Thursday, 3 July 2025

03-07-25

Morning, everyone.

(photos taken yesterday morning)

Great activity going on with the cucumbers.  I looked at a few videos and have started pinching out as many side shoots (or suckers) as I can, as I do with the tomatoes although it always amazes me how many I miss and how quickly they grow.
One or two are rather too big to cut out so I am training them up a cane instead.

The females now have flowers so I have dug out a soft bristles brush (from my make up drawer!) and am helping the pollination process along, as suggested on one of the videos.  

So far, so good!


There's loads and loads of tomatoes now but not much sign of ripening - yet.  Maybe this hot weather we have had will make a difference in the next few weeks but I believe outdoor tomatoes ripen later than greenhouse ones anyway.  We will see.

I'm picking loads of blueberries at the moment and plan to make a batch of blueberry discard pancakes for the freezer.  There's also a few rogue raspberries but not too many.

The Premium Bonds have come up trumps again; this month I am drawing it down to cover the cost of a new fan as one of my old ones has rather given up and isn't pushing out the air very much.  I've ordered a bladeless one, just a cheap version and nothing like a Dyson, but, if it's good, I might go upmarket a bit.  Do any of you have bladeless fans - are they good?

I've also ordered a baguette baking tray so I can make different loaves.  Sourdough isn't quite the same as a baguette dough but that's OK, it's the shape that's so useful.
One of these days, I might look up the authentic recipe but I believe that involves a specialist flour that's quite expensive.  Does anyone know?

While on the subject, I have a great pot full of discard but have read that it's great for the compost heap so, rather than draining it and risking a blockage, all that lovely yeasty stuff can feed my compost instead - all that I don't need for the blueberry pancakes, of course.

The SEND meeting with J was really helpful and informative.  Plenty to write about, for sure.  Afterwards, I went to Morrisons as Alex would like to use Thermione on Friday to make carrot crepes in a tomato sauce.  It may sound off but they recipe looks great and he should be able to just work through it while I watch.  Anyway, I got what was needed so am now all set up and ready for that.

It's surprising how tiring extreme heat can be.  Monday and Tuesday evenings I was fighting to keep my eyes open beyond eight and was asleep well before nine, sleeping badly and waking often.  Last night I was fine, bed near ten, slept well and feel refreshed this morning.  It almost felt chilly and I have a dressing gown on for the first time in what feels like ages.
It is sunny though, at the moment, and is supposed to be pleasant - sunny, light winds and a high of 24.  It sounds really nice.

Today is another easier day.  I'm doing two sections of SET this morning and Groove in the Garden this afternoon.  Between them, it is homey stuff.  Chris is away so no coffee and chat today.
I've started a smaller sourdoughs in Thermione, just to see if it works that way, and I want to start making yogurt again.  I gave away my yogurt maker but I can use Thermione and a flask - worth a try as I am finding I throw out so much milk that has gone off in this warmer weather.
Finally, I have to write the report of the meeting and send it off for approval.

Have a lovely day, everyone.  Enjoy the cooler weather and stay safe.  xx


8 comments:

  1. Hi Joy, there’s nothing unusual about a sourdough baguette, that’s how they were traditionally made! I make them occasionally — they are a bit trickier/more faff than a standard loaf and it’s important to do the shaping and slashing correctly. You have to eat them the same day too. Not sure about the specialist flour — there’s no such thing as strong flour in France, so I would use white organic flour, or, preferably, stone-milled bise, which is just a little browner without being wholemeal.

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    1. Hi, Veronica. That's really helpful, thanks very much indeed. I would want to freeze them. Yes, I can imagine the shaping would be an issue - I must see if I can find any videos that demo it. I could do half and half, I guess. xx

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  2. Years ago I made baguette but can't for the life of me remember what I used!
    I find the extreme heat exhausting too, and frequent wake ups seem to be part of it, hoping someone comments on the bladeless fans, I'm interested too.
    Your salad production looks super, sounds much too look forward to.
    Alison in Devon x

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    1. No comments but I will say something in the main blog when it arrives and I've tried it out. It was supposed to arrive yesterday but didn't.
      It's bliss having a better night's sleep these past few nights. xx

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  3. Look at all the flowers on those cucumbers and tomatoes.
    Too hot here as well. Today we got up to 35. 7C. I just want to stay in.

    God bless.

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    1. Oh, my gosh. And we think we get it hot. Mind you, if we got heat like that on a regular basis, air con would be top of the list!
      Hoping you were able to stay in and stay cool.
      A lot of the cucumber flowers are males, of course, but there's plenty of females making an appearance too. Exciting! xx

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  4. It doesn't look like you'll run short of tomatoes this year.
    I can't comment on the heat, as we don't have it here :(

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    1. Perish the thought! :-). Fingers crossed blight does not become a thing. xx

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