What could be more important than eating dinner and world peace?
EXCUSE me but I have to go. I really have to go. Now.
No. No. No second slice of that excellent cake, thanks very much for offering. The almonds make all the difference, I always say that and it’s true. Absolutely.
The oven in the range at Medders Manor would make a great job of cooking a cake like that.
I have to go. Maybe you would be so good as to send on the recipe? Would that be too much trouble?
I’ll text you my email address and then I can pass your culinary secrets on to Hermione. You should see dear, domesticated Hermione in her pinny, in a cloud of icing sugar. Phew!
Yes, that’s what I’ll do, text you my address if I remember. And I will remember. Of course I will, though the memory is not what it was. Anyway, it’s just that I must dash. Now. Oh I hope you don’t think I’m being rude. I haven’t even finished my cup of tea. And it is Earl Grey, my very, very favourite. Gotta go, as they say – probably in America. Gotta go. Truth is I should not have dropped in in the first place. Yes, that’s my hat.
It was just that the forecast was lousy and I happened to be passing. Then you started telling me about your cousin on the oil rigs.
And about that excruciating experience you had with the hernia operation. It’s useful to know which doctor to avoid the next time I have a groin strain. At least I have learned something today.
So glad I called. It’s been lovely, a joy, talking to you but I must dash. Now.
We will save the tour of the delphiniums for another day, soon, before they are past their best. I’ll try not to run your pedigree cocker spaniel down as I leave. But if the poor mutt happens to get caught under the wheel, then I shall not be stopping. I have to go. Toodlepip…
The great Charlie Drake performed a sketch exploring the theme of urgency. The pint-sized comic played the part of an astronaut back on terra firma fresh from orbiting the earth.
His bosses were eager to have him meet waiting reporters immediately on landing, ushering him into a press conference. But it was soon apparent that Charlie’s mind was not focussed on the questions being posed by the representatives of the media.
Still encased in his space suit after the historic mission, all he wanted to do was have a pee.
As someone who grows a few potatoes, I know the feeling. When the spuds need spraying, then nothing else whatever matters.
Social niceties go out the window in the helter-skelter rush to mix the copper sulphate and load up the sprayer.
An hour here or there is generally of no consequence if there is watering to be done.
Leeway of days, or even weeks, is allowed in the planting of seeds. Weeding we have with us always and it will usually wait until tomorrow. Mañana.
But the word tomorrow does not exist when it comes to spraying potatoes. So much effort has been invested in this crop.
The digging over of the ground. The sculpting of the drills. The selection of the most appropriate varieties across the range from earlies to main crop.
When there is blight in the air, a furrow darkens the brow of the grower until steps have been taken to protect the precious plants.
Keeping the evil fungus at bay is an absolute priority, more important than eating dinner, more important than world peace or the ozone layer.
The problem is that preventing blight is something which requires the correct conditions.
Too sunny is a complete no-no. Too wet is a complete waste of time. Too windy is a complete nightmare.
Just drop everything and run when light cloud cover is in place while the breeze has dropped.
Then like firemen sliding down their poles, we growers are mixing our pesticides and pumping up our sprayers. Blight Busters!