Autumn term
Sep. 7th, 2025 06:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustSummer's over, and the winter veg farmers have replaced their summer stand-ins at the farmers' market. The new year begins: I have turned the page of the calendar, and September is very full of writing. Some good things coming (concerts and visits), and some less good (meetings have resumed).
I rescued my sourdough starter from the freezer and restarted it. It didn't look very lively, but I baked a batch of rolls: the logic was that they needed to be finished earlier than I would have liked, because we were going out to a meeting, and rolls required less time in the oven, so more time for rising. Which they did, very satisfactorily, to my relief. Now I have to get back into the rhythm...
New kit for the new term: not because I want its shiny newness, o the contrary, but because I have finally found time to replace the old-and-no-longer-working. My food processor died just before we went on holiday, and a new one has arrived, a huge box of mysterious components; the "instructions" attempt to display in pictures without words what each one does, and I am mystified. Also, my phone has not exactly died, but the 3G network has been switched off in Durham, so it no longer receives calls. I have finally surrendered, and ordered a smartphone, which is in the post. Exciting times...
At the pub quiz, we have finished the Book of the Moment, A Prayer for Owen Meany (hooray!) and started a new one, Frances Hardinge's Fly-by-Night (hooray! hooray!). I didn't hate Owen Meany, but I didn't love it, and the Book of the Moment reading process (estimate how far you need to read to answer a detailed question, and then remember the details as you read) made it very heavy going. Whereas, as of two weeks in, Frances Hardinge's style continues to offer new delights.
First concert of the (Live To Your Living Room) season was Simpson Cutting and Kerr. I was very excited when this was announced, because I so enjoyed their collaboration on Murmurs, and hoped this meant they had found time to renew their collaboration. Alas, no: it had been pointed out to them that that was ten years ago, and maybe they should mark the anniversary. The result was a fun concert, and it was good to hear them revisit that material: but it lacked both the excitement of discovering new things to work on together, and the solidity of this is our current repertoire and we are totally on top of it. No surprise, then, that what I have taken away from the concert was a rare new venture, sung in support of Scottish musician Dick Gaughan, of Hamish Henderson's Freedom Come All Ye. Lots of information about this song on Mainly Norfolk (including a link to Dick Gaughan's version, music and lyrics here.
I rescued my sourdough starter from the freezer and restarted it. It didn't look very lively, but I baked a batch of rolls: the logic was that they needed to be finished earlier than I would have liked, because we were going out to a meeting, and rolls required less time in the oven, so more time for rising. Which they did, very satisfactorily, to my relief. Now I have to get back into the rhythm...
New kit for the new term: not because I want its shiny newness, o the contrary, but because I have finally found time to replace the old-and-no-longer-working. My food processor died just before we went on holiday, and a new one has arrived, a huge box of mysterious components; the "instructions" attempt to display in pictures without words what each one does, and I am mystified. Also, my phone has not exactly died, but the 3G network has been switched off in Durham, so it no longer receives calls. I have finally surrendered, and ordered a smartphone, which is in the post. Exciting times...
At the pub quiz, we have finished the Book of the Moment, A Prayer for Owen Meany (hooray!) and started a new one, Frances Hardinge's Fly-by-Night (hooray! hooray!). I didn't hate Owen Meany, but I didn't love it, and the Book of the Moment reading process (estimate how far you need to read to answer a detailed question, and then remember the details as you read) made it very heavy going. Whereas, as of two weeks in, Frances Hardinge's style continues to offer new delights.
First concert of the (Live To Your Living Room) season was Simpson Cutting and Kerr. I was very excited when this was announced, because I so enjoyed their collaboration on Murmurs, and hoped this meant they had found time to renew their collaboration. Alas, no: it had been pointed out to them that that was ten years ago, and maybe they should mark the anniversary. The result was a fun concert, and it was good to hear them revisit that material: but it lacked both the excitement of discovering new things to work on together, and the solidity of this is our current repertoire and we are totally on top of it. No surprise, then, that what I have taken away from the concert was a rare new venture, sung in support of Scottish musician Dick Gaughan, of Hamish Henderson's Freedom Come All Ye. Lots of information about this song on Mainly Norfolk (including a link to Dick Gaughan's version, music and lyrics here.
So come all ye at hame wi Freedom,
Never heed whit the hoodies croak for doom
In your hoose a' the bairns o Adam
Can find breid, barley-bree and painted room.
no subject
Date: 2025-09-10 10:19 am (UTC)Glad to heat all is well; look forward to the tl:dr; version when you have tme!