Blackberrying

Of the fruity variety, not the electronic gadget variety.

I am amazed at how much food justr grows in this country. On the verges, hedgerows, wherever. There are apples, blackberries, apples, blackberries, nettles (yes you can eat them) and then some more blackberries. So being the hunter gatherer forager type I am, I decided I was going to get me some of this free food.

Just have to find them first. Down by bedmond lane, which is a lane that goes under the motorway and we are widening the bridge, there is a public footpath. These public footpaths criss cross the contryside, ambling through farmers fields and along hedgerows, evenunder motorways. This particular footpath, like many in the country I am sure, is particularly well endowed with Blackberry brambles. The blackberry is a sprawling thorny plant, with long canes that reachup and then dangle down, with masses of thorns, and hopefully, big fat juicy blackberries.

So one afternoon after work, I stopped back down by bedmond lane, fossicked around behing the seats in the car and came up with two cleanish plastic bags that formerly contained muffins. I started up the path, and wow, there were shiny little blackberries everywhere. I don't think it is easy for me to convey just how excited I was about this. I mean, they are berries, and I love berries, and they are for FREE, when you can buythem in the shop for 3 quid a small punnet. So I went a little nuts, pick and picking and picking. Indeed, the plants had pretty much taken over the walkway, and it was more like a duck-weave-carefullystepover-be snagged-way. Never mind the scratches, never mid the itches and the tearing of clothes, I was harvesting blackberries!! So with a large bag full, and bleeding profusely and itching profusely, I thought I'd try my luck further up the lane. BINGO, the biggest, bestest blackberries I have seen. All... right... up high.. and far out in the middle of the patch just out of my reach. Damn. So I circled them, waiting, looking for any opening... and again, BINGO! A large square concrete block - we call them Kelly blocks - was there, just a little way into the brambly patch, and I could get to it by climbing ontp the farmers gate and just stepping over. Yay, I was in big fat blackberry heaven. Doubled the haul right in this spot. Also double the number of nettle stings.

Blackberries are clever little sods. They protect themselves in several ways. The first and most obvious is the thorns of the plant itself. Just like rosebushes really. The second is buy providing the ideal habitat for an array of nast, scary, big pointy teethed spiders. I am not really a spider person, so I got creeped out numerous times byt hings I though were spiders, and actually by two spiders as well. THe third way they protect themselves is by cohabiting with nettles. For anyone who doesn't know about nettles... They bite. A plant that actually bites you, and then you get a little lump come up, and its a very itchy lump.

So by now very itchy, and scratchy, I still didn't quite have enough blackberries for my liking. Two kilos just wasn't going to cut it. Back along the road to another little section, but after the mega patch I had just cleaned out, they were measly and miserable in comparison, so I stole just a few more, and headed home. Via the apple tree at Junction 25 - Richards old work. But the apples aren't quite ripe yet.

So..all these blackberries. Richard doesn't eat them, geez, what am I going to do? Ah HAH. Jam time. So I googled how to make Jam, and got me some sugar with added pectin, a lemon, and a couple of big green cooking apples. Chop these, throw them in thepot with the juice of a lemon, a kilo of sugar, and the well washed berries. Boil for ten minutes. Test to see if the jam will set by putting it on a cold plate and pushing it around then licking it off the plate. Yep, its ready!! I cannot believe how easy it is to make jam! Its so simple, I wonder why anyone buys the stuff when they can pick the berries and make it for free....

Into the jars (wash and boiled) and lids on. I now have four big jars of apple and blackberry jam, and its really yummy. That should last me a while!!

Then we went to Norfolk on the Friday, I'll get around to posting that blog soon.

The aftermath of the blackberry jam volcano.

English drivers.

They are the best of Drivers, they are the worst of drivers. On the whole, apart from no one ever indicating, I would have to say people are pretty good, but the worst really do drag the average down. (Actually I am almost certain that BMWs aren't fitted with indicators over here. I've never seen one with them on)

For example, if you are waiting at a T section to pull out onto a busy road, someone will slow down and flash their lights to say, c'mon, you can go now. Usually this is the very last car in the queue and if he just kept on driving, you could have pulled out anyway. But hey, the thought was there. Considerate.
Then when two lanes merge into one? Forget it, no one will let you in. In fact, once you are all merging, people even pull out of the right lane over in to the left lane - or even left of the left lane - and over take on the inside to form THREE lanes of merging traffic when there really should only be two.

Or like the idiot I nearly crashed into today. Its a three lane roundabout. The left two lanes are straight ahead only, and the right lane is right turn only. I am going straight, and am, appropriately, in the middle lane. About to exit the roundabout, and the guy in the left lane next to me decides he wants to turn right, so he does. Right in front of me, without the use of indicators. Beautiful move. I am so used to this kind of rubbish now that I actually remember to hit the horn in time before he drives off, usually by the time I remember to honk in anger they are long gone. Yay for me. I need a louder horn.

Oh thats is barely the start of it. Working on the motorway you do see some funny things. Funny as in oh my god I can't believe he just did that and is still alive. When you are driving in roadworks, they have 'free recovery' so that when you break down, they spot you on the CCTV cameras, and a man in a towtruck comes out and gets you and brings you back to our compound, where you can then arrange for the removal/repair of your vehicle. They also bring back all the crashed cars. I think there are about 8 tow trucks, and they are always busy, and we see loads of good bingles brought into the yard. Last Thursday there were five big heavy haulage trucks all got towed in and parked out along the length of our (very long) driveway. These guys cruise along with the front of the truck two foot behind the back of the one in front of it at 40 or 50 miles per hour.... so when one has to stop suddenly, well, its the old concertina effect. Bumper to rear to bumper to rear.

Thats my rant for now.

Don't even get me started on pedestrians.

around town

Here's a few photos I took on my wanderings today

1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf. London's tallest building.
Moorings near Canary wharf, looking out to the Millenium Dome.

Getting around in Covent Garden

Good ol' Tower Bridge

Twirling flags on tower bridge

I went into town with Trish, tried to take some phots for Home of Poi's photo comp that's on at the moment, and tried to go shopping in Covent Garden.

Shopping over here is not great, in my opinion. Firstly, I don't have the brand recognition that I do at home. I can't go, "oh, i need a top to go out in, I'll go to Live, or Myer, or wherever" Its really hit and miss. And the fashion over here is just a bit silly. Many, many, English girls where the stupidest things, especially things that are totally inappropriate to their body shape (and the time of day). I did end up finding something - a little bit unusual for me - in a little tiny boutique near the markets at Covent Garden. I'll see if I ever wear it.

And shoe shopping. Don't even want to go there, it's abysmal.

Right now I have a pair of hiking boots, the black boots I bought in 1994 with my first paycheck (and still going strong) a pair of crocs, and the flat leather sandals I bought last week. Plus CAT stell capped work boots. That's it. No shoes to go out in. Can't find any.

AAARGH. Maybe Zu do mail order.

Catchup

Well, I've not been on here much. It's all to do with work, and then commuting. It's got knobs on it.

Last weekend I went up to Play festival - an 'object manipulation' festival (read: fire twirling) in Shropshire, about 2/3 of the way up the welsh border with England, and 30 miles into England from the border. It was about a 3 1/2 hour drive from home.
The festival was held on a lovely organic farm, and there was lots of workshops and stuff, a great main show on Saturday night, and got to catch up with some people I have met before, and meet new ones. It was good.

Now its back to work. I am still doing the same stuff: digging ponds, and building access roads to them. Plus we are starting landscaping on the completed bits of the sides of the motorway, so that will keep me busy too.

Richard is back on suicide watch at his new job. Wants to throw himself under a truck. (Note: this is a joke, he wouldn't really do that... I think!) But it's how he feels about his job. He's very very busy, and doing a hell of a lot more than he should be. But that's our Rich.

At the moment we have no real upcoming plans.... We think we should take a weekend away somewhere soon though. Gotta have something to look forward to.

Lord's

Well, last Monday it was my birthday. DOn't worry if you forgot, everyone else did too.

We went to the cricket at Lord's on the Sunday, it was pretty cool. Richard was most excitable.

India V England, 4th day. It ended up being a draw due to the rain, but ti didn't rain when we were there.

No, we didn't JUST go to the cricket for my birthday, we also went out for dinner - just locally to canary wharf - and I got chocolates and body shop stuff, and Richard is getting photos from our trip blown up to frame.

Home

This is a pic from the fron of our apartment complex. In the distance the fancy white building with the dome is the Greenwich observatory. In the middle distance is Richard, and Trish.

Also, here is a pic of all the vegetables I got in my 'suprise' vegetable box I got delivered - its all local, organic. And it doesn't come on plastic trays, inside plastice bags, with cardboard wrappers around it - which is how everything comes in the supermarket. And it lasts more than 2 days - whcih is how long supermarket fruit n veg generally lasts... I mean, they have to send it to three different sorting and packaging factories, that's after it is shipped in from Kenya and Egypt and gawd knows where else, no wonder it doesn't last long!

On a positive note about the supermarkets, I bought guineau fowl breasts the other day!!

Back in ol' blighty

Back in London. After out first week spent in a crazy and very populated house that we picked up off gumtree, we spent a week with a friend, at his place in Leyton. Nice house, it has made us want to buy one... which may be a possibility in the future.

We have a flat now though, we moved into it on the weekend. Its down in the Isle of Dogs (Canary Wharf) which is a fancy redeveloped former docklands area. There is a couple of photos of it below. You will be able to tell which pics are of our flat and which ones are the castle, I think.

We went for a drive on Sunday, as a practice run to see which way Richard has to go to get to work. We took Trish, she's from Townsville and lives in the aforementioned crazy house. Then we kept right on driving in the general direction of Hastings, to Bodiam Castle, which is a proper like castle that was built in 1385. See pics! We also had a BBQ lunch, with one of the very handy disposable BBQs they have over here, 1.69 pounds, and you get a foil tray, with mesh over it, and a bag of heat beads in. You simply drop a match onto the bag (it's paper) which lights the beads, and 20 minutes later the flames go out and you can then cook over the beads for an hour and a half. Brilliant.

Lunch time.

Inside of the castle, from the turrety bit...

Side view of castle. Nice eh.