It's Been a Funny Old Week... So Far

'Ere, Where's My Raspberries? - Tuesday
All I have been able to pick at one time so far this year, is a 300 gram punnet. Utter disapointment. At this time last year, I had already made eight jars of lovely raspberry jam. However, my 300 grams were perfect specimens and turned into one lovely large jar. I shall keep hoping to be able to harvest a larger haul before the season is over. Meanwhile, I shall savour every scone I put it on.


I Had a Treat Today. - Wednesday.
The postie, who wasn't on strike today, delivered a small package, just the kind you love, especially me as it turned out to be a book from Bri. He had bought me Good Fare, a book of wartime recipes from the Daily Telegraph which is full of tasty, economical dishes. I got excited when I found what I could do with that giant courgette that Molly was so scared of, I don't know why I never thought of it myself . The recipe is called Mock Goose...it turned out to be stuffed marrow (in my case courgette) with sausage meat, breadcrumbs, chopped onion, sage and an egg. Yummy, eh? I'm going to enjoy this book.


A Pilgrimage - Thursday.

Now, this really was a treat! We went on our annual pilgrimage to the Festival of Quilts held at the NEC. Plum was on a quest. She had to find a particular thread to finish her quilt and also needed to pick the brains of the experts as she is looking for a new sewing machine that will not only quilt, but, it seems to me, will also make the tea and decorate the house!! She had to do all this in record time so that we could meet her pen friend, Ann, from Ireland who was also probably on a quest of her own by the look of the bags she had when we met up with her. When we arrived at the halls, it was scary to see so many ladies of all ages, milling at the entrance waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting traders, talk about 'Zulus, thousands of 'em!' When the doors opened we all rushed in, almost bowling over the poor ticket collectors in our haste to see everything and part with our cash. We did two and a half hours without even seeing any of the displayed quilts but Plum was full of information and had found and bought stuff I never knew we couldn't live without! The morning disappeared so fast, I was looking forward to a comfort break, so off we went, met up with Ann and got ourselves stamped, so we could return (for a second round of murder and mayhem as the ladies were getting really serious shoppers by now). I went off to the gents, but, when I opened the door, there were three women in there! I rushed out again and checked that I was in the right one. Yes, I was, so I went back in and asked the ladies why they were in there, to which they replied, ' that it was needs must as the queue for the ladies was so long!' They remained. We had a nice visit with Ann, returned to the fray, and actually managed to see the winning quilt. Until next year - I'm done!!!!

My Prince Has Turned Into a Frog - Friday.

We have turned back into Time Travellers this week. It must be getting towards Autumn as we usually return to this occupation when the nights start to draw in. We are doing quite well in our journey into the past as we have discovered ancestor upon ancestor and gone back in each case to the beginning of the 1830's - so far. We have had one stumbling block all the way through, and that is Bri's great grandfather, Charles. But this week, to my complete amazement, we not only found him, but he turned out to have originated in Paris and was a 'theatrical musical agent', whatever that was!! We now can't wait to find his great, great grandfather and what he was doing in Paris but, at the moment, we are looking for his great granny...has anybody seen her?