Gooseberry Fool

I was in something of a dilemma today.  Should it be Delia, tried, tested and totally reliable or Nigel, another favourite and national treasure to boot but with a cholesterol laden alternative?  For I had another harvest of gooseberries and despite my good intentions, a desperate yearning for a good old fashioned gooseberry fool, instead of the Omega 3 rich mackerel with fruity sauce I should crave.  Finally, exquisitely, Nigel won out.  My logic, flawed though it may be, is that if I’m going to sin, then sin BIG-TIME so that’s exactly what  I did.  And it was glorious.

Cool Coos

We had three hours of summer today.  Mr Glis. took the opportunity to do much needed maintenance on my bicycle so I nobly took Molly for a walk to find a couple of geo-caches I’d had on the watch list for a while.  The Ayrshire cattle in the field were in absolutely magnificent condition with the heifers being their usual nosy selves, following us to the stile and then milling around showing off!  The English countryside was at its glorious best; it’s all too easy to forget just how beautiful our landscape is, when we finally break free from greyness

The Archers

Oh Nooooo. 

ANOTHER fire in a barn in The Archers.  And we have Emmurr and Rooooth shrieking for their missing children.  What I’d like to know is "How is the heifer?  Is she now a cow?"

Sadly, the East- Endering of this simple tale of everyday country folk hasn’t gone down well with "us regulars".  Some of us just like to tune in of an evening to hear scandal in the shop and banter in The Bull.  We don’t need unrealistic story lines; I’ve lived and worked in a rural environment all my life and the current sensationalism is pitiful

Tenacity on the Tour

The Tour de France is underway and yesterday, we witnessed one of the first major crashes in the Peloton.  Having  fallen off my own bike on a number of occasions  (cycling to work does have disadvantages when conditions are icy),  doing rather fewer mph than those guys, I can testify how painful it can be.  So I remain in awe of those resilient domestiques, for their perseverance and tenacity isn't even for personal gain, but is all part of the team effort in getting their lead rider to the finish, preferably with a yellow jersey on his back! Bon chance!

The company of good friends

One of the simplest pleasures in life is to share good food in the company of friends.  And last night was no exception.  My little circle of women friends met in the Maryport home of one of our number to celebrate writings and poetry with an American theme, it being the 4^th July an ‘all.  It’s amazing how rich and varied the selections of writing were and how moving they proved to be, especially when our choices universally touched on human rights issues from the Cherokee Trail of Tears through the Freedom Riders of 1961 to modern day social exclusion. 

Be careful of what you wish for..........

I think that it’s a key process in the transition to adulthood to accept that the old adage, “be careful of what you wish for” proves to be true on so many occasions.  So I feel that Nerea is undergoing something of a rite of passage on her holiday to Tenerife for she has texted that she would be dying of boredom on her sun, sea and sand holiday, had she not taken her Kindle.  I have refrained from reminding her that for some years she has been desperate, pleading with us, to go on this sort of “fabulous” holiday

Here comes the sun...or not!

Nerea texted from Tenerife yesterday to say she and the girls had arrived safely and that the weather was hot and sunny.  As I looked out of my office window onto the shining pavements and umbrellas below, I thought to myself, “There’s a surprise”. And so I began thinking about sunshine and moods.  It really is true that when the sun shines, people adopt a different persona.  Gone are the dour, sour looks or the grey faces focussing everywhere but on their fellow men.  Instead are brilliant smiles, open, expansive gestures and warm friendly conversation.  Let’s have some sun, please