Nestling

The cauliflowers and cabbages that I have grown through winter and spring in the tunnel are maturing at last; a month later than in 2022. I’m keeping a careful eye on them so that I can whip them out of the ground at the perfect moment. 

The first cauli was picked on Tuesday and was deliciously sweet: so  much tastier than those from a shop.

I spent the best part of the day in Gemma’s garden. Infuriatingly the rain began soon after I got home, so my plans to line trim and mow grass were shelved. Instead Bean and I had a long wet walk, and I tidied the garage-cum-potting shed-cum-workshop. 

It has been a while since I’d seen the back of some of the benches and shelves,  consequently there were a few surprises to clear out in the shape of empty starlings’ “nests” (I use the word loosely… they are more like piles of straw and cabbage tree leaves), and quite a lot of mouse droppings. Steps will be taken regarding the latter…

In the mornings recently I have been listening to the audio version of Philip Judge’s book “In Sight of Yellow Mountain: a year in the Irish countryside” in which he grows veg, celebrates fruits setting on the trees and gets obsessed with rodents and with the local produce show. There is much synergy with Chez Mima.

In other book news, my FFL (friend for life) gave me a book token for my birthday. It is maybe 50 years since anybody gave me one, but what an unexpected delight it was to visit my favourite independent bookshop online and peruse the shelves, knowing that I could pick whatever I wanted and not worry about the cost. More book tokens should be distributed!

I chose “200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes” and I can use it to make my FFL some more barters. He approves.