Monday 23 August 2010

Season of Cobnuts. And mellow fruitfulness, of course.

The Sage didn't start the day well.  That is, he didn't end yesterday well, as I discovered at 5.30 when the window kept banging because when he opened it he didn't use the thingy that only Dave knows the name of - the sticky-up thing that keeps it where you want it.  I didn't go to sleep again, which was a pity.

It was all much fun this morning, because there were lots of people here; Dilly came in with Pugsley, Squiffany and the Sage and then Sandra called.  She and Graham are great friends who mostly live in New Zealand now, so it's a pleasure when they visit.  Our oldest hen, who is a pedigree bantam, came to us as a chick, years ago - we can't remember, but it must be 8 or 10 years - she's the one who, earlier in the year, came in the house whenever I left the door open.  She started spending most of her time in the hen house when the weather got hotter and she doesn't get out much now, but the Sage went and fetched her for Sandra to stroke - reluctantly, she likes dogs better than chickens.  We showed her Black Hen's daughter and granddaughter, too.

Quite quiet, after that.  This afternoon, I cycled in to town to buy more food for Tilly.  She's enjoying her expensive Senior Dog food, which is costing about £2 a day, plus her Scooby Snacks, which she eats a couple of packets of each week. However, she's a healthy little dog who hasn't been to the vet in years, so I can't begrudge it.

I saw a friend walking home, so I got off my bike and walked with him.  He's got two young daughters  - 13 and 11 - and he asked if I use Facebook.  I admitted that I've just opened an account, under a false name (oh gosh, I'll probably be drummed out now), but that I've blogged for years.  We talked about security, particularly when you've got young and impetuous daughters - not that he's got anything to worry about, except that he hopes they will take care.  When my children were young, which was pre-internet days, of course, the concerns were more about the time spent on games.  I didn't mind, especially as I liked games myself, but I kept the computer in the living room.  They were welcome to use it, but not to be shut away.  Weeza wasn't allowed a television in her room until she was 16.  Al never wanted one.  Ro, several years on, just bought one.  Times change.  Later, he bought a computer.  However, we don't really heat upstairs in our house, so use in the winter was governed by how long he could cope with the risk of frostbite.

Anyway, back to today - we were just finishing our chat at the end of my drive when a friend stopped to say she'd just been in the church and found that the wonderful flower arrangements put there for last Saturday's wedding had fallen down - the oasis had dried out and they were top-heavy.  She had to go and fetch her new computer, so I said I'd go to start sorting them out.  It started to rain, so Pete came in too, to help.  Poor chap, he was stuck for about 20 minutes until the rain eased off.

He asked what I blog about.  I reminded him that I have no difficulty talking for a long time about very little.

Oh, the other news of the day is that Kent Cobnuts are in season.  Yum.  On the other hand, that means autumn is round the next corner.  Hm.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just wondering if you have ever tried to make a homemade version of Nutella with the cobnuts and chocolate.

Dave said...

I find I don't have the energy to tell you the technical name for the stay equipment again.

I read the other day that autumn will appear to come early to our trees because of the summer drought (in our end of the country anyway - including Kent).

Christopher said...

*whispers to conceal hopeless ignorance*

Are cobnuts the same as hazelnuts?

Rog said...

The avenue of chestnut trees between Thetford and Mundford were already Autumnal last week - normally they don't put on their show till October.

(I'm sure we'd all like to know the name of Dave's sticky-up thing when he can find the energy to tell us)

Z said...

No, that would be rather spectacular, wouldn't it? I expect you'd need some extra oil or some such, so that it wouldn't set hard. I also think that there's too much moisture in the fresh nuts and that they would be better used when dried out a bit and the flavour more concentrated.

It wasn't that I didn't have the energy to look it up, Dave. I was just too lazy.

Cobnuts and filberts are varieties of hazelnut, Chris. Kent Cob is a named variety.

The leaves will turn early, I'm sure, but the cobs are well-grown, so they didn't suffer from drought - sometimes, they look fine but there's a very small nut or none at all. This is the right season for them, it's just it's a sign of the end of summer. Like the blackberries ripening.

*searches for the last time I complained about the Sage leaving the window loose*

It's a casement stay pin, Rog. Unless Dave has other sticky-up things he'd like to tell us about.

sablonneuse said...

Oh. so it's time for hazlenuts to fall off the trees then is it? That's why the lawnmower made strange noises when I cut the grass this week.

Unknown said...

Mellow fruitfullness - then it's nearly time to go and look at the sloes. Thanks for reminding me.

Z said...

Oh Sandy, don't let them go to waste! Our sloes aren't ready yet, but there's an excellent crop.

I, Like The View said...

ah! you were talking all things autumnal a day before me. . .

. . .I do so love cobnuts - used to go on long walks when I was little and we lived in Cheltenham and pick them myself, but now I have to rely on the sparse ten days or so when they are in season in the countryside and somebody kindly sends some to my local Waitrose