Beetle poetry...

Today I picked my very first home-grown cherry tomato. It is a little on the small size I admit - hardly likely to make first class at the Horticultural Show later this summer, for instance - but it's mine, and I'm proud of it!

I met Alexander Beetle in the back porch this morning. He shot out from the peanut bag as I got it out from behind a low-wooden chest, in order to refill the bird's peanut feeder, and oozled his way quickly under the shoe rack.

Are you acquainted with Alexander Beetle? Let me introduce you....

"I found a little beetle, so that Beetle was his name,

And I called him Alexander and he answered

  just the same.

I put him in a matchbox, and I kept him all the

   day...

And Nanny let my beetle out -

  Yes Nanny let my beetle out - 

    She went and let my beetle out -

      And Beetle ran away.

                  

She said she didn't mean it, and I never said she did,

She said she wanted matches and she just took off

  the lid,

She said that she was sorry, but it's difficult to catch

An excited sort of beetle you've mistaken for a 

  match. 

 

[......]It was Alexander Beetle I'm as certain as can be,

And he had a sort of look as if he thought it must be 

  Me,

And he had a sort of look as if he thought he ought 

  to say:

"I'm very very sorry that I tried to run away."

And Nanny's very sorry for you-know-what-

  she-did,

And she's writing ALEXANDER very blackly on the 

  lid.

So Nan and Me are friends, because it's difficult to

  catch

An excited Alexander you've mistaken for a match."

                                                   From 'Forgiven' by A A Milne

Robin RED-Breast (at last!)

A couple of months ago, at the beginning of May, I watched two newly-fledged baby robins foraging about outside my window. They seemed quite independent, despite their youthful appearance - the most noticeable part of which was a complete lack of any red on the breast. All they had was a rather mottled area in a tawny sort-of colour, showing where the fine red breast would eventually be; and instead of the smooth greyish-brown tailcoat of their parents, their backs were covered in a gently speckled brown.
I had no idea that they were not born with the redness already present, and wondered how long it take for it to appear, and in what manner.

Most conveniently one of them has stayed around, making daily trips to the bird food dish, and generally putting himself on show, so I have been able to observe his gradual ascent to man-hood!
Rather endearingly, it started as a little round red spot right in the middle of his breast. He went around like this for a few weeks, and the red spot gradually extended outwards, getting larger and larger, until at last, just a day or two ago, he appeared proudly resplendent in a full red waistcoat; not yet as sleek as a full adult, and still a bit rough-and-ready looking round the edges, but a fine specimen, nonetheless!

Choral Evensong

Detail from a stained glass window

This year is the 400th anniversary of the Authorized Version of the Bible. One of the translators was the Rector of my parish church, and also Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford University, and later President of Magdalen College, Oxford. As my father is a Fellow at Magdalen, he organised a special Choral Evensong at our church, sung by Magdalen College Choir, to celebrate the occasion. 

We had the service mid-afternoon on the last Sunday in June, and it was a really lovely day. 

The sky was overcast when we woke, but the weather forecast had promised that the cloud cover would burn off by mid-morning, and lo and behold by nine o'clock the sky was a clear blue, and the sun was blazing down. 

The choir rehearsing

Come the afternoon it was turning into the best day of the year so far, and the church was full of people who had turned out to enjoy themselves. Our rector started off with an address about the translation of the Bible, and then the service began. Of course, the choir sang beautifully; they treated us to canticles by Purcell and three movements from Handel’s Messiah.

In the churchyard

My father is a dab hand at making elderflower cordial, and he made a large batch of it to be provided in the churchyard afterwards. Some stalwart women of the congregation provided biscuits and tea, and people stood around afterwards drinking, and chatting, and soaking up the atmosphere.

My parents and I had invited some particular friends back to our house for tea and cakes afterwards. The weather was so gorgeous that we spent the whole afternoon in the garden. No one really wanted to get back into a hot car again, and one family, who had come up from Southampton, stayed till seven o'clock. 

When at last they were all gone, my parents and I continued to sit outside for some time, simply enjoying the gentle, caressing warmth of a summer's evening.

 

Recipe: Chocolate Slab With A Difference!

 Non-gluten, low-sugar, chocolate dessert

 

Utensils

1 round tin, greased (I used a 4 1/2" one, with a removable base)

1 bowl for mixing base together

1 small bowl for melting butter

1 glass bowl and 1 saucepan for melting topping

Ingredients

Base: 

Walnuts

Almonds

Brazil nuts

Pecan nuts

Butter, melted
Freshly grated nutmeg

Topping:

70% dark chocolate (I used Green and Blacks)

Single cream

1tsp blackstrap molasses

Method

Take roughly equal quantities of walnuts, almonds, and brazil nuts, and a smaller amount of pecan nuts, and put them all in a food processor until ground into small pieces (but not powdered). You want enough to cover the base of your tin and be about 1/3 of an inch thick.

Melt butter in the microwave and stir into nuts. The mixture should be fairly moist, so that it will stay together once it's been packed into the tin. Grate some nutmeg over it and stir.

Press the mixture firmly into the tin and put in the freezer.

Put some water in the saucepan and place the glass bowl on top. Break the chocolate in small pieces (I used about two thirds of a 100g packet) and put in the bowl, with a little cream. Melt slowly, stirring the mixture constantly, and adding more cream whenever necessary. When all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is the consistency you want, add the molasses and stir well. 

Now take the base out of the freezer and pour the chocolate mixture on top, spreading it evenly over the base. Put it back in the freezer.

When serving, make sure you take the chocolate slab out of the freezer far enough in advance for it to completely de-frost, but not so far in advance that it melts. I cut my 4 1/2" slab in quarters, to serve four.

Serve with fresh berries and a drizzle of cream if desired. Enjoy!