Thursday 11th July 2024 - Carry On Baking, Not Impressed and Quids In

Since baking the cherry cupcakes I’ve cooked a chocolate and orange marble cake which was filled with good quality marmalade, a lemon drizzle cake and just out of the oven, a light fruit cake, with a sugary and flaked almond topping.  I wasn’t sure whether to make the fruit cake today or, a preserved ginger cake or madeleines (the type covered with jam and desiccated coconut and topped with a glace cherry).  With some dried fruit that needed using, the fruit cake ‘won’, the other two will have to wait for another day.  The larger cakes have been big enough to cut into twelve portions, which would mean us eating the same cake in the afternoons for six consecutive days.  What I’ve been doing, is cutting the cakes in half, one half to eat and the other for the freezer.  This will mean when summer finally arrives, (I live in hope) and it’s too hot to have the oven on, I can retrieve a cake from the depths of the freezer, to eat while sat outside with a cuppa, in a shady area of our garden.  I suppose there’s no harm in dreaming there is a chance of this happening this year!

Scabious 

A change at NNDC.  I used to have two contacts at the Council offices who I could email regarding overflowing and unemptied bins and similar related refuse problems in the village.  Now, I have to fill in a form on NNDC’s website and submit this, which I’ve done for the two dog mess bins with missing lids.  I am surprised the guys who empty the bins haven’t reported this, especially with all the rain we’ve had, which must have collected inside them.  I submitted the form on Monday (8th July) and received a standard generated confirmation email, one which you can’t reply to, informing me ‘we will generally clear it within two working days of a report unless further enquiries are involved’.  I wasn’t asking for clearance but a repair or renewal and since then I haven’t heard a thing - no updates - nothing.   Looks as though I will have to go through all the rigmarole of submitting a second report. It was so much easier when I sent an email to my contacts who always actioned or updated me within twenty-four hours.  I’m not impressed with the new arrangement. 

Wild Carrot

We have cancelled our phone landline.  We rarely use this and in general, only receive incoming calls on the landline, from the likes of the dentist, reminding us of appointments etc. However, there are quite a few people who have our phone number, meaning we’ve had to inform them in future they should use our mobile numbers.  We decided to cancel, not only because the line is rarely used but because of everything going digitalised.  I don’t profess to comprehend this and what is involved.  Peter understands the implications and today contacted, our current provider whose representative was helpful and competent.  They even managed to reduce the overall monthly cost for broadband and our mobiles and of course there is no further charge for the landline.  As they say, ‘we’re quids in’!

I have three photos today, interspersed in this blog.  The first is a scabious, the second a wild carrot, both flowering on the cliffs and the third, rose bay willow herb whose flowers are just opening and are standing very high this year.

Rose Bay Willow Herb