Nothing much. It has been a quiet weekend, cool, with rain threatening. I resorted to pottering around the house, poached some quinces, and will be making some more quince jelly soon.Although perhaps I should just freeze the liquid, rather than overload the market with a glut. Not to mention the pantry.
I picked up a half completed piece of crochet, and will perhaps complete the pattern, and see whether it is worth doing anything with the finished product. It is a variegated yarn, and needs to be seen in a daylight, to discover its true colours. The trouble with working on something only occasionally is that I tend to forget the pattern, and precious time is spent puzzling about it. Sometimes you never know if you like something until you finish it.
So the weekend has been desultorily spent. What does it all mean?
In between poaching and puzzling, I have been reading Jared Diamond's book Collapse: how societies choose to fail or survive. Much food for thought there. At present I am Reading about Greenland and Iceland. Poor soils, not much technology, few trees, soon used up, variable climatic conditions, destructive animals, erosion, cold, snow and ice, failure to adapt to the conditions. Diamond also discusses Easter Island and Australia. It all reminds me of John O'Brien's poem, with its refrain
We'll all be rooned, said Hanrahan
Before the year is out.
Makes you think! All rather depressing. Perhaps making jams is a throwback to the need to make preserves, to help get you through the winter and the lean seasons.
However when you think of all the amazing achievements of humanity, I cheer up. Tonight there was a TV program on Billie Jean King, women's tennis snd the match shel played against the insufferable Bobbie Riggs. Margaret Court had accepted his challenge, and lost, but Billie Jean King played a different style of game, and she won. Just hearing the insufferably sexist comments infuriated me. Things are much better now but there is still a lot of insidious sexism around, usually pretending to be liberated, but actually heavily concentrating on body image, sexuality and trivia. Very dishonest stuff.
I picked up a half completed piece of crochet, and will perhaps complete the pattern, and see whether it is worth doing anything with the finished product. It is a variegated yarn, and needs to be seen in a daylight, to discover its true colours. The trouble with working on something only occasionally is that I tend to forget the pattern, and precious time is spent puzzling about it. Sometimes you never know if you like something until you finish it.
So the weekend has been desultorily spent. What does it all mean?
In between poaching and puzzling, I have been reading Jared Diamond's book Collapse: how societies choose to fail or survive. Much food for thought there. At present I am Reading about Greenland and Iceland. Poor soils, not much technology, few trees, soon used up, variable climatic conditions, destructive animals, erosion, cold, snow and ice, failure to adapt to the conditions. Diamond also discusses Easter Island and Australia. It all reminds me of John O'Brien's poem, with its refrain
We'll all be rooned, said Hanrahan
Before the year is out.
Makes you think! All rather depressing. Perhaps making jams is a throwback to the need to make preserves, to help get you through the winter and the lean seasons.
However when you think of all the amazing achievements of humanity, I cheer up. Tonight there was a TV program on Billie Jean King, women's tennis snd the match shel played against the insufferable Bobbie Riggs. Margaret Court had accepted his challenge, and lost, but Billie Jean King played a different style of game, and she won. Just hearing the insufferably sexist comments infuriated me. Things are much better now but there is still a lot of insidious sexism around, usually pretending to be liberated, but actually heavily concentrating on body image, sexuality and trivia. Very dishonest stuff.
2 comments:
I do enjoy reading Jared Diamond's work. I think I would also enjoy quince jam - but that I've never had. I shall have to enquire at every market I go this summer to see if is any, anywhere!
Jared Diamond is a wonderful author. And I don't know/have this one.
Quince jelly/jam and crocheting are a welcome break from the ugliness around. Gorgeous colours - and scents.
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