Travelling on
They
are here again. You may not have noticed yet but there has been an influx from
abroad as there always is at this time of year. At first, I only glimpse
something that is not quite familiar and then I see clearly it is a Redwing
from Iceland, could it have looked down over the volcano? Or a fieldfare from as
far afield as Russia, could it have looked down over Ukraine? I can see a pair
of Fieldfares now feasting on our windfall apples.
We
saved as many apples as we could to keep in our apple loft. There are Spartan
and Fiesta eaters and of course the Bramley cookers. They will stay fresh until
March next year, but we had others which we ate early as they do not keep. As a
general rule the ones like Discovery which ripen first are the ones which do
not last too long.
And
now we have had our first frost our vegetables have dwindled. Nothing much will
survive in the open ground except the white nutty turnip-like celeriac and the
tapering roots of the parsnips. But inside the polytunnel steadily growing are
carrots, kale and cabbage. We will rely on these in the coming months and come
to think of them as delicious. We did not want them in the summer when there
was so much choice, but now we are not so choosy.
It
seemed as if I was very choosy over when I had my COVID jab but that was
because after I had booked to have the vaccination, I caught Covid. I booked
on-line to go into a clinic in Shrewsbury but then had to change it and booked
the Masonic Hall, but I was still too poorly, so I changed it again and there
were vacancies at a nearby chemist. So yesterday I sat amongst the people
collecting prescriptions in a busy pharmacy waiting for my jab. All went well but
how strange not to be at my GP clinic and not having to apologise for changing
my appointment, the computer does not care.
It was
strange too last week going back to the place in Yorkshire where my parents
used to live. I reserved a table at the Village Fayre to sell the books I have
written. There was the usual tombola and raffle and many stalls. There were jams
and chutneys for sale as well as Christmas decorations and all you would expect
at such an event.
What I
had not expected was the number of people who came by to chat. Amongst these
were relatives and friends who knew me from my past. I had come ‘home’ again.
(Taken from my column in the Shropshire Star)
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