Paloma

Paloma, our new car, is gaining admiring looks. People, friends & acquaintances are beginning to realise that she belongs to us.They all stop to express their appreciation of her.

It’s strange but it does make a difference that she is essentially leased rather than owned. We’re very aware of the need not to so much as scratch her. Before when we’ve had a new, or usually a newer, car, there’s been the odd bump or scratch initially as we’ve adjusted to the new dimensions. They’ve never been so severe as to require garage attention, just sufficient to make us aware of them. This time we’re tending to park far from walls etc., so far that there’s room to walk all round the car, but we’re nervous we might just bump that little bit. The Fox tells me, we’ll get over it when we’ve got over the novelty of having a brand new car, but I’m not so sure. Ultimately she’s someone else’s car on temporary loan to us & I feel an even greater responsibility therefore to keep her in perfect condition, or at least as good a condition as I can.

Meanwhile we continue to wade our through the accompanying manual - it's several inches thick. She seems to have so many little tricks, so different from our old car, aged 16 years. Technology has certainly changed!

A bit of a change

The celeriac is plopping away. We’re having creamed celeriac by way of veg to go with today’s Turkey Quiche. 

It’s not often I cook with celeriac. It’s one of those veg I tend to forget about. However, last week I bought a root to put some in a Shepherd’s Pie. There’s a lot left. 

Yesterday the Fox cooked a Tuscan Chicken & at the last moment we remembered the half of aubergine so he added it along with the tomatoes. In the process I also came across the celeriac & thought, puréed, it would be rather nice with the dryness of the pastry of today’s quiche, hence the plopping away now.

I rather like the gentle celeriness of celeriac. I find cooked celery a bit much, a bit overwhelming, but the gentler taste of celeriac is enjoyable, especially when it is tempered with milk or cream & a bit of butter. I’m really rather looking forward to it. It’ll will make quite a change.

Home

In a quiet moment, waiting for the Fox to rejoin me - he was doing the washing-up – I switched over to Autumnwatch on BBC2 at 8pm. I hadn’t particularly bothered to find out where the programme came from.

I was stunned by the scenery, the light on the reed banks & water. It looked strangely familiar. Then I realised this year it was from Leighton Moss, an RSPB sanctuary near here. Our first home after our marriage nearly 40 years ago was on the edge of the sanctuary.

 Memories of those early years came flooding back. Suddenly I saw once more the heron we found just outside our front door. We hastily closed the door before that spear of a beak came our way. I saw the owl sitting on the fence-post on Warton Crag, the swift that we lifted from the ground to put in our ivy clad chimney, safe from the local farm cats & other preying creatures, while it recovered from shock. There was the frog that hopped in through the back door. I saw the exotic looking spoonbill we saw on the reserve. I heard once more the bitterns booming. We loved it there & were sad to have to make the move when our tenancy ran out & the cottage was once more needed for an agricultural worker.

These days - & this too has been striking me this week – I’m glad we’ve moved more into town. It’s reassuring to know all our basic needs could be covered by  the shops around the corner, the post office & general store, takeaway or the garage with its small Spar shop, if anything happened to us. The surgery, chemist, library, a butcher & baker, fish shop, supermarket, pub which serves meals are all within easy distance on my electric scooter. We have good neighbours who would help if we need it. Where we live, with our large garden, we still feel semi-rural in its peacefulness. It only takes a few minutes to get to the sea & Morecambe Bay, & it’s not that much further inland to farmland. No, we wouldn’t go back to Leighton Moss, nor Arnside, our other home of over 20 years.  This is a good place to be as we grow older & more rickety.