Fish & Chips

Caught on the August trip to The North, this 4 pounder was delicious. That's all I have to say about that. MORE SUMMER !

Pomme Delight

We've yet to produce any serious ballistics calculations - suffice to say this is a CONSIDERABLE improvement on Spud 1. Projectiles of choice today were apples, very seasonal, home grown, environmentally sound and in plentiful supply. Still using the John Freida hairspray for fuel as it has consistently come top in all our performance tests - reliability is a key issue here. In the Spud 2 the ignition is provided by a Bosch Super4 R6-771 spark plug from the Merc, excited by the good old piezo unit from a gas boiler.
Bore is up to 2.25 inches, the muzzle length 5'6" and the combustion chamber is 3' of 4" land drain c/w fittings. The pic of the two weapons leaning on the back of the truck clearly demonstrates the increase in size. Obviously report is up massively and we've had to cut short trials to avoid trouble in Diploville. We need to find a reliable method of measuring the velocity - at the moment, in a steep launch, the projectile is out of site in a fraction of a second and I reckon we're dropping rounds at about 600yds. We haven't been able to conduct horizontal tests as this afternoon's session was cut short, but I reckon we'll be getting a minimum of 100 yards flat trajectory. I can't emphasise enough how good this is. MORE BANG !

Awesome Rack

A little rummage in the freezer turned up a rack of hogget for supper ! Marvelous - home grown spuds and garlic for accompaniment. This fire was cooking very well on a blend of some Cupressocyparis leylandii, Acer pseudoplatanus and Faxinus excelsior. The Diplo veg patch has been particularly productive this season thanks to a truck load of manure dug in earlier in the year. The purple sprouting, however, liked it a little too much and grew enormous, triffid like, leaves and no sprouting - caterpillars loved it. MORE GREENS !

Turned to Stone

I have long credited the Marilyn picture to Norman Parkinson but I'm not so sure - no doubt somebody will be able to put me right. Anyhow, I photographed this sample piece of column in Ancaster stone made for a client and the resemblance was quite striking and, I thought, worthy of sharing with you. MORE CURVES !

On Any Sunday .........

Sideways, upside down and down right bonkers really. BMF Tail End Show provided this Sunday's entertainment - Short Track racing was furious and action packed as always.
I thought I should include this pic of an upside down 'crosser in case you thought things were a bit normal. This mo-ped endurance racing is possibly the most aggressive form of motor sport, despite the fancy dress this is all taken very seriously and looks a bit rough. It requires a field of about 45 mo-peds with compulsory rider changes, pit stops and crashes. Run on the 440yd speedway track, the race is spiced up with the inclusion of three chicanes made up of tractor tyres. MORE MAYHEM !

Eugene

In honour of Richard Wright (1943 - 2008) I thought I should post a picture of the axe I purchased from Eugene's shop in the Gers. This shopping trip was follwed by a massive lunch of foie gras, casoulet and a conversation with a local woman who informed me that the village war memorial listed 14 direct family members killed in The Great War and a further dozen at "the hands of the Nazis" - as she put it. It seems that this remote, poor and recently annexed part of France proved a rich source of cannon fodder for the French military - leaving it rather empty and bleak nowadays - sad really. Top grub though. MORE CARE !

In Mitigation

Apologies for treading heftily on my colleague's toes - however, in mitigation, I did make these images available to him years ago in the hope that he might have something useful to say. What has prompted this cross-blogging is a need to top up the nostalgia trough. Mention elsewhere of old milk bottles drove me to rummage in the archive for this building - I just know that in the Frigidaire are at least a couple of the little foil capped beauties. Lurking on the shelf above is a piece of boiled ham or pressed tongue on a chipped plate under an up-turned pudding basin. God alone knows what's in the loft - but somewhere is a lovingly maintained Hornby OO layout - in fact as I took this shot I could pick out the distinctive sound of the Hoover Model 750 being put to use in the parlour after emptying the grate from last night's fire.
My spirits are always lifted by the site of any period-perfect property, very rare now, many having been spoilt with later additions or thoughtless fenestration replacements. This particular example comes complete with correctly proportioned and decorated garden shed and greenhouse, accessed via the raised-aggregate concrete path with cast in washing line poles. MORE DETAIL !

LLama Drama

Slightest glimmer of sunlight, the smallest hint of summer and we fire up the barbie. Inaugural firing of the new Diplo cooker required plenty of scrap timber to warm the flue and cure all the important bits. Whilst waiting for the fire to reach optimum cooking performance we need to replenish the larder - fate is kind to the hunter-gatherer in our neck of the woods and a 120 metre lung/heart shot (150 grain soft nosed High-Shock Win 30-30) should suffice here.
A week to cure and a delicate 24 hour marinade, (pinot, rosemary, olive oil,garlic and a liberal dollop of smoked paprika, I fancy) should do the trick. Fried garlic-potatoes, a spicy water cress salad and a heavy Chilean Malbec will be required, llama can be a little chewy. I'm particularly looking forward to fashioning a jalfrezi, rich in saag, out of the neck fillet. MORE PROTEIN !

September In The Rain

Blog seems to be slipping to a monthly publication - best I can do. Officially the wettest summer on record, this truly is getting boring. Fishing in Scotland in August was actually quite fine and when the skies did open, standing up to one's chest in fresh water whilst the top bit is subjected to a battering from the biggest rain drops I've ever seen, didn't seem too bad. Back home and having to venture out to work rather than play, it all gets very boring. I thought I ought to share with you this picture of the series as I ready myself for a damp drive to the office. Record collection so far is about 20 gallons - I really must get on to e-bay for a set of hoops and tarp. The protection illustrated is a retired cover from an '84 Mazda B2000 pick up which bit the dust a while ago, it doesn't do the job very well. As soon the sun comes out I'm going take some more pictures and post an altogether more uplifting article - something along the lines of hedge-found blackberry crumble and clotted cream. MORE FRUIT !