Redcurrants

Yumm...made some more redcurrant jelly today.

Allotment I

Up the allotment early today, as there was rain forecast for the afternoon. Seem to have about eight little pumpkins on three plants. I've heard about taking off the excess flowers, once you've got some pumpkins set, as this encourages them to grow bigger, but, I've also heard it suggested that it's better to have lots of little ones, as it's more practical for the kitchen. Still, I'll have to try to grow at least one biggun, for the Halloween lamp ; )





The plums are literally falling off the trees at the moment : I've already had about 3 kgs and there are plenty more. Met my neighbour the other day, on whose plot two of the trees are rooted, who encouraged me to help myself. I gave her some rocket in return. Glad to have permission, as I'd already been taking the ones which are overhanging my shed. Now I reckon I can take a few more, especially as I had a chat with another neighbour today, on the way out, who said it was a pity that so many were going to waste.
Already got some plum brandy on the go and a couple of batches of jam. Going to stew some more today and stick them in the freezer.

The gladioli have lasted well, thanks to all the watering and weeding we've done. At times, the bindweed has threatened to strangle them and during the hot weather, the ground around them was dry and cracked.
I suppose they've helped to attract the bees and other winged insects, which have pollenated the pumpkins nearby.

The word gladioli is related to gladiator and the Latin for sword. Didn't Morrissey dance about with some on Top Of The Pops ?




The runner bean plants which survived the slugs and snails have grown very tall and I've been harvesting for several weeks. I should have put a crossbeam in, to give them more support and stop them growing out of reach ; )
I've been chopping most of them for the freezer, but today I'm having a load of them with butter, potatoes and mint, topped with cranberry jelly.

Teatar Panike

I've recently completed 'Controlling Mastema', a second collaborative project with Canadian poet, Patrick Woodcock. Our first collaboration in 1999, entitled 'Athelia & other stories', came about as a result of meeting whilst both living in Koszalin, Poland.




Four tracks are currently posted at the Teatar Panike MySpace site :
http://www.myspace.com/timbillyjim

Greece

Bristol to London to Athens to Paros : Train to Reading, change train to Woking, lift to Heathrow, flight to Milan, change plane to Athens, coach & walk to Hotel Aristoteles. Metro to Piraeus, ferry to Paros - via 4 hr detour to Nafplio, due to 'a medical emergency', although we never saw the body, or an ambulance...


There was little to eat on the ferry, apart from overpriced crisps and muffins. The five hour trip turned into an eight hour cruise. I knew I'd had enough, when I heard an American ask an Albanian, "So, do you like being free?" It was dark and chilly as we docked at Parakia. The local meltemi wind had come for the night





As we disembarked from the delayed ferry at 1.30 a.m., we were met by an expectant crowd, one of whom, Timos, offered us a room nearby, with a balcony and en-suite bathroom, for 25 Euros a night. It seemed like a good deal and I was in no position - though the mood - to argue. At first, I was suspicious when he took our bags and put them into a minibus. If it was just down the road, why the wheels ? Once I'd dropped my urban British paranoia and we'd been taken down the road to the hotel, I started to relax.


Took a bus to Naoussa in the north, then hitched to Santa Maria, where we'd heard there was a good surfing beach and the possibility of water skiing. Loaded up with bread, cakes and juice from a bakery, then bought tomatoes from a man by his van, as we walked out of town. Much as I hate intruding into peoples' lives with a camera, I had to snap a woman with a barrow full of garlic.
Stopped off at a beach on the way and had a dip and some lunch. Afterwards, the walk to Santa Maria was further than we'd been led to believe, so we started hitching. Before long, we got a lift from a man who told us that a factory by the shore, was a power station, with an undersea cable linked to the rest of The Cyclades. When we got there, beautiful though it was, it wasn't a surfing beach, but a windsurfing beach and we were too early in the season for waterskiing. Amongst a group of half a dozen windsurfers, a labrador dog was enjoying rides out and back, though liked to be lifted back onto the shore to avoid getting wet paws.

Coastguard !

Walking down Watery Lane to the beach at Studland, we were investigating badger sets up on the bank, when the coastguard flew over.

The appearance of the beach has changed over the 35 years I've been visiting. You don't always get such a great view of The Isle Of Wight.