So, got up soon after 8 and got stuff together for Scoop... I finished washing out several more 340g jars and put them to dry on the stove top, and then filled them tightly with a mixture of dried pears off the top of the stove (moist and chewy) and some out of bigger jars which are slightly drier and even more chewy. I got a tray full of ripe pears from the store I have in the garden and carefully loaded it up onto my trailer. Gill wrote out some labels for the jars.
I gingerly and slowly cycled up to the University and delivered the pears. I've a feeling some of the fresh ones will be rejected as over-ripe.
I came home and immediately cycled up to Blacker Steel in Osbaldwick, where I knew I'd be able to get my trailer welded up again. They did it before... a 5 minute arc-weld, and this time, again, one chap said 'no problem' and within 5 minutes had sorted it, and sprayed the weld with some protective 'galv-spray' to stop it rusting. Excellent service, no nonsense, friendly.
It was chucking it down, sleeting, when I cycled home so I came in and didn't do any work in the garden. I do have more log stacking to do, but not in this weather!
I retrieved a load of pears from the studio, and sorted these out, loading up two racks, and getting some pears ready to make some pear leather. At about 5.30 I cycled in to the University again to pick up the unsold pears, and yes, there were some as I'd expected, as this batch contained some which were rather soft.
I went on to David's, where I was due to do a 6-8 shift. I took him to City Screen, as requested, where we had a coffee, he read the paper and we chatted with a student nurse called Rachel.
I finished at 7.30, after doing his food, and bombed home, not worrying about the integrity of the pears which had already bounced around and released some juice.
I finished the pear leather job in the evening, halved, cored and skinned, washed and all the soft 'sleepy' bits removed, then whizzed a saucepan full of these with the hand-held liquidiser, put the slop through a sieve, to remove the stony bits which abound in Winter pears. I filled two trays with slop, as I've run out of space in the freezer, and balanced them on the stoves.
I also really enjoyed David Attenborough's Frozen Planet, about the climatic changes at the polar regions.
I gingerly and slowly cycled up to the University and delivered the pears. I've a feeling some of the fresh ones will be rejected as over-ripe.
I came home and immediately cycled up to Blacker Steel in Osbaldwick, where I knew I'd be able to get my trailer welded up again. They did it before... a 5 minute arc-weld, and this time, again, one chap said 'no problem' and within 5 minutes had sorted it, and sprayed the weld with some protective 'galv-spray' to stop it rusting. Excellent service, no nonsense, friendly.
It was chucking it down, sleeting, when I cycled home so I came in and didn't do any work in the garden. I do have more log stacking to do, but not in this weather!
I retrieved a load of pears from the studio, and sorted these out, loading up two racks, and getting some pears ready to make some pear leather. At about 5.30 I cycled in to the University again to pick up the unsold pears, and yes, there were some as I'd expected, as this batch contained some which were rather soft.
I went on to David's, where I was due to do a 6-8 shift. I took him to City Screen, as requested, where we had a coffee, he read the paper and we chatted with a student nurse called Rachel.
I finished at 7.30, after doing his food, and bombed home, not worrying about the integrity of the pears which had already bounced around and released some juice.
I finished the pear leather job in the evening, halved, cored and skinned, washed and all the soft 'sleepy' bits removed, then whizzed a saucepan full of these with the hand-held liquidiser, put the slop through a sieve, to remove the stony bits which abound in Winter pears. I filled two trays with slop, as I've run out of space in the freezer, and balanced them on the stoves.
I also really enjoyed David Attenborough's Frozen Planet, about the climatic changes at the polar regions.
