Project 365 day 245: Swirling

A short, damp walk to the surgery gave me the opportunity to look for some abstract details beside the road, and I found a few things I liked. I was pleased with the detail of our lichen-encrusted post box, which is my extra: I don't often take bright red photos, and I think it says something about the environment I live in. However, when I got home I found J and her PA trying out the paint swirler P recently found in a box in the shed, and my efforts were instantly usurped. The paint swirler was bought at the Early Learning Centre in the mid 1990s, and we had a lot of fun with it when she was young. We later moved onto bright, fluorescent card with sophisticated black and silver paint, and nicely mounted they made good birthday cards. She was pleased to find it again, but it's no longer working very well - it doesn't rotate properly, making it difficult to swirl fast enough for really good results, but it was still quite fun to try, and the colours she chose make me think of the summery August days we haven't had this year. 

It's harvest time here, so whatever time I can find in my days is spent picking, preparing and preserving. Today I've picked two beautiful heads of calabrese broccoli, one of the few things which has grown really well this year, along with sprouting broccoli, more courgettes and cucumbers, greenhouse tomatoes and a few late strawberries. I ran out of time for the raspberries, which will be tomorrow's priority. I've prepared and bagged lots of chard for the freezer, and yesterday I pickled the first three big jars of sliced beetroot, while P continues to find new ways for us to eat courgettes and cucumbers.