It's going to be a Sloe year

Before I loose this bit of paper...

900g (2lb) Sloes
1.2 Ltr (2 pints) Gin
225g (8oz) White Sugar (castor - depending what you read)

Prick ya Sloes (or freeze - basically to break the skins enough for the juices to seep out)
Put fruit in jar (wide necked!)
Add sugar
Pour Gin to fill

Leave in a dark place for at least 4 months, turning occasionally.

Strain liquid off the fruit into a bottle.
Taste for sweetness - add more sugar if required/to taste.
Keep until following Winter - hang on just a cotton pickin’ mo!

OK. So ya can guess what I was picking this weekend. I’m only sorry now that I didn’t pick the fruits last year when I first discovered them - 12 months is a long wait.

It’s also Blackberry time, and guess what, if you do a search for blackberry vodka (they seemed the most likely ingredients to me) - you get sloe gin too. Just substitute the 2 main ingredients. That’s next weekend taken care of then. I see disaster looming for Xmas 2008!

Saturday - when not sleeping or working on video sleeves, Max and I went a walk taking the camera with us.
I figured that if they are planning to build an industrial estate and houses on our walk, may as well take some pictures before they destroy our countryside.
Now I know some of you are gonna say “can’t stop progress - housing’s required” etc., but there must be less picturesque places locally than the fields and woodland across the road - and yes, I know that reeks of NIMBYism.

Every other day we see deer, foxes, other dog walkers, flora and fauna - it’s just so varied and natural, and so easily destroyed. By the time they’ve developed the farmland that edges the woodland and meadow lands, and built the reservoir up the road, there’ll be nothing left but the country park - and to be honest, the country park is such a lie - it’s all managed and very much like any other samey country park. Not much original in it.

Any ways - took my camera and decided to record some of it, but I wanted to try a new technique (to me at least) as we went along. Here’s the results:



Each image is made up of between 3, 5, and 8 individual frames - I was quite happy with my first attempts. Needless to say, Max got bored ;o)

My Sloe Partner in Crime
At this point I feel that I should point out, before she gets on the phone and screams at me - that Karen, as in Mark and... helped me pick some of the sloes, when not slumped on the grass downing real ale and slagging M off "he never takes me out... he used to..." - moan moan moan (I can see her picking up the phone right now) :o)

Yes - bless 'em, M and K came over and Max and I got a long awaited trip to the workshop - the much changed workshop I should say.

Mark was dragged straight in to doing some work for some trike blokes that were there waiting when we arrived. K got on and made some lovely bacon, egg, mushroom, and cheese butties. This wasn't the plan, we were hoping to stop off just below Portsdown hill for a fab bacon and brie sandwich - but sandwich butty van had packed up for the day - damn!

This one has flaws - but I'll work on my technique. Karen has flaws - but nothing to be done there lol
x