Sweeping up the leaves

 In London and New York.

This last one taken by my son just before his return to the UK

with this little girl.

We can't wait.

Light and shade

Glad to have both.

Instaclipse

Portable!
No special glasses needed!

Cloud cover at 8 oktas where you are?

Satisfaction guaranteed!

A trick of the light

The landing light super moon.

50 things

The National Trust has compiled a list of

50 outdoor activities children should try

before they reach 11¾ years.

I asked my son to check the list honestly

and he found 42.

He probably didn't achieved this score 

in the allotted timespan but I was happy with that.

Then I wondered how much of the list I could tick off

and found 38.

Swimming under the Pont du Gard at night

into a cloud of white moths rising from the surface,

is one of my more surprising memories.

Swimming in a Welsh tarn 
was certainly the iciest.

Fire works

Sun set.

Moon rise.

Ceremonial first lighting of wood stove.

I don't think these will last very long.

Panforte

A slightly different take on the predominant fruit and nut theme.

I put dried cranberries in it because I didn't have enough

candied peel, otherwise, it's Sally Clarke's recipe.

'A small slice is all that is necessary of this rich sweetmeat,

heavily studded with nuts and dried fruits

and intensely flavoured with honey and spices.

It is perfect to serve as an alternative to a dessert,

particularly in the colder months,

with espresso coffee or a glass of vin santo

or Madeira...

the pleasure derived from creating this yourself,

as the rich aromas fill your kitchen with images of Renaissance Italy,

will be well worth the time and effort.'

A full moon cake on an eclipsing plate

it suddenly occurs to me.

The Dream of Joseph, 1356 - 67 (fresco)

Bartoli di Fredi

San Gimignano, Italy.

Waning crescent

5% full.

If you've ever wondered whether a crescent moon is old or new,

here is a trick.

The curve of the 'd' for derniere

is last or waning,

the curve of the 'p' for premiere

is first or waxing.

Also as promised:

'At dessert the finger-glass is removed from the dessert-plate, 

placed on the left-hand side, and if a d'oyley is used, 

it is removed and placed underneath the glass.

If ices are served at dessert the finger-glass is placed on the ice-plate. 

It should be removed as before; 

the ice-plates being removed by the servant when finished with, 

leaving the dessert-plate in place.'

I hope that has been helpful.

F2

With depressingly low light levels my eyes 

have been set  permanently to wide aperture

with resultant fuzzy focus.

Today the merest glimmer of sunshine

sharpened me up no end.

This was all it took.

From this

to this.

It still looks more like moonlight though.

Happy Birthday

After a bit of judicious pruning of privet, choisya and pittosporum

 the sun shone in through the 

utility room window directly onto my recipe books for the first time this year.

Birthday supper from Jamie at Home -

Roast Carrot and Avocado salad with orange and lemon dressing.

Good for the jet-lagged.

The moon tonight was a very thin crescent in the Western sky

 with Venus shining vertically above.

And then I remembered this from the dim and distant past.

Perry Como singing 'Catch a Falling Star'.

Curtains

The curtain track fell off the big bay window today.
I thought I'd be able to pop it back up again but I was wrong.