Harvests

I've had my eye on this field of wheat blackening in the endless rain and damp. Yesterday the regional weather woman reckoned we might be in for a last BBQ but not today. It was gloomy as heck and as I came across this harvest scene rain was moving in from the north east.

But I did notice hundreds (?) of house martins feeding above our trees in the valley. They seemed to be dancing in the air. Presumably before they head off tonight across the Dover Strait and set their compasses for sub-Saharan Africa.

I picked the neglected French beans - see extra. Help. We've tried freezing them but they always come out soggy and bland. I've a notion to make a sort of ratatouille with a bit of chorizo to give it some lift. I see Jamie Oliver suggests a salsa verde to accompany it.

Amazing to think of these plants struggling for so long in the dry soil and this was a second planting as the first seeds rotted away. They are not the finest beans in terms of flavour. But by crikey are they plentiful.