A Poem for Thursday

I love the stillness of the air at the moment, 

we get it that way so often at the tag end of August...

...and sitting in the field these sounds came drifting over the warmth of the afternoon....

Late summer sounds.

The thwack of toe on ball.

A giggle at the failure of the shot.

Young voices.

No winter pressures,

Then a cry of victory

For a garden goal!

And the hum of lazy bees

As they suck up August nectar

Unhurried by any thought of future cold.

Sounds drift by

Like thistledown.

And the sweet, spicy smell of warm herbs

Envelopes me.

Still dreaming

In my garden seat.

tomato and chilli jam?!!!

The greenhouse is exploding with tomatoes of all shapes and sizes.
We have painted the kitchen..."we" is royal ...the potter did it!...anyway I had a sort out of recipes in books and scraps of paper and found this jam one that I had experimented with last year.
It goes really well with cheese and cold meats...but the potter had it on his pasta for evening meal and declared it good!
This makes about three jars of jam

2 red onions..finely sliced
1 tsbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
6 garlic cloves..chopped
20grs fresh root ginger finely chopped
3 red chillies seeded and chopped
1 kg tomatoes roughly chopped
500 grs soft brown sugar
200ml white wine vinegar [or white wine]
50ml fish sauce

Fry onions in oil for 15 mins 'til caramelised and soft
Add cumin, ginger, chilli : cook for 1 min.
Stir in tomatoes, sugar, wine and fish sauce.
Simmer, stirring regularly for 45 mins 'til thick.
Spoon in sterilised jars, cool, seal and store in fridge for two months
Or spoon into freezer pots and keep for longer!
.....or not if it all gets eaten!

Guten Appetit

Much Ado at Minack!

I had such a great birthday in Cornwall this year...
...a new camera from the potter....
....a tripod and some filters for the new camera  from the family of Amelies House...
...a painting from Confusionosity of Life granddaughter...
...smellies and chocs and beads and all sorts of goodies from the other four gorgeous gussies called granddaughters!
...and two tickets to go to Minack Theatre near Lands End to see Much Ado About Nothing
from the Spice Works son and family!

Magic!

The scene was set in the 2nd world war...so the watch were dad's army, Beatrice and others were land girls, and the princes followers were Polish airmen.


Apart from the play, what a view out over the Atlantic. I almost felt that I could "Yoohoo" over the water to any lovely blogpals out there across the pond on the east coast"!

I couldn't believe that anyone would rather read a book than either see the play or view the sea....
...but hey whatever makes for a good day!

Benedict hides in the Punch and Judy tent and hears what he wants to hear about Beatrice!
Don Pedro, Claudio and Leonato.

All rounded up with a Cornish clotted cream tea with scones and strawberry jam...what could be better!

Martin Creed at Tate St. Ives.

Just back from a week in the glorious south...the end of the land...in fact Land's End and all that!
Lots of lovely photos ...but I really wanted to start again with the visit to Tate St. Ives. and the show put on by Martin Creed.
Art from air!
We loved it...so did all the children who experienced it!

The potter is used to dealing with earth and fire... not air....

....going under!....

...."I may never emerge from this art"!

...gone and never called me mother...as Terry used to say!....

...look out, something is emerging out of the chaos...

...looks like her hair has a life of it's own...

..."where am I?"....

"what did you find crawling around on the floor?"

Fantastic...good old Martin Creed, he always comes up with something to get us talking...and usually laughing as well.

This is taken in the round window at the front of the gallery and it shows the scene outside looking like an expressionist painting.

Lovely St. Ives

 and great Tate.