Tuesday 20 September 2022

The Royal Funeral and the Garden

The village was incredibly quiet here yesterday morning, everyone was inside watching the funeral and procession. I turned on the TV just before 11 to see the actual service but then turned off again later after they had all walked to Green Park  - quite a spectacle - I've never seen so many people in so many different uniforms before. Loved the flowers on top of the Queens coffin - beautiful and colourful. Pomp, Pageantry and Putting on a Show are something we do very well in this country. Then a bit of me thinks what all the money spent on policing this could have been used for!  I do hope the new King and the other Royals have a few days off now - they must all be shattered.

Up until turning on the TV I got some more gardening done outside, gradually clearing and cutting back. I fill the council garden waste bin, wait for it to be emptied fortnightly and then start to fill all over again. The compost in my own compost bin filled last year has rotted down and shrunk to a third, so I emptied it into the wheelbarrow and today I'll put it on the border out the front, which is very poor, rock hard clay. Then I'll have the awkward job of turning the compost from the bin I'm using into the empty one to mix it up a little and then it will be left to break down until this time next year.

The 3 Butternut Squash plants produced these as their first crop a couple of weeks ago.


The small ones are smaller than a tennis ball. There are 5 more, a wee bit better size and shape, still ripening. Not too bad considering how little water I was able to give them.

I made a big pot of vegetable curry with this lot, although once peeled  and deseeded there wasn't a whole lot of flesh to use! Luckily there were courgettes and peppers and a windfall apple from the garden plus spinach from the freezer to add to the mix.

Divided to make 7 portions and frozen. Had the first for a meal last week - lovely! 

Back Soon
Sue


22 comments:

  1. I did not intend to watch. I would have had to get up pretty early in the morning for the funeral, and I was sure that I could stream it later. However I switched it on while having my morning cup. I have to say, I really don't think anyone 'does' pageantry better than the English. It was beautiful, and love of her people was on full display as well.

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    1. Not just English, we are British and made up of 4 Nations plus the Commonwealth. English is spoken in most of our countries but we all have our own languages. Sorry to be pedantic. Sarah B.

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    2. Not something that worries me - I am Suffolk first!

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  2. Glad it was nice enough to get out in the garden. Sounds like you'll get quite a few meals out of the squash.

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    1. I discovered that doing a curry is a really good use for squash, goes together well

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  3. We watched much of the coverage of the funeral. If I could use just one word, apart from the obvious one of pageantry, it would be Respect. So many many people who lined the route to pay their last respects to a wonderful monarch. It brought a tear to the eye to see her favourite Fell pony Emma at Windsor palace, and her beloved Corgis.

    At least you got a few meals from your squashes. Tam always had them in her menu repertoire, but I can live without them.

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    1. Squash go really well in a curry - touch of sweetness

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  4. Sorry to be a pendant but not just English. We are a United Kingdom of 4 different countries plus the Commonwealth, many with our own language which is in daily use. We are British. Sarah B.

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    1. It's not something I think about and it doesn't worry me as I'm Suffolk before anything else

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  5. There were several options to view the funeral live on youtube. I chose The Royal Family's own channel. The cinematography was first class. Didn't watch all of it. Some of the arrivals, then later the procession.

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  6. I loved the flowers too - it was made to Charles' spec and every part of it was symbolic in some way (the Beeb said). I just loved that it was so, so colourful - just like she was. xx

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    1. The flowers were gorgeous - better than boring white lilies

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  7. I first thought 'what a good crop of squash' ... and then I saw the pen for scale reference. Oh well, at least they were small and perfectly formed.

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  8. I'm enjoying closing down the garden as well. I always have lots of cutting back to do and have created a bonfire pile. It is at 10 x 10 feet and will grow. Last night and today it is raining lightly. It is lovely, cool and moist. Happily, my grass and clover are both slowly coming back.
    I loved the procession and formality of the funeral. It was a beautiful historic event. I heard, the lovely flowers on the casket were from Charles and they were a collection of flowers from the Royal gardens. The note with the flowers was touching.

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    1. The grass is coming back here too, I cut it the other day to tidy all the tatty bits, we still haven't had much rain here.
      It's good to get back to normal today after everything

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  9. A poor year for squash this year so you did well. We got none, but that's ok, we had a bumper crop last year and I still have loads of it in the freezer!

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  10. I watched the whole of the funeral (got up at 6 and already missed a bit) and then bits and pieces again all day. That whole Royal Family must be so knackered. I can't imagine having to do all they have done over the past 11 days while deeply grieving. It may well have been a diversion at first but then exhaustion sets in and even if they have massage therapists and cooks on call to tend to them, it doesn't really tend to the hurt -- only the hurt feet or hungry bits. I hope they can get a break.

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  11. It was the most telly at one sitting I'd watched in ages - I found the drum beat and funeral March music mesmeric. An historic event done well.
    Love the look of those fresh butternut squash
    Alison in Wales x

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  12. Managed to watch a bit of the goings on whilst at work. Poor family must be emotionally depleted. Never grown butternut squash, you look to have done well. x

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  13. I watched the procession of Queen Elizabeth being taken into the Westminster Abbey. It brought tears to my eyes a bit. Quite the way to go in with the Queen and people in uniform. I found a place to watch the funeral on Roku tv we have. PBS has it here in Oregon and saved it so I can watch it soon.
    We have autumn squash soup where I work and it is delicious. Only there 3 months. I like squash alot but not my husband. Megan and I will eat squash when he's not here. Have a good rest of your week.

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