Our crop of medlars, after bletting

I picked the crop some weeks ago, in November I think, and placed them out in our cabin, where it is fairly cool but not protected from frost by a low level heater. 

I popped out today to refill the bird feeders with sunflower seeds and saw that some mould had developed on the skin of a few medlars. I touched them and found they were beyond soft. What a shame. They are very hard fruits when picked but need to be allowed to soften, a process called bletting, before they can be used to make jam or other culinary delights. My excuse is that I wasn't well for a some weeks in the intervening time!

As it happened when we went for our Boxing Day brunch at Camilla's she had some 'medlar cheese' which a friend had made for her. That has prompted me to get my act together next year as it was delicious and I now wish I hadn't wasted this year's crop. Slapped wrist here.

Here is the blip I made before I picked them in November.