Lots of good things

1. YM's dad had his operation on Tuesday and is doing really well. They think they got everything, which is really good news. YM is flying over early tomorrow and coming home late Sunday. It feels like he's hardly back - which he isn't. Not great for us, obviously, but really hard for him. Still, at least he's going over to a good news situation.
2. We have mushrooms growing in the field (obviously a whole different scale of good things, compared with no 1, but, hey, grab your joy where you can)
3. Just booked our ferry
4. Made some chocolate courgette buns that are absolutely fantastic - from here 101 cookbooks - it's American so it's all in cups - slightly weird - a cup of butter?!? - but really luscious, delicious, chocolatey yumminess. Oh, and she calls them zucchinis (I always feel that should refer to something slightly more exotic).  And slightly magical. Where do the courgettes go? It's not like carrot cake that keeps that slightly bitty texture. 

Went through Rainbow's Special Book of the work she has done this year. I note she is a very enthusiastic user of brackets. Could it be genetic?

Roses

The Rose Family

Robert Frost

The rose is a rose

And was always a rose

But now the theory goes

That the apple's a rose

And the pear is, and so's

The plum I suppose.

The dear only knows 

What will next prove a rose.

You, of course, are a rose

But were always a rose.

Michael Pollan

If you look at the books I have read, you will notice there has been a bit of a Michael Pollan splurge. He writes fantastic books. If you are at all interested in food, farming, growing stuff, eating stuff, big business and the complexities of government you should read them.

I also really enjoyed Wildwood, by Roger Deakin. It's a gentle exploration of the world through different aspects of wood. That sounds really weird, but it's a lovely, lovely book.

So now, thanks to these two guys, I really want to go to the forests of Kazakhstan, where all the apples in the world originated...can you imagine?

Enid Blyton

My friend has been accused of being "Mills and Boon" by an anonymous source. Actually she is quite a lot classier, significantly raunchier and has much better cover  design...

We, on the other hand, have lashings of ginger beer...

vegetables

Red kale and courgette flowers.

The courgettes have exploded

Not literally, of course. But you go away for one weekend at this time of year and come back to courgette madness.

And lettuce and peas and beans and chard and potatoes. We just have to eat many many vegetables. It is our duty.

Went up north for the weekend. I am never driving on the M6 again. Very stressful. Went through Halifax with BT in the back saying "This is like London". We must get out of Devon more often.

Went to an excellent party - like a mini, mini Glastonbury with cocktails - and stayed with my friend Jane, who I haven't had chance to see properly for literally years, and her husband Andy and 2 beautiful daughters and very sweet dog. Rainbow delighted to get the chance to take a dog for a walk.

Very strange to be up where we used to live. It seems such a very long time ago. Drove through Bradford on the way home (M1, M42 - so much better), and I found it hard to believe that I used to work there, and drive there and shop there...I'm a born again bumpkin.

Football fever

Yer Man flew to South Africa at 7pm today. We are all feeling a bit bereft, in our different ways. I have all this time to get on with all those things I feel I can't do when he's around, but I think I might just have an early night.