Grader

The grader has been parked by the rugby grounds all weekend, presumably waiting to be used on the local unsealed roads this coming week. 

The Council sends the grader round four or five times a year to fill the potholes, even out the corrugations and generally make the roads more drivable.

It’s an important job because more than half of the roads hereabouts are unsealed, and they carry plenty of traffic. 

There is a constant layer of fine dust all over my car, kicked up when driving along the unsealed roads. It’s an indication of how little rain we get that I wash it off once a week almost all year round.

I dug the first leek today and will have some of it braised for dinner. The rest I’ll mix with bacon and cheese sauce to eat with pasta tomorrow: winter comfort food. 

It’s a great crop: every leek is forearm-thick and only one has gone to seed. 

I cut into a new Cheddar at lunchtime. It’s four months old. A mild, creamy cheese which was delicious on sourdough toast. 

The delayed cheese making took place and I made another Farmhouse Cheddar, which I’ll keep for at least six months.

Bean supervised from beneath a blanket.