section because my experience of being in a pit is that what you need isn’t one dish, it’s a couple of foundational recipes and/or techniques that you can use for lots of things (and wow I didn’t realise I’d thought about it that hard!). I read something else recently about the joy of it being in seeing men do the emotional work that women often do and how refreshing it was to see men who touch one another which is also one of those things that I didn’t think about until I did. I really enjoy their kindness, to others and themselves, even though they have reasons not to be kind…
They Tried to Start a Church Without God. For a While, It Worked. Having belonged to Church and secular communities, what strikes me here as the thing that Sunday Assembly needs is purpose. It could be helping others, it could be evangelical atheism but you need a reason to belong. For me God was never the issue and the reason I have been more removed from Grace is that I don’t feel a part of its purpose all that much anymore (fresh expressions) because I found Mass meaningful and that wasn’t why I moved to Grace. The other piece of that was wanting to explore faith and I’ve found that difficult with other members of Grace because of the pressure of services and the real difference from where my faith journey started and my attitude. The secular community I feel like a member of is at the allotments and there the purpose is about our plots and loving and preserving the space for the gardeners of the future. At some point if you don’t/can’t see the point of the purpose, you leave!
Labour still doesn’t take the threat of Boris Johnson seriously. Labour doesn’t seem to take anything outside of the Labour Party seriously. Expelling Alistair Campbell but having to be harried into not reinstated Chris Williamson. I supported Jeremy Corbyn and I feel sure that he’s a decent guy but he’s useless as a leader and I do feel that he needs to get it together or leave it to someone who can do it because even given the disadvantage of a right wing media, he’s doing poorly…
Mystery of Chedworth’s 1,800-year-old Roman glass shard solved
The English Job by Jack Straw review – portrait of Iran’s fixation with Britain. I don’t know nearly enough about Iran but I do know that they have a vision of the UK as strong and meddling and as a world superpower that isn’t shared by anyone else except Boris and Brexiteers.
Boris Johnson, the prime minister? I’m sorry to say that I’m partly to blame. Well I’m not, I’ve been saying the man was a ignorant clown since he ran for mayor. I was ashamed then and I’m ashamed now and I didn’t do it.
Boris Johnson Has Prepared His Entire Life for This. Is He Ready?. Yes he’s ready to be Prime Minister. The real question is will he put in the work required to do the job well and perhaps be unpopular in the process. Empirical knowledge teaches us that he is not.
I love cherries in all forms but especially cocktail cherries. Ages ago, I started making my own and while it’s been a while since I’ve mentioned it here, I have perfected my method recipe to make it easier, so it’s time to share again.
I make enough to last the year for me and have some to give away. A bottle of whiskey makes 5 to 6 500ml jars. I start off with 2kg of cherries but more than a few of them get eaten on the way, so I would estimate that just under 1.5kg made it into the jars! I give you the recipe per 500g of cherries and you can scale up as needed
What
How.
I find that the cherries keep without any problems in the cupboard for at least a year (they don’t last the year) and while I tend to hot water bath tomatoes, I don’t do that to these or to jam. I do keep them in the fridge once I’ve opened them though. If you are worried about hygiene you should keep them in the fridge and use them within 3 months. Alternatively there is a recipe on Foodie with Family that does something similar and has canning instructions.
Once the cherries are done, I either make a syrup from the juice by adding a bit more sugar and boiling it down or I make a drink with it and soda water.
Nic Dempsey 