Autumn is well settled in over here and we are trying to prepare for what might be a hard winter. My mother always maintained that the more berries ripening in September the harder the winter to come. She justified this by insisting it was nature’s way of feeding the birds. Well, in that case we will have huge, podgy birds waddling around the wood by December as I’ve never seen blackberries growing like bunches of grapes before. We are holding on for a fine day (or at least one when it’s not pouring with rain) to go collect some blackberries for ourselves.
The damsons have been great and are still ripening in droves but they are very high up and the ground in the orchard is too uneven to use a ladder safely. I know the crows have found them – the plum stones scattered around show that – so they won’t go to waste. We have got a long armed fruit picker (thank you Jane for the advice) and may go out and get some more later next week.
Damsons, we have found, are something of a mixed blessing. They are free fruit – we found the tree tucked away on the margins after four years. When cooked they are really rather nice too. But – and it is a big but – they are difficult and very time consuming to prepare. The stones seem spot-welded in the fruit and there seems relatively little left after digging them out. Jacqui did all the hard preparation, adding some of our apples and then I was faced with jam making.
I have made marmalade before. Once, for a Girl Guide badge, and under my mother’s strict supervision. That was over 50 years ago and all I could remember was jam gets very, very hot and needs extremely careful handling. Well, I went to the mother lode of “modern” cookery, a 1968 copy of Marguerite Patten’s “Everyday Cook Book”. It took all day, partly as I didn’t sequence properly and forgot to stew the apples whilst sorting out jars and other bits of equipment but finally we had 5 jars of jam.
Damson jam has a distinctive flavour, reminiscent of autumn and falling leaves. Jacqui christened it “Hedgerow Jam” and promptly set to and made some labels. I must confess to feeling very smug about the jam. It set beautifully, it tastes lovely and I didn’t burn the pan or myself. It is a rather messy occupation but I cleared up before it all set too much. Maybe I should try blackberry and apple next?
These last few weeks I’ve been surprised to find a number of old friends and colleagues have made contact. A nice surprise I should add. I’ve also had a number of new readers for this blog so I thought I should add a little guide to the 131 (!!) episodes if people want to catch up on major events. There is a chronology on the first page, in red on the right. Clicking on any month will bring up the entries for that time. I began in April 2021, initially weekly, and I intended to tell the story of the move for friends so they would know what happened to us. Originally I planned on 6 episodes, then 12…
I never did have much restraint.
Please feel free to browse the “back issues” if you wish. I remember when I began my MA at Teesside the first exercise was to write a piece entitled “Why I want to write”. I have wondered recently why I continue, way past my original plan. Well, it’s almost like a diary for me, recording events large and small, of this whole new life. More than that though it feels like a way to keep in touch with friends and people who are important to me. I like to share some of the events and oddities and I know some readers like the photographs too.
The other reason is it does keep me writing. Since the collapse of my publisher in 2022 I have self-published a stand-alone book, Puppy Brain, with my Irish cousin Jem Coony, but otherwise there is very little incentive to try and continue the crime series. I recently discovered all my books had been put up on pirate sites and were downloaded for free as well as being used to train AI programs. Well, I hope they start developing a Somerset accent – and spelling. There is little defense against this type of theft at present, alas.
I have some copies of my books here however and it anyone would like them I am happy to send them free of charge. I only ask that if you enjoy them you send a donation of your choice to a charity dear to our hearts, Lighthouse in Kenya. This tiny place is sending 3 little girls to school and helping a family group develop and thrive in safety. I will enclose details with the books for anyone to decide privately.
Well, the skies are wonderful here as the weather (by which I mean rain) often clears for a few hours at sunset. Last week I was watching the moon rise over the orchard and saw a strange foreign body on the picture. One reader suggested it might be the Death Star – or perhaps a smudge causing a false reflection on the lens. What do you think?
Thank you for reading.
Keep safe and well in these interesting times and I hope to see you again in a couple of weeks.
Jennie.