tea with hazel: christmas

Saturday, 3 December 2011

when i'm not quilting..

i've been reading a lot of fictional books..or truth be told i am re reading books that i read decades ago..most of them were by chaim potok, a jewish author, whom i admire a lot..but i also re read the 'outsider' by albert camus..it's been an unexpectedly satisfying experience..so much so that i've ordered half a dozen more books from my local library by authors such as tolstoy, satre and isaac beshevis singer..

novels and i didn't like each other much for many many years..i went from being an avid reader devouring a book a day type avidness to having no interest at all..the change in my reading appetite was a consequence of 10 consecutive years of study where my reading became polarised and i developed an unnatural liking for contorted neuronal gymnastics..but we're friends again novels and me..so much so that it seems like we never grew apart..

i've been gardening too..a few weeks ago i pulled out all the past it's best stuff and planted tomatoes,

beetroot,

and climbing beans..

yesterday i harvested my garlic

and i noticed that my three year old passionfruit is flowering and fruiting well

i've also planted celery, cucumber, rocket, lettuce, eggplant, basil and coriander..the feijoa has it's first offspring, the two year old pomegranate looks as if it might just bear fruit this year, the elderberry is smothered with flowers and rhubarb planted in winter is looking just like the one i pulled out thinking it was a green variety..i've since learned from a nursery person that rhubarb takes a few years to pink up..

i haven't been cooking anything of note lately except that i made christmas puddings about a month ago with a friend of mine..we have been making our puddings together for over 30 years and we haven't missed a year in all that time..