Frizz

I've been rebelling against internet overload (like having watched too much bad TV) and giving my wrist a break (which has worked) hence the lack of posts, call it an [unintentional] summer break.

Well the heat is back and I have been thinking about past summers. The first really hot summer I remember was in '76 - I remember that summer as vivid browns and oranges in wonderful saturated cine colour. I have memories of being in the garden playing with all the family enjoying the sun. I had my first experience of sunburn that year, coming in from the garden and asking my mother why my skin was all red and having cream rubbed into my shoulders. The fact that it was so hot seemed like something special that was new to everyone. One of the ways of judging how hot it was was whether or not I could walk on the patio without shoes and discovering that the heat would grow in intensity and realizing that my feet could only cope with so much, but I would still try and hold the course, even if it meant breaking into a sprint and there was always the relief and comfort of hitting the cool grass.

Saturday Sandy and I ventured into deepest darkest Surrey in search of redcurrants, which we found at a local farm. For T's birthday, Big R wanted to make a Redcurrant and Raspberry Tart – her version of Ribiselkuchen*.

1/2 lb Redcurrants
1/2 lb Raspberries
8oz Flour
5.5oz Butter
2 Eggs plus two extra egg whites
8 oz Sugar
A little lemon peel

Make the pastry using the flour, butter, egg yolks and two tablespoons of the sugar, plus the lemon peel. Leave in a cool place for at least half an hour.
Destalk the redcurrants.
Boil two tablespoons of sugar in about half a gill of water. Add the fruit. Boil for a few moments only. Lift the fruit out with a perforated spoon. Let it cool. Carry on boiling the syrup to reduce and thicken it.
Roll out the pastry very thinly. Bake it blind, on a baking sheet to a very light golden colour. Leave to cool. Brush with the thick syrup. Arrange the fruit on top.
Whisk the egg whites until they stand in peaks. Fold in the remaining sugar. Spread over the fruit at once. Return to a moderate oven, the meringue should dry out, but not bake. Cut and eat hot or cold. Enjoy!

*It's a variation of a recipe in Rosl Philpot's Viennese Cookery (1965).

I've been a bit low as I've got a problem with my wrist and it's getting me down. I can't really use my hand without it hurting. I went to the doctor about a month ago and have been waiting for a referral - but as of today, nothing. I'm now thinking I should just go to A & E and today wrote to my doctor asking "should I just go to A & E?" It's scary how one small part of your body that hurts can completely change what you do - so I've not been able to do yoga or cycle, using my computer now makes it hurt, even holding a book to read is uncomfortable - in this heat, I feel like a beached whale.

This evening a walk in the park, you'd think would be relaxing, but the police were out telling people off for cycling in the wrong places, which makes me mad (its a park for f**ck sake), there was an incident with an over boisterous Alsatian, three boys discussing Jews, Germany and the Holocaust (I'm not kidding), Sandy leading me through a pathway guarded by spiders - I got through two webs, then freaked turned around and ran back the way we came. Then she did her "I'm going to just go by the road and pretend to cross it" and then looked all hurt when I shouted at her... On the other-hand the park is still green and I caught a view that was stunning, England's green and pleasant land, Sandy had a dip or two in the lake and a gallop or two, then there were rabbits running, young swans swimming, horses trotting and friendly people out for their evening stroll.

Well how did you do? I left some chocolate out and it melted, it was rather yummy. Around here it was about 36C with a hot breeze. I didn't get much done; it's like being in the Mediterranean with the wrong architecture.

So I just bought these online as they're all sold out in the shops. I'm curious as to what the colour is really going to look like, as long as they don't look too much like gardening shoes, I'll be happy.

I'm not sure I can cope with the weather* - we are hotter than Bermuda and Rio and tomorrow it's going to be even hotter (35C or higher). Mostly I've been hiding out at home, catching up on work, but now I'm all caught up I need to go out and about - and it's just SO hot. I'm only grateful that I don't have to use the tube (up to 47C) - I think I can put that off for a little while longer.

*Don't get me wrong I love hot weather, on holiday though, not at home in England where we just aren't prepared for it.

I've been reading Petite Anglaise, one of the blogs I discovered at the beginning of the year on my blog crawl. So I was watching the news today and there was Petite herself having been dooced* for blogging.

*The author of Dooce was fired in 2002 for blogging about her work.

I'm in shock - there are four women on Late Review with a token man.

Can I just say that I am completely loving Quicksilver and I know I'm only half getting it.

I tried on a pair of Crocs today. I have an on going love affair with eccentric shoes and over the years I've had them all. I wore Doctor Martins, on their second outing, Palladium's at university before the trend came and went. I was in Birkenstock's a good few years before the rest of you caught on. I came to Uggs late due to their ridiculously inflated price in the UK. The Crocs were comfortable, but I'm not sure I wasn't 'in between' sizes, plus no one has any decent colors left - it was either black or red. On the eccentric side I think they top the lot - perhaps only to be worn inside or with very long trousers.

I wanted to say about a friend who is in the middle of the great big ocean in a small sailing boat. It all sounds amazing, he's managing to keep a blog (the wonders of technology) - 6000 miles of sea.

Lord Levy arrested...

There's going to be a feature on Greg Clark's Private Garden's Bill (Brownfield sites), this evening on ITV's Tonight with Trevor McDonald.

Judy just emailed to let me know that Adrienne Rich was on Woman's Hour this morning, listen again here.

The possible relative wrote back and we corresponded all day yesterday, quite exciting really. We haven't worked out how exactly we are related, but we both believe we are related to a guy called Tom and therefore must be related to each other.

A question on University Challenge - I know, I wasn't really watching - led to Big R saying she had a relative who taught at Oxford, which led to a search on the internet, which led to her being wrong, but me finding the person anyway, which led to a daughter in the States who lives up the road from where I was last year - I've sent an email.*

*Email mysteriously started working again today.

Just watched the first of a wonderful documentary series on BBC 2 (Monday's 7-8 pm) looking at 'the 1970s and 1980s when the extreme left wing came to the political fore'. Fascinating subject and made like documentary's used to be made with interviews and archive footage... catch it next week if you can.

I love my new bag, because my camera goes everywhere with me now. Hence the picture of Adrienne Rich signing copies of her books after a wonderful reading at the South Bank on Friday. I got my copy of The Fact of a Doorframe signed, I said thank you... twice, she looked at me as if expecting more, but thank you all there was.* If I'd been feeling more confident and articulate and there'd been more time, I'd have explained that what I was thanking her for was for taking the time to come and read to us and how much we all appreciated that (at 76 long distance flying can't be that much fun), for having a voice and speaking out, for being brave and passionate, for being a role model, because the world needs heroes that reach for the stars.** Because every strong unafraid [Jewish] woman I meet chips a little more away at the 'keep your head down' mentality I grew up with. The world needs heroes and we should all be reaching for the stars.

* M said this was better than what happened to a friend of hers when she went up to get a book signed by a well known writer - she asked if they could be pen-pals - the answer was no and the friend couldn't believe she had actually asked out loud.
** I'm still addicted to The West Wing. Bartlet, series four.

D just told me that his dentist is now offering Botox injections, apparently it's a natural progression from teeth to face, [doesn't it want to make you scream].

T and A (sister and niece) made a flying visit this evening. I requested plaits from A and have four cute little ones. T let me copy Patti Smith's Land album which she says is amazing... I have it playing now. In return we lent them a video recorder so A can record Muse on MTV tomorrow. She's going on a Geography field trip, which ends with a day at Alton Towers [a theme park], I don't remember that happening when I was at school. She only half joked that it was the main reason for anyone to take Geography.

Just came back from leafleting the estate; informing residents of the Gangster's new appeal. It seems to be always an eventful experience. This time I had a lovely chat with a semi-retired biochemist (D I think they are the new winners of the longest residents award) our conversation covered hospital based infectious diseases, overdevelopment of the area, government imposed targets and privatization of the NHS. Then I walked by the new principle of my old school, we met last fall and I was supposed to get in touch and never did (and of course I've been feeling bad about it). She does seem like a lovely woman, I am thinking "why wasn't she principle when I was there", but then I'm not the same person I was then, so I probably wouldn't have appreciated her... I wasn't too good with authority figures. We talked about an experience she'd had on a Christian-Jewish program to Israel and Palestine, which sounded very interesting. I again promised to get in touch, I can't quite see it, but you never know. She asked for my full name and I cringe imagining her checking out my yearbook page.

You know I also saw my old English teacher at the Opera last week - something is going on here.

Did you see the news that a hot water bottle really does work against menstrual pain and actually acts in the same way as a painkiller.

I watched the Shuttle go up and even though I tried my best to be cynical, I just couldn't and the wonder of space travel got the better of me. You can see the launch and more at NASA's site.

Not so wonderful to hear about North Korea's own launches.

We have a lot of foxes around here. They used to be kinda scruffy and rather sorry looking and you only ever saw them at night. That seems to have all changed and now they are healthy looking, walk around during the day seemingly unafraid and at night hang out together. The other night I watched as five 'teenage' foxes played chase. Five is never a good number where friends are concerned, perhaps better than three, but even so. So one somehow got rejected and whilst the others went in one direction she slumped off on her own in another, and I felt kinda sorry for her, because we've all been there.

I'm still having trouble with my email... such a pain.

I'm blaming the weather, (an official heat wave*) for my lack of posts, that and the wheat. I finally thought I would have a blood test for some medical legitimacy on the gluten issue. Everywhere I've read it says you have to be eating gluten in order for the test to work, so I was dragged kicking and screaming to the bread shop (as if, I couldn't get there fast enough) for a weeklong festival of wheat. The only trouble is I don't think a week will do it - I think it needs to be 3 months and a week was all I could manage. I had the blood test on Friday anyway. Just in case you are wondering, I made the most of my week, highlights being; birthday cake and those yummy fairy cakes at R's party, bravely continued with a pizza (wonderful until it made me feel very ill), I had the most delicious sandwich of melting brie on ciabatta (made even better by being eaten whilst sitting out in the sun), a bagel, and the piece de resistance was a cup cake. Although everything was very tasty, my stomach was not happy, I never thought I would say this, but it was actually a relief to stop on Friday.

* My computer substitutes as a very efficient hot water bottle, in the winter it's great, in the summer it's hard going.