The weather this year has not been good for the fruit trees in our garden, but one tree that never fails is a crab apple tree I was given a few years back. This batch of fruit is on its way to being crab apple jelly – delicious with hot or cold meats…
One of our favourite places to eat – The Fox at Newport, Shropshire. It’s basically a smart pub, but serves good ‘home-cooked’ food, and has a great atmosphere too. Hard to resist if we are passing by, as we were today! Needless to say it didn’t disappoint…
… while the sun shines. So goes the proverb, and it’s particularly apt this year as the weather has been so uncertain. Farmers round here have had their work cut out to gauge when to harvest crops between the outbreaks of rain.
For once, I’m in today’s photo – a selfie with my dear wife and best friend ❤️. The weather forecast was so-so, but we decided to risk it and had a lovely 12 mile ride around the country lanes. And it didn’t rain… First time on our bikes for a while, so a little sore afterwards!
Unusual to see banners advertising car parking. This was in Stafford, where there are quite a few car parks, but not much in the way of shops to encourage shoppers to visit.
A small celebration called for today, so off for a quick drink and something to eat at our favourite pub in town. This is my beer of choice, the dark and rich ‘Slumbering Monk’. Goes down very well with Steak & Ale Pie!
This building has been the Police Station in Whitchurch for over 150 years, but is now for sale as a result of ‘reorganization’ – a euphemism for cuts in a service that has seen a reduction of over 22,000 officers over the last 10 years… Latest government promises are to reverse these cuts, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
My favourite lunch – carpaccio of beef. We chill it for a couple of hours in the freezer, cut it thinly and then flatten it between sheets of cling film. Then serve with rocket leaves, parmesan cheese and a home made mustard dressing. Tasty!
Well, vegetables actually… The green runner beans have done reasonably well this year, despite the very mixed weather, but are now coming to an end. I planted yellow courgettes for the first time, and after an uncertain start they are coming thick and fast. And as for the onions – they are huge! Most of them are a good 4-5 ins across, so just need to dry them off for storage. Not shown is the final crop of rhubarb – probably about 4lbs this time. Most will get frozen for use later, but I will definitely use some to make rhubarb vodka for Christmas!
It’s been a while since we last did any real running (2012 when we ran a full 10km race). I like to think we could still manage to run a modest distance, so starting the training very slowly – aim is to build up to 5km over the space of a month or so, and see where we go from there. It’s good to get out in a morning!
One Day At A Time... 