That’s more like it – a bit of rain on Thursday. At last. Our waterbutts are full again and the grass is beginning to acquire a somewhat greenish tinge. The temperature has also returned to a more normal range for this time of year. Thank goodness that extended drought and heatwave after heatwave turned out to be merely a figment of our imagination. There’s clearly nothing to this climate change nonsense after all, just a beautiful hot sunny summer like they have in more southerly climes.
We’re back in beautiful downtown Moreton Pinkney again. We came down from Northumbria on Tuesday and have spent every waking minute since concentrating on preparing our numerous entries for the MPGC Annual Show which was yesterday. As I wrote last time, I concentrate on entering categories which either no one else tends to enter (i.e., Sourdough loaf) or those that require no effort on my part (i.e., picking a handful of pears and plums).
The Head Gardener and Chief Chef, on the other hand, seemingly tried to enter every category! Sixteen entries, all together – a combination of garden produce (tomatoes, potatoes, cooking apples, plums, etc.), a selection of flowers and some culinary masterpieces (a quiche, savoury scones, biscuits, a traybake, a focaccia and a cake).
And, the results are in:
I have to concede that I came second in the sourdough category for the first time in many years. Generally, I am the only one to enter but this year there were three entrants and the winning loaf was a deserved first place, much better than mine. I am happy to relinquish the title of Sourdough Supremo to such a deserving winner. I will have to up my game for next year.
In spite of the appalling weather, once again the show was a great success. Perhaps not as many entries this year but enough to show there are some pretty good and determined gardeners.
In other news, school is back in session for those for whom it matters. Jessie is in Year 6, the top year in primary school in the UK and Juju is in the Reception class, the first “proper” year in the UK primary system. Annabelle is starting Year 10 which is the beginning of her GCSE courses and Max, of course, started 3rd grade a few weeks ago. Good luck to you all.
YCNMIU
Nigel Farage, the looney leader of the Reform Party who quit as an MP to force a by-election to try and avoid an investigation into the £5 million donation he failed to declare, is in the news again. He was caught on camera in an undercover sting thanking an individual who funnelled a suitcase full of money from the US to the Reform Party. Two small and trivial problems: political parties in the UK are not allowed to accept donations from foreign entities and this “benefit in kind” was not reported as required.
A group of investigative journalists called Verbatim, founded by the Centre for Climate Reporting, posed as a potential Reform supporter and his wealthy American father, an impermissible donor, who paid for £30,000 of polling commissioned by Reform and which benefited the party.
The polling was not attributed to Reform, and was reported in the Telegraph and the Times without those newspapers knowing that it was commissioned by the party and paid for by the US donor. The benefit in kind was also not reported to the Electoral Commission.
In footage of another meeting, a senior adviser to Farage, Dan Jukes, appeared to suggest to the fake UK-based supporter that his US-based father could make a substantial donation by channelling it through the son.
When the possible structure was explained to Farage, footage of a meeting between him and the fake donors shows him saying: “Thank you both.”
Naturally, the Reform Party did nothing wrong, broke no laws and were the the target of a hoax perpetuated by foreign-funded climate-change activists posing as would-be party donors. You really could not make it up.
We’re away visiting friends this coming week so you might be lucky and enjoy a limited edition next week. Fingers crossed.
And finally, yesterday was the 15th anniversary of the surgery I had to deal with my prostate cancer. That seems an awfully long time ago and, thankfully, it’s easy to forget what a worrying time that was for Penny and me in the weeks and months leading up to the surgery. It’s also easy to forget just how lucky we are. I must try to be better at reminding myself how fortunate I am – not just at the beginning of September each year but all the time. I have a wonderful family, astonishingly gorgeous and brilliant granddaughters not to mention an extraordinarily handsome and equally brilliant grandson, loyal friends and a magnificently wonderful wife. Sometimes I am probably guilty of taking such things for granted!
Meanwhile, keep breathing, keep happy, keep smiling, keep exercising, be good, be careful, and keep safe. And, be gentle to wasps and bees – we need all the pollinators we can get. And, hold your loved ones close.
Lots of love to you all,
Greg