Douze Points

A few days before Christmas, R and I pottered into town to run a few errands. There was a Christmas market of sorts happening and, as we wandered along, I paused momentarily to look at some mushroom growing kits. I had never seen a Lion's Mane Fungus before and it was quite spectacular. Carrying on, R asked me if I would like to try growing mushrooms. I replied with a definite 'No!' - we are in the process of doing our kitchen (it will take us a while, DIY always does!) and the last thing I needed was some actively growing fungus adding to the disorder. Besides, I'm never that keen on exotic mushrooms; give me a chestnut or Portobello mushroom from the supermarket and I'm more than happy, the rest always seem to disappoint. 

Imagine my bemusement then, when, on Christmas Day, I opened up an exciting looking parcel to reveal a mushroom growing kit! It's basically a box of straw with a voucher that you put in online to receive your spores. I waited until a few weeks ago, in order to let the temperature rise a bit and then sent off my code. 

The setting up process was decidedly messy and I may have been heard to mutter something about husbands never listening as I was up to my armpit in wet straw and mushroom spores, thoroughly mixing the two. It then sat in a warm cupboard for a month, before it was left out on the kitchen worktop to await the shrooms. Morning and evening it received a misting - even my houseplants don't receive that amount of pampering and I like them!

Finally, they emerged. Slimy and disgusting looking initially, before beginning to resemble something more like a mushroom. From that point on, the growth was quite remarkable and I expected to come down one morning to discover that a 'rascally' fungus had taken over my house. When the caps flattened out, they were ready to harvest. So far, I have made ramen, and mushroom pate. The verdict? Lacking in flavour and very chewy. I still plan to stick to my chestnut mushrooms, but I'm supposed to get another 3 harvests out of this bag first! I keep telling myself that it's good to try these things!

Other events this month include a few trips to National Trust properties, a few nights out and a bit of crafting. Here goes:

We popped along to the annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at our local arts' hub. We've been for a few years now but found this year's to be disappointing. The judges seemed to have chosen the winners according to whether or not they pushed some popular narrative - climate change etc. The People's Vote ones were a much better selection. Looking through the comments in the visitors' book provided, we weren't the only ones to think so. Best of all, were the photos taken by our local photography group, which weren't part of the actual exhibition, they just lined the corridor walls outside. Hopefully, the judges will take note of the comments for next year and choose actually good photos, with no message to push, and preferably not ones taken by drone.

An excellent night out at our local theatre. I thoroughly enjoyed this; it was one where the cast not only act well but also play several musical instruments each to enliven the play. Such a talented lot.

Foraging for wild garlic:

A trip out to Basildon Park, a Bath stone mansion with beautiful grounds in Lower Basildon:

It had a very nice kitchen (love me a NT kitchen!) and beautiful walks around the grounds. The bluebells were out in the woods.

An evening out to see Andy Parsons. Like a lot of the comedians that we have been to see, it was quite a nice evening out, but not particularly memorable:

It was with not much hope, therefore, that we set off to see American comedian Rich Hall. What can I say, he was absolutely brilliant! The first half was pure comedy and we laughed more than we have at all the other shows put together.  After the interval he played some country music, which on its own was surprisingly good. What put it on another level though, was that he chatted to some members of the audience and managed to incorporate the information given into improvised songs. Who can improvise a song about a 'business analyst'?! It was incredibly impressive. He finished with a song about his dog and a vinyl chop, complete with dog impressions. If he comes to a theatre near you do try and go, he doesn't disappoint.

Meeting my friend, C, at Croome Court in Worcestershire; an 18th century mansion, complete with Capability Brown designed parkland. There is a walled garden too, but sadly that only opens at the weekend.

Finally finishing my Christmas cast on socks in a Crazy Zauerball yarn in the colourway 'Gartenparty':

A trip to Bath to meet my friend, S. We caught up over coffee in a brilliant vegan cafe called Cascara (there was a choice of vegan GF cakes!!!), before doing a tour of the Bath Assembly Rooms (very nice chandeliers!) and then on to lunch at the Sri-Lankan 'Coconut Tree' restaurant:

Completing 2 charity shop jigsaw puzzles - R particularly enjoyed these, owing to the presence of classic cars!

Attending a Raku workshop - great fun, if a little scary. I stank of smoke for the rest of the day!

Getting up at 5am to enjoy National Dawn Chorus Day:

A final trip to another NT property - The Vyne in Sherborne St. John, a 17th century Tudor house set in parkland. We saw The Lord Chamberlain's Men perform Romeo and Juliet here last year and wanted to return and look round the house. It didn't disappoint.

The Oak Gallery was especially impressive with beautiful carvings and panelling:

Gorgeous tiles in the chapel:

I loved the larder!

The walled garden was beautiful, as were the trails through the woods, which we plan on making a return visit to explore more thoroughly:

One final thing, did anyone else watch the Eurovision Song Contest last weekend? It's not usually my cup of tea, but I was interested to see how things panned out after the furore among certain groups about Israel's participation this year. 

Several things struck me - firstly, I can recall watching it as a child and it used to be a nice, family show. This year's acts included behaviour that I would probably be uncomfortable watching with my children now ..... and they're adults! I was shocked, I tell you, shocked! :O)

What upset me though, was the behaviour towards the brave 20 year old Israeli girl, Eden Golan, who was booed throughout her act - apparently, they had tried to muffle it for the television. This followed on from a week of protests about her inclusion, where she was practically confined to her room for fears about her safety.

Now here's what I don't understand - I thought that Eurovision had a large gay following. Did the people protesting, holding their 'Queers for Palestine' banners, not stop to think that Israel is a safe haven for gays, in a region where they would otherwise, at best, be thrown in jail and, potentially, thrown off the nearest building?

In addition, did they not stop to consider that attacking Jews at a music festival is what started this horrific war in the first place? Shame on them all. I'm glad that the authorities refused to bow down to the pressure to stop her performance, and I'm glad that Eden did so well. It made me very proud of the UK, that the public voted to give Israel the maximum 'douze points'. I just wish that she had won - maybe with a bit more support from the actual judges, she may have done. Maybe they thought it would have been too controversial a result. 

On that note (probably as off-key to some as the UK's entry), that's all for this month. I hope things are hunky-dory at your end.

Toodle pip for now. x

Am Yisrael Chai.