Thursday 19 August 2021

Crime against a plum tree

 The plum tree in our neighbour's orchard is laden with fruit and he is concerned about the branches breaking. But what has he done?!! He handed over this large bucket of hard, green Victoria plums that he had hacked from the tree. They will never ripen so what does he expect me to do with them? Hasn't he heard of propping up the heavy limbs of a tree with forked hazel sticks, a solution that has been practised for many years and that he must have seen us doing when we have a similar problem with the pear trees? What a waste of what would have become the most delicious fruit. Victorias are my favourite.

I find his action so depressing. He is a man with a lot of land, orchard, garden and fields, but so out of step with nature. His obsession is with control and 'tidiness'. I've told him he's suburban! It is different things for different people.

Yesterday the wind was blowing. I'm growing out most of my heavy fringe and it has reached the irritating stage of being neither one thing nor the other. I've pinned back the random wisps with a hair-clip and look like a member of the lower third. I didn't feel like  gardening, what with the green plums and the wind, so we went to look round the open market in Wells. It takes place every Wednesday and Saturday and there is always a lively atmosphere and good local produce to buy. We parked by the cathedral clock, the second oldest mechanical clock in the country, made in 1390.




There were signs up all over the market asking people to wear masks and to keep their distance. Very few complied. One of our daughters works in the NHS and continues to be concerned about the disease and what the coming winter will bring. We are still wearing our masks!








Then, suitably refreshed, it was back home to our windy garden.


















9 comments:

  1. We have only just started wearing masks here having just gone into Lockdown again. What a shame about those plums. Victoria plums are so delicious. Your garden looks lovely in spite of the wind.

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    1. I've spread the plums out on a tray in the hope that some may ripen enough for me to at least make a bit of chutney.
      It is a time of year that I like but windy weather with a growing out haircut is a bit stressful!

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  2. A place like the market would definitely have me wearing a mask, too; you did well! Here, masks are still compulsory in many situations, regardless of whether one is vaccined or not. It worries me that so many are infected in spite of being fully vaccined.

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    1. We are certainly going to play it safe for quite a while to come.

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  5. When we retired we decided to move from Kingston-upon-Thames for several important reasons, notably: the sales margin on our house would allow a grander home in most other places; also, wherever we moved to would almost certainly be healthier than car-polluted KuT (This has turned out to be true.).We explored a huge territory, extending north to Northampton and south-west to Wells. In fact we never intended to live in Wells but I did want to pay a visit to see if the strangely stumpy twin-tower facade of the cathedral merited its cathedral status. It did in a sort of cosy, under-stated way.

    Cheapness, rural surroundings, wider dimensions and four bedrooms instread of three dictated Hereford and we've never regretted it. Nor did we have to compromise on a decent cathedral which I used to be able to view from my study before intervening trees flourished and blotted it out. But I'm not complaining. Trees are a decent alternative.

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    1. We are now considering making a move to live nearer to family and it is proving to be a hard and unsettling decision. We are not a tidy couple and have accrued a lot of 'stuff' over the years and we are very happy here. An unclear future for now. You made a good decision and I hope we shall manage to do the same.
      Wells is a charming small city and we always enjoy our visits there. It is somewhere that we have thought in the past would be a good place to retire to, but the call of daughter and small grandson is strong!

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