Richard's Blog

Apples!

I spent nearly 2 hours picking these and there's still a whole other tree full >_<

These are, be it on the small side, first year cascade hops from a plant I found on ebay. They are a little late, hence the size, so I picked a few of the bigger cones and they smell great. I'm hoping they grow a little before the first big frost. At least I know next year it will be a reliable producer.

Cut down hops

On the weekend I cut my main hop plants down in the heavy rain. The garden looks sad and empty.

Marrows and over grown courgettes

I collected all the marrows and forgotten courgettes that were spared death by the slugs. They leave the skin and eat around the seeds of the inside flesh. Which leaves hollowed out rotten smelling shells filled with seeds and slugs. Gross huh?

Disadvantages to allotments; bureaucracy and lack of practical sense

Despite attempts at having a gate installed (we would pay for), which falls on deaf ears, the council have started fencing around my plot, cutting us off from the house, and for some odd reason the shed too. It just reminds me there are disadvantages to renting land under allotment laws, try all you like the council will do what it likes, which is too make a mess and throw money away.

What I read this September

The Idiot by Dostoevsky. Imagine a grown man as innocent as Christ in a material-greed obsessed society, and then make him wealthy and fall in love for reasons he cannot understand, and you have, in a simplistic way, the premise of The Idiot. At times it's about someone finally enjoying life, while at other times it's like witnessing a saint falling from everything. This is my third Dostoevsky title, I think I'll move to Notes from the Underground one grey day.

A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway. The only other Hemingway I've read is For Whom the Bell Tolls -a Spanish Civil War story, this however was more enjoyable and set during the World War. The plot is straightforward, but not predictable. The war scenes are chaotic and you even start to believe, as do the characters, the war is endless. The love plot and drinking is very Hemingway, beautifully written and cuts all the crap.