Backyard Tomatoes

My back garden is tiny but three tomato plants have a warm sunny position by a south facing wall.
Growing these gets really exciting from now on as the yellow flower buds change into green pea sized fruits and swell into green and then red tomatoes to eat.
These plants must be fed and watered .They are of course the most expensive tomatoes you will ever eat by the time you have bought compost, plants,Tomorite and stakes.

But there is nothing like the taste and smell of a tomato still warm from the sun.
It takes me back to my post war child hood. Food was still rationed.
My Dad kept chickens at the bottom of the garden, he swapped eggs with Mr Benton next door for tomatoes from his green house.

It seems amazing now that all food was seasonal. No tomatoes or strawberries until the summer. No cheap imports and no supermarkets.

Ryan Giggs and Celebrity Behaviour

Hardly a day passes without the revelation of shallow deceitful behaviour from  so called celebrities. These cheaters know what they are doing is wrong otherwise they would not employ expensive lawyers to cover up their conduct from the public under the guise of protecting their privacy.

Wives, brothers, friends,colleagues, and especially sons and daughters have all been betrayed,so have the young fans who idolise them.

The selfish marriage wrecking tarts who only want a chunk of the grossly overpaid wages  their morally weak targets get are no better.

Whatever happened to loyalty?
What happened to personal reponsibility?


Sponsors please have the moral courage to cancel your endorsement of these crass individuals.
Do not buy their books.Boo them from the terraces.They are cheating you too.

E.coli and food handling

Sloppy handling of food can create an opportunity for food poisoning bugs to get a grip. Hand to mouth then to food spreads bacteria from the mouth and throat.Infection comes from faeces that get onto  hands after  wiping your backside when visiting the toilet.There is no polite way to put this.

Look around you at the gross habits some people have.

• Eating fast food in the street with unwashed hands 
• Food stores that allow customers to walk around eating food at the same time as they select goods from food containers
• Hotel buffets- just watch those people who drink and eat as they wander round the breakfast buffet
• Servers who eat as they serve food to customers in shops and in cafes
• Supermarket shelves overstacked so that food is not properly chilled.
• WASH YOUR HANDS AFTER VISITING THE TOILET AND BEFORE TOUCHING FOOD
• If you have touched raw meat or chicken wash your hands again and surfaces they have been on like chopping boards.

NHS Care of the Elderly in UK

This damning report mirrors my own experience of the care given to my 92 year old mother in a hospital in Northampton 2 years ago.
A patient in the next bed told me my mother was not getting any food.When I asked the nurse why this was happening the response was that my mother had not filled in any of the menu request forms.My mother had advanced dementia and was no longer able to read or write or feed herself.Visitors were not allowed to help at meal times.
My mother grew progressively weaker while the nurses gossiped and a cocky young doctor checked his emails on the ward computer.
Eventually my mother died weighing 4 1/2 stone on the day they shipped her off to a nursing home.-One less death on the hospital records.

                                                     

Strawberry Scones

Strawberries are everywhere, the warm weather has produced a memorable crop .
This is a very simple recipe.Lovely for English afternoon tea.

8oz  plain flour (240g)( or self raising and omit the baking powder)
3 level teaspoons baking powder
2 oz sugar (60g)
2 teaspoons of castor sugar
pinch salt
milk to mix.
2 oz sultanas if liked

To serve
Thick cream and strawberries

Rub the butter into the flour and mix in the sugar and the salt.Mix to a firm dough with the milk.
Knead for a few minutes on a floured board and roll or pat out to 3/4 inch thick.Cut into round  ( about 8or 9) with a cutter .
Place on a floured baking tray and bake in a hot oven  for 10- 15 minutes until well risen and golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack.

 

When cool slit in half. Put a good dollop of very thick cream on each scone half and top with a strawberry.

Eat as soon as possible

Container Gardening

My garden is very small, only a back yard, but you can grow anything in containers.This is good for Grandmas,not so far to bend down, easy to water and no lawn to mow. Providing the pots are not too big they can be moved around for a change of view.
The last few days while Blogger was down I got more containers filled with

                                                                         Strawberries

Tomatoes

                                          Flowers

There is nothing so good as a fresh tomato still warm from the sun.

                                                                         

Asparagus and Bacon

The market stalls are piled high with fresh asparagus.
A tasty way to serve asparagus allowing 3 spears to 1 thin rasher of streaky bacon or pancetta.
Serve one portion as a starter or more as a main dish or accompaniment to chicken.

1. Trim the woody end of the stalks until the asparagus shoots measure about 5 inches in length.
2. Wash and rise the asparagus with 2 pints of boiling water in a strainer, rinse with cold water.
3. Line a baking tray with non stick foil or parchment paper.
4. Take 3 asparagus spears and wrap them in a slice of the bacon.
5. Repeat until all the spears have been used up.
6. Cook in a hot oven for 15 minutes 200 degrees C
7. Serve on a warm plate with crusty bread to mop up all the delicious juices.

Garden Colours for Summer 2011

Time to start some serious gardening now the warm weather is here.The window boxes outside the smart buildings in London like the Pall Mall clubs seem to have gone for a white, purple and green theme this year.
I keep some variagated ivy, shrubs and mini conifers in my window boxes permanently.Last seasons plants can be removed and with the addition of some new compost and slow release fertiliser, new ones for the summer can be put in.

This year I have added white geraniums and purple surfinia petunias.This looks fresh and elegant against the green background.

Plenty of watering will be needed to help them establish and covering at night if a late frost is forecast.

Life Drawing and Erotic Style

Erotic Line is the title of next weeks life drawing class with Derek Batty in Cambridge UK. This will be using examples of work by Egon Schiele  and August Rodin. Can hardly wait.
It is good to be back with this group after the spring break and thinking about using water colours during the summer.Sketching people on vacation when they are sitting around is good practice.

                                                 Swimming Pool  Excelsior Vittoria , Sorrento, Italy

Fascinators, Top Hats ,Genealogy

Fascinators

Many people have  liked the fascinator hats worn by guests at the Royal Wedding.If you like hats there is a wonderful shop in St James Street , London.They will make you a hat to order. Although this is quite expensive you will have  the  hat of a lifetime.I had one made for my daughter's wedding 10 years ago.If you are visiting London see this shop.
The window  display of this shop is quite small but exquisite- both for ladies and men.
If you are going to a wedding, Royal Ascot (see the Top hats for men) or meeting the Queen this is the shop for you.This is link where you can see them online.
You may  just want to dream like most of us.-- you know what they say
If you want to get ahead get a hat


http://www.lockhatters.co.uk/

The Society of Genealogoists Conference was held in London on Saturday. This society is 100 years old today.Particulary interesting speakers at the conference were Alec Tritin on blogging for family historians and Elsie Churchill on more advanced ways of finding out about your ancestors.
If you have English ancestors this is a good place to search for information, they have copies of parish registers and a library full of interesting information such as trade directories with lists of people and their occupations. I have found several of my ancestors listed along with the trades that they followed or the names of the farms where they lived.