What the?

First of all, the loquat jam turned out surprisingly well.

But what I really wanted to keep for posterity;
The dog has just been clipped for summer, and now it has turned cool and wet. So I looked for some dog coat ideas under the general heading 'Pets'. This is one of the garments I found. What a pity we went out of the chook business!

Loquat Recipes

I was just given free range on a splendid loquat tree - one of my favourite fruits. I've got more than I can eat fresh so I'm going to try some jam and chutney. I found these Jackie French recipes - they look like a good start

Loquat jam
This is most excellent
1 kg loquats, seeds removed but not peeled
200 ml water
finely grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
1 kg sugar
Simmer fruit in water till soft. mash well or put it through the blender. add juice and rind and sugar; boil rapidly till a little sets on a cold saucer. Bottle and seal.

Loquat chutney
2 kg peeled and seeded loquats
6 cloves garlic, chopped
350 gms sugar
300ml white wine vinegar
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1 small chilli, chopped
2 teaspoons allspice
Simmer till thick; stir well and often. Bottle in sterilised containers. Good with curry, or Christmas ham, or turkey instead of cranberry jelly, or place a splodge in mushrooms and bake till soft. Also very very good mixed with an equal amount of natural yoghurt- use to marinate chicken before barbequing.

Chloe and Pete's Wedding - - entre

Just a few pictures put up in a rush. There is a bigger post, but it is not co operating.

Chloe and Pete's Wedding

This selection of photos is quite random, as is the quality, and and if you were paying the photographer you'd probably demand your money back. I know it is possible to do fancy stuff like slide shows in this progam, but, alas, the fancy stuff didn't work for me this time. So I have just uploaded them every which way. The cool bit is that if you click on a small picture you will get to look at a big version.

The day was beautiful, as was the bride. The bridesmaids were almost as lovely as the bride, and the groom and the men of the bridal party gave a suave accent to the occasion. The parents, grand parents, aunties and uncles, and anyone else who could claim any credit, looked pleased and proud.

Extremism

Some folk like to take their hobbies to extremes. I would hate to lose the link to the wonderful Extreme Shepherding clip.

Here are a couple of hand knitting extremists. Bulky or fine ? Do you have cupboards full of wool to use up? Or do you need an economical hobby, high in interest, low on materials and space?

Sacred Harp favourites

This a a list of some of the Sacred Harp songs we sing in Brunswick. I'm sure I've missed a few favourites but I can add more if I think of them later.

45 New Britain
457 Wayfaring Stranger
335 Return again
117 Babylon is fallen
124 Lover of the Lord
454 The Bitter Land
155 Northfield
312 Restoration
277 Antioch
178 Africa
40 Lenox
159 Wondrous Love
299 New Jerusalem
268 David's Lamentation
300 Calvary
47 Idumea
340 Odem

Brunswick Sacred Harp has quite a YouTube presence. There is a radio program, and quite a few examples of singing, like this one
Youtube being what it is you should be able see other Brunswick Sacred Harp clips listed, but if not, search Brunswick Sacred Harp if you want to see more.
I've just noticed a rather refined version of Africa . in costume no less! Very sweet and tuneful.