Monday, June 17, 2019

A good day’s knitting. I did six rows of the Spring Shawl – I won’t be able to keep up that pace much longer, because of the increasing length of the row. I’ve finished the fourth rank (of seven) of lace diamonds. I also did a bit more Calcutta Cup scarf during Pointless. It’s time to get down on my knees with that scarf and a tape measure again.

There will be a ballot in parliament tomorrow to whittle down the list of potential future prime ministers a bit further. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for Rory Stewart.

Kimchi

Peggy, thank you for your comment. Mooli/daikon seems fairly mild and tasteless to me (and it has to be ordered in expensively): I thought ordinary radishes would do as well, if one really wanted radish. This morning I rearranged yesterday’s kimchi into smaller jars, in the hopes of getting some fizz – and was rewarded with some, today at lunchtime. And there are plenty of bubbles, in all three jars.

It is interesting, and a bit disconcerting, to discover how rapidly and enthusiastically fermentation (=rotting?) begins, in a mixture of uncooked vegetables, spices, and rice-flour porridge. No “starter”.

Reading

We’re about to have a new Jason Brodie from Kate Atkinson. I have ordered it.

I wish I had had you to teach me “Silas Marner”, Shandy. I don’t think you will tempt me back to it – life is too short. But you make it sound plausible and interesting. Have you read Trollope’s “The Three Clerks”? We were drawn to it by an article about Trollope in the New Yorker. As I remember, it’s routine (=excellent) Trollope up until the final chapter when it becomes fairy tale – the ailing heroine gets better after all, the impoverished hero suddenly has enough to get married on, and more.

Mary Lou, yes, we read the Palliser novels at bedtime (you can get through a lot  in 60 years). I think I’ve enjoyed Trollope more since then, reading individual titles at random. I wouldn’t mind trying the Pallisers again. 

8 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:26 PM

    If you want mild radishes in your kimchi,but don't want to pay for daikon, try turnips, the white ones. Very similar taste and texture. Not swedes or rutabagas.

    Beverly in NJ

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  2. Many novels involve frankly improbable turns of the wheel of fortune to reach their denouement - "North and South" perhaps as much as any. But "Silas Marner" starts in that manner, setting the story back in time to the days of spinning wheels and hand-loom weavers. It does have its failures - Nancy Lammeter is a bit of a wet blanket - but there is a very dramatic section where the better of the two brothers leaves the ball to accompany his uncle when a report comes in of a woman found dead in the snow - this is the mother of his child, hopelessly drug-addicted.

    I did try "The Three Clerks" but gave up. I fared better with "Can You Forgive Her?" but have returned to Mrs Gaskell for the moment.

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    1. Perhaps I'll attempt Silas Marner - it is a long time since I was in high school!

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  3. A new Jason Brodie??!!!!! I am heading straight to Amazon!:):):)

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  4. OOps! Jackson Brodie:)...

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  5. Anonymous11:01 AM

    Sounds like you were a excellent teacher, Shandy.
    Chloe

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  6. Thanks for the reminder about the new Jackson Brodie. I realize now that it's been so long that I'll need to do some rereading of the previous ones.
    Kimchi: of course, the original point in general was to preserve what you have in (over)abundance. Perhaps the point of using mu/daikon in kimchi was to make more appealing a rather bland vegetable?

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  7. Since I got my Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook apps on my iPad I have begun reading many classics. On the BN Nook I have many of their i expensive Classic editions. I have found that if I read, or at lest skim the introductions to get an idea of the plot line, I am able to understand and follow better. Somehow I missed most, even Jane Austen. Now she's a favorite.

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