The weather, you will be surprised to know, has been very variable – sunny spells, sudden downpours – April showers and all that. Similarly, my sciatic pain has also been variable this week – peaks and troughs now replaced with good progress & less discomfort followed by a step or two backwards. Still, the overall trend is continuing in the right direction so keep those fingers crossed.
Last Sunday we had a great day! First of all, Nick dropped by with some sourdough starter to replace mine which had been severely ignored during the last few months. Something to look forward to, if I can keep it alive! Then, we had a phone call from Adam and Ava who had just dropped Jessie at a birthday party and fancied dropping in. Great!
When they left we were able to get on with our original plans for the day – Flore, a village up the road a bit, was having an Open Gardens Day in association with the National Garden Scheme. Flore is a village we used to drive through regularly on our way to Northampton. What you see from the main thoroughfare streaming through the edge of the village gives little indication of the charm and quiet seclusion tucked away in the village itself.
The weather was decent – no rain at least – so we set off to have a wander around a number of gardens ranging from an immaculate small cottage garden to a “natural” somewhat random little garden to a smallish garden with far too much crammed in. Quite some differences between them all and a lovely afternoon out. Sadly, the strolling proved to be a bit much for me so we were only able to visit four of the six which were open. Never mind, while we were strolling between gardens two and three we had a phone call from Adam asking if we fancied a barbeque at theirs. What a great idea! And what a lovely afternoon it turned out to be!
Not much else (for me) this week. We did spend most of Friday and Saturday getting ready for another Moreton Pinkney event – this time a Wandering Supper. We enjoyed a similar event in those long ago pre-Covid days so it was nice to be able to resurrect the idea. Different households offer to host a meal – either a main course or a dessert – and other villagers wander around from one course to the next. Last time it was called a “Safari Supper” which Pen reckons is a much nicer title. Wandering Supper sounds like there are a group of idiots wandering around the village.
Penny had offered to host a main course so naturally we had to deep-clean the dining room, kitchen and lounge so that they were at their best for the occasion. We had nine for dinner (including the two of us) and she did an Aubergine Parmigiana for the non-meat eaters and a Lasagne with Chorizo for those who couldn’t bear to be without their meat. And then, when the main course was finished, we all got up and “wandered” to our next destination – dessert with a different group of people! Good fun and great food!
Penny’s Aubergine Parmigiana is outstanding, even for those who “think” they can’t stand aubergine. So outstanding that it merits inclusion in the Moreton Pinkney Picayune recipe vault. You can find it here and via the Recipes tab on the menu bar above.
YCNMIU
Another week, another Tory sex scandal. The Fydle MP, Mark Menzies has allegedly used money from party donors for his personal medical use and phoned his aide in the middle of the night asking for money to rescue him from “bad” people who he had become entangled with through a gay dating site. This is becoming boringly routine now.
Meanwhile, keep happy, keep smiling, keep exercising, be good, be careful, and keep safe. And be gentle to wasps and bees.
Lots of love to you all,
Greg