Sparkling Life

To be discussing with another blipper ancient English apple varieties that have apparently made their way to the other end of the earth, gives a strange dull day a slightly surreal edge. I feel lucky to have learned a bit about New Zealand from reading other blippers words. What has mainly struck me is the extent to which the country has been populated by plant and animal species from other lands, particularly UK, of course. It seems to me that so many of the pictures I have seen posted have been exotic imports; landscape shots look like an English meadow; gardens and parks feature so many familiar flowers and vegetables, grasses and trees. It's impossible for me to imagine what it must have looked like before Europeans brought all this with them. I wonder if there are enclaves where a remnant of the before-time survives

As it happens, we have been watching Ken Burns's documentary about the (almost) extermination of the American Bison. It's a much more malevolent, tragic story than the mere introduction of exotic species, but it shares the same disregard for fragility, balance, heritage or the worth of the natural world. We are naive, foolish, destructive children

I spent some time pruning our own Bramley's Seedling in grey, afternoon light. We still have just about edible eating apples in the shed, though most are past their best. One of these is a Sturmer Pippin: a variety that is not even ready to eat yet. They mature in storage - expected to be at their best in February. I thought I'd try one tomorrow and see how they are coming along (the one I tasted in December was pretty bland). I also intended to see how the cider we made in October, and bottled in Wales in November, is coming along. Only once I had opened the bottle did I realise that this is from the previous year - does that count as vintage? It certainly has not lost any quality, and is crystal clear

The plate came from a lovely pottery very close to where the 2023 cider was bottled. I created this whimsical tableau because it has been an uninspiring day for photography*, I'm finding the news relentlessly grim and I wanted to post a picture of something at least worth a faint smile


*the crocus bulbs I planted two autumns ago have just begun to appear above ground, which I found unreasonably elating. I tried a picture, but it's one that only a father could love