95. Flaming June

As I said last time, the days are just packed. After the long hot month of May we are now having a long cold wet month of June in Somerset. Last time, on 31st May, I left you with two questions: what was the caterpillar and had I succeeded in scaring off The Bird? Well, one of my friends and followers knew the answer to the first question: a Mullein Moth caterpillar. If I see the adult around I’ll take a photo for you. If you can’t curb your impatience then go onto the internet or look in a book. Second answer: YES. It’s not been back. Now am I brave enough to remove the tea towel? Maybe soon.

The day after my last post was Monday 1st June, the first day of freedom allowed by The Government. The excitement continued with us having a barbecue for friends (just in case freedom was curtailed quickly). JD is famous for “Dawson BBQs” so we’ve all been waiting for this. No more than six of us and socially distanced, as you can see from the chairs above. Lucky we don’t live in Wales where you can only travel five miles, I don’t think we’d be going anywhere. The excitement was too much for some participants, or maybe it was the heat, a distant memory only a week later. Now you know why Polly features in the header, fairness to all.

Meanwhile, our garden furniture was beginning to look rather dicey, such that you felt you might provide a comedy moment when it fell apart as you sat down. JD ordered new stuff. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Madeira but in Funchal the streets are very steep and there’s (supposedly) a traditional way of getting around with your shopping. Now it’s a tourist attraction which we tried many years ago (2006 according to my photos).

These “settees” travel at no more than 5 mph we were told. Well, it felt more like 500 mph. When they arrived at a road junction, they did not slow down or even look for traffic (possibly they listened?) but just kept barrelling along. There were no brakes to speak of (the driver’s boots). Come normal times, you may be able to try the same experience at our place, if this structure is any indication of the plans for the old benches. We’re either going for a Theme Park or the Turner prize (or more likely the Turnip prize from Wedmore). https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-50575338

The other thing we had to order was a new toilet as one was cracked and leaking. This arrived on yet another pallet, which was also non-returnable (just like the two in the picture above). At least this website gave us alternative uses for old pallets https://www.victorianplumbing.co.uk/bathroom-ideas-and-inspiration/easy-ways-to-dispose-of-your-wooden-pallet. I dread to think what I’ll be posting in a few months, once the current projects end. It’s obviously a whole new world for me to discover. https://www.simpsonsmalt.co.uk/blog/inaugural-simpsons-malt-pallet-upcycling-champion-crowned/

I braved the outside world once more and noticed a new hairstyle: the Badger Stripe cut. I was unable to take a shot as I was driving but imagine a badger, with a white stripe in the middle of its black head and voila! Very of the times. There but for the grace of my hairdresser go I.

Last weekend we tried a cocktail but I didn’t photo it as, although tasty, it looked like a caramel milkshake. It has been suggested that we do blind tasting of mocktails versus cocktails, I think it would be possible to tell the difference between the milkshake and this. It’s called Samba Sunset and the secret ingredient was Cachaca (the third c should have a cedilla underneath but I’m not able to work that out here). This is a Brazilian “rum” (made from fresh sugarcane, whereas many rums are made from molasses created by sugar fermentation) and is pronounced Ka-sha-sa. There are reportedly more than four thousand brands in Brazil and it is the world’s third most-popular spirit. The classic cocktail you might know is Caipirinha (“country girl”), pronounced Kai-pur-een-ya. To find out more go to https://www.eater.com/drinks/2015/12/11/9891376/what-is-cachaca There’s very little left in the bottle, not because we drank a lot but we’ve had it a while. I need to get some more for a very special cocktail we will be having in August. We also tried a gin I’d seen, I’m not sure it’s to my taste but it did taste just like promised on the label.

Finally, back to Clipper. The race is not yet re-started but we do have an update from Jeronimo, now on his own in Subic Bay: https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/news/article/a-message-from-jeronimo-santos-gonzalez-in-subic-bay.

Today I’ve not got a photo of the lambs, now almost indistinguishable from the bigger sheep, nor of my tomato plants, which have shot up. Instead, this is today’s crop, collected this morning and eaten tonight!