Sunday 30th October 2022 - Bazaar, Fireworks, Recipe and More About Fungi

Well, here we are with just one day left in October. Already there are Christmas products and goods available to purchase in shops and online. I am sure this must be appreciated by those who like to spread the cost and buy a little each week, rather than leaving the outlay until nearer the time. Here in Overstrand, there will be the annual Overstrand Together’s Christmas Bazaar, on 12th November in six venues within the village. The bazaar draws in people from the surrounding area both to sell and buy a range of items. This event has expanded from when we first moved here when there was a village Christmas Fayre held in St. Martins Church. Prior to this, I can remember when we had a pre-Christmas break staying in the village, there were stalls laid out in Harbord Road. Another change is the Parish Council’s annual bonfire and fireworks which we first attended in the field on the corner of Northrepps Road. It is now held on the car park in Pauls Lane with a far more elaborate display and like the Christmas Bazaar it attracts people from a wider area than just the village. Additional details about these events can be found on the Village Calendar page, as well as posters in the village.

I cooked Rena Salaman’s beef with quinces recipe, mentioned in my blog dated 18th October, last Wednesday. Compared to my recipe for pork with quinces, we found it very lacking in flavour and body, so I won’t be cooking that again. I have had thoughts about my recipe and may try this with pears instead of quinces. Conference pears added towards the end of the cooking time should work well. One of the pluses of cooking is experimenting and never being scared to stray from a recipe, to either include or replace different ingredients. There are, of course, some recipes which would be a disaster to stray too far from. I am thinking here of cakes when varying proportions can result in a total disaster.

In my last blog, I said about the different types of fungi we have seen this year. Out for a walk yesterday afternoon, I spotted a wonderful display on a stump, where the footpath from Pauls Lane leads to the church. Back home, I saw a fresh outcrop in our garden which I rather suspect is honey fungus growing on the stump of a tree which died some years ago. Honey fungus spreads underground and can attack the roots of woody plants and perennials. Either side are a camelia and a myrtle so as much as I am going to hate doing this, I need to play on the safe side and pull the mass up.

The clocks changed last night but we didn’t take advantage of an extra hour in bed this morning, instead we got up and took a walk along the promenade. There have been beautiful sunrises over the past few days, and today was no exception. I have included a photo of Friday’s sunrise which came out surprisingly well considering I had left my camera at home and had to use my phone.