September 2009 Archives
If I were in the country I'd be going to Chutfest 09. It sounds just my cup of tea:
Join us in celebrating preserves, produce and pickling at our massive Chutfest event at Barrington Court in Somerset.
If you pickle or preserve, we invite you to come and swap your jars of loveliness with other visitors at the event from 3-4 October 2009.
Or even if you don't make chutney, you can come to learn how to from our resident chutney experts or buy the best quality local produce at our glorious Food Fair.
And I love the fact they've called the Chutfest Facebook group 'Idle Chut Chat'.
I picked the last of the roof terrace tomatoes last night - we've had a small but tasty crop this year - and made Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Tomato gratin, spotted in the Weekend Guardian.
Tasty tasy, very very tasty.
And we've still some tomatoes left.
... and I'm a leeeettle bit worried that I've done no preparatory hikes/gym sessions, and as a result finding that I get a bit freaked out by comments such as "Yes, my friends did The Circuit last year, and warmed up with a 10 day Mt Blanc trek.....".
Gulp.
Still, kit is piling up nicely on the spare bed. Hazel and I spent most of last Saturday and a chunk of Sunday visiting the outdoor equipment shops of Covent Garden and St Paul's/Spitalfields, eventually admitting our ignorance of the differences between the different Goretex and own brand offerings of the waterproof/windproof jacket variety.
Rather annoyed that SportsDirect failed to deliver on the Mountain Equipment Nanga Parbat Goretex jacket. And it's still showing as apparently available on their website - grrr.
I'm going to buy from Cotswold Outdoors instead, but I'll be purchasing in person as their flashy website is too overwhelming / frustrating.
So, still on the To Purchase list are:
- Goretex jacket
- water purification tablets
- more walking socks
- (prescription permitting) Diamox/Acetazolamide
- (maybe) trek sandals
Update: Struck lucky on my after work Friday foray to the Spitalfields branch of Cotswold Outdoors, leaving with an end of line Berghaus Tasman Paclite Goretex jacket in red, for £75. I think it's a man's, but it fits fine! The really helpful guy there explained the pros and cons between that and a reduced Rab and sorted us out with an Aquamira Aquaventure water purification kit too.
Yes, the Mountain Kingdoms kit bags arrived today, hot on the heels of yesterday's flight information, which included the names of our fellow trekkers.... There will be nine of us in total: 5 x Mr, 1 x Miss, 1 x Dr plus me and Hazel.
You'll think I'm mad, but for me planning is half the fun, and I've spent this evening adding to my trip kitlist and money-to-take/mini itinerary/useful phrases spreadsheet. I also found this on www.nepaltrekkinginfo.com:
Can I charge camera batteries along the trek? Yes, Most of the places, you can charge batteries along the trek (per hour USD 2-3 for charging).
.... so I won't be getting a solar charger. I may buy another spare battery though, just to be on the safe side.
I spent some of Saturday turning some of the apples and damson/plums brought back from Herefordshire into chutney. No pan bottom burning this time, and the results are:
Five (smallish) jars of Plum Chutney (fooddownunder.com recipe):
Six (large) jars of Apple Chutney (Keith Floyd recipe, from www.bbc.co.uk/food):
Once labelled, they'll go into the (crowded) kitchen cupboard to mature for 6 months or so. We're still eating our way through various 2008 vintages:
We had a lazy time last week, not merely recovering from the party/BBQ.
Our main activities consisted of pottering around at the cottage, making chutney (so domesticated) and reading. We went over to Hay on Tuesday with Phil's dad to browse the bookshops, but that was about as active as we got. We managed a few meals with dad and Jean too.
Now back in London, feeling rather like a slightly dazed and confused country bumpkin after the drive back last night.
It's rainy here today, which is good for my chili and tomato plants, but not much else ... it feels like autumn has come early. No Indian summer here.
