I’m not religious, but what a blessed relief. I was a regular church goer in my childhood and into my early teens, I was a chorister and an alter boy, so pretty full-on. I even did my Royal School of Church Music choral singing exam and received a medal with a light blue ribbon that I wore over my surplice. At my first church (Great Bardfield) we wore black full length cassocks below our surplices, but when my family moved to Bedfordshire when I was 13 the cassocks at Northill church were a fetching red. I was grateful that I didn’t have to wear one of those uncomfortable looking choirboy ruffs at either establishment. My church days were behind me by the age of 15 when I was allowed to actually choose whether or not I wanted to go rather than being forced to attend by my mother.
Being in the choir was quite sociable, and at my first church the choirmaster used to take a car full of boys to football matches at Tottenham, which was very exciting. We used to arrive at the ground by about 11.00 for a 3.00pm kick off and queue for the unreserved seats in the Park Lane end. Mr Cartwright used to take flasks of tomato soup for us, and we bought bags of monkey nuts from the street sellers. At my first game at White Hart Lane I saw Jimmy Greaves score against Newcastle – Jimmy was my god at that time, what a player. It broke my heart when he transferred to West Ham. Happy days.
Oh yes, back to the blessed relief. Sorry I got side-tracked. I’m referring to the drop in temperature – both daytime and overnight. Working will be easier, as will sleeping (I hope). It’s still going to be in the mid 20’s, which in any other summer we would regard as being pretty warm, but after the extremes of the past few weeks it will be bliss. More blissful still would be some decent rain, but that doesn’t look like happening any time soon. Sections of the garden have now been abandoned because I just can’t provide enough water to keep everything going. I am now concentrating my efforts on the crops that have the best chance of succeeding. Even though, as a business, I am exempt from the hosepipe ban, I still have a conscience about wasting water, so I am trying to use it wisely.
My family of geese is still visiting regularly, but I am realistic enough to know that it’s the seed that I feed the birds that is attracting them rather than my company. That goes for the gang of pheasants that wait by the entrance to the potting shed like stage door Johnnies to be fed. The goslings are three quarters grown now, but the family group is never apart – you could throw a blanket over the whole group of them. The water level in the ponds and moat is reducing by the day. There is still enough water in them at them moment, but if the drought continues for too much longer it will be a big problem for the wildlife that makes those places it’s home or a location for drinking from. The situation is not yet critical, but could be very soon.
The other real cause for concern are field fires. There have been several around these parts recently, and with the cereal harvest in full swing it only takes a spark from a flint or a piece of farm machinery overheating to have potentially catastrophic consequences. We have a field of barley directly behind our cottage, with the crop literally growing within 4 metres of the building, so it is something that I have a heightened awareness of. Fortunately we do not have a thatched roof.
Last weekend our second brood of House Sparrows fledged from their nest behind one of the barge boards on our roof. It has been a real joy to have the company of the cheerfully noisy characters this summer as they busily go about their business. I wonder if there is still time for a third brood?
Apologies for the missing mushrooms last week, they were late in making it to the distribution hub, so they missed making it on to my pallet. This week they will be back, along with French beans, pointed cabbage, curly kale, carrots, beetroot and the fenland celery that I forgot to add to the shop last week. There should be enough cucumbers and tomatoes to go round, but for some reason both slowed down last week. My Cocozelle courgettes are now cropping well, but only because it is one of the crops that I am giving lots of water to. I have added Charlotte salad potatoes to the shop. There are Crimson Crisp apples, Valencia oranges and Verdelli lemons – these are the green skinned type, so don’t be alarmed, they are not limes.
I need to get back to the garden to do some watering so I will leave it there. Currently I can’t access Birdbrook by the normal route that I use, so I am having to make a detour. Last Wednesday the road closed sign went up, and as there was an Anglian Water worker on duty when I made my way home I stopped to ask him how long the road would be closed for. He informed me that he would have the job completed within the hour, “that’s good news” I said, “but the road will be closed for a week because we have to hand the job over to our partners” he told me. And so it is, and to my knowledge there has been no further work done since he departed the scene on Wednesday evening. It’s just a tiny bit frustrating.
Enjoy the cooler nights, you might need to reemploy your candlewick bedspread for a few days.
Phil