God Bless Grandma Saturday 30th August

A little clue about where we are headed this evening!

I have a stalwart friend who lives in South Africa and I have known her for what seems like forever. Elaine is the sort of person who lives quietly in a very small town in the Free State, but who keeps all sorts of useful hints and tips tucked away up her sleeve, ready for use at a moment’s notice. For many years she has been a patient reader of my books and blogs and it is comforting to know that she manages to keep track of us despite our varied twists and turns in life.

She has just sent me a message to say that she found that Sunlight Dishwashing liquid sprayed lightly around the ant holes sent them scurrying far away. She assured me that it would neither kill the plants nor the ants, but they wouldn’t hang around anywhere near it. I wish I could develop the idea so that in the end the beans picked themselves, cooked themselves and the pots were all clean and shiny at the end due to the early application of the washing up liquid!
Another clever idea that her grandmother swore by was keeping a block of dried soap tucked away in her underwear drawer. Apart from making her “smalls” smell fresh and nice, it had an adverse effect on the bugs and beasties that like to hide away in the dark, so I think I might give that a whirl as well. If all else fails, she suggests that along with putting a pea under the mattress, I might try a dried bar of soap as well. Thanks Elaine – I shall put all these suggestions into effect and will report back on the results.

It occurred to me that many of my readers might have similar ideas or queries about the content of the blog, and I have tweaked the “comment” ability, and thanks to my daughter Claire in far away Australia, I have realised that I had it closed before. Technology comes slowly to someone who used to have a phone nailed to the farmhouse kitchen wall with a handle on it, and eight other people on the party line! There’s no point in sending me adverts for little blue pills, ways to make instant money, or expensive implements for the garden, because I have no time to read them and no money to spend on them, but anything to do with our lives here or your own experiences would be a pleasure to read.

In view of the busy time that we have ahead of us, I stole a march on the cooking this morning in preparation for Mamy’s birthday party in mid October. I have a fixed menu for such functions which I think my children could quote by heart, but at least everything is ready for the great day and all the slicing and dicing, washing up and cleaning is already done. It was so great to be able to have the red peppers sizzling on the barbeque, and I must confess that I was sorely tempted to use some of the mushrooms which have begun springing up all over the garden. Isn’t it amazing; when we were farming, we went to great effort and expense to try and start growing mushrooms, importing the right spores, bringing in a load of old horse manure and keeping the humidity and temperature correct. Not a single mushroom. Here we drag a black bin bag full of old horse pooh over the wall from the field next door, and suddenly the garden is alive with the things. Just as soon as I confirm that they are the real deal, I shall begin using them, but I would hate to poison the guests at our first party.

In another couple of hours, we are going to head off to Montpellier for the evening and tomorrow

I will report back on the festivities which take place, so until then, you will have to contain your curiosity. Suffice it to say that it looks like a lot of fun!