OUT INTO COLD SHE GOES..

For how can SHE leave Joanna in Texas with sore paws when SHE has just sent LuLu in NYC, who also has sore paws, a care package?

SHE cannot, can SHE? SHE won't.. so with..

Hey Ho.. Hey Ho.. it's off to the Post SHE gone.. with HER bus pass, wallet, fleecy boots and coat, gloves.

WE will be back.. when SHE is!

GeeGee Parrot.
March 28th, 2013.

"IT WAS A TEENAGE WEDDING & THE OLD FOLKS WISHED ''EM WELL".

YOU'VE got to be of a certain vintage to know this song.. SHE is and remembers dancing to it with HER most beloved Bill.

Oh man, for how that man could dance. There are a couple of HER friends who used to say "Please tell us when he is coming over.. don't just disappear with him to some far, distant land.. please let's have a couple of nights together in London"..

This Tale will tell YOU about HER lovely friend Bill.

Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania, he went to Princeton and when SHE met him he was lawyer in Washington DC. But back in his college years, articulate, bright, clever, (and very charming) young men were spotted by 'faceless' people.. yes, he also worked for a nameless organisation whom shall remain nameless.

He gained his MBA at Harvard, his law degree from Georgetown University and started to travel the world. And it was upon one of these overseas jaunts that they met in a bar in the South of France, the bar had a piano which Bill was playing.. he couldn't go anywhere and NOT be asked / bribed to play.. it was his own fault for he was an ace pianist and to top it all.. the man had a trained voice, yes, he could sing!

Post script: He was a member of The Glee and The Triangle Clubs whilst at Princeton.

They were introduced and he said HER name... "yes, that's right" SHE responded and with a smile on his face that told HER SHE was in 'BIG TROUBLE', he went straight into one of the songs that made Gracie Fields famous and he sang it.. looking at HER.. Yes folks.. Trouble with a capital T.

Fast forward.. they were great friends for, oh, so many years, SHE stayed with him in his extraordinary home on Q Street in Georgetown, SHE stayed with his mama who still lived in Pittsburgh, he stayed with HER in London and they travelled all over the place on wonderful jaunts.

But HER friends wanted to know when Bill would be back because of his piano playing. And this is how it all started..

One evening, they arrived sightly early, to dine at a favourite restaurant of theirs, the manager said.. "go downstairs, Franco will give you a drink on the house".. so down they went into the bar.. a man was tinkling the ivories in rather a hap-hazard fashion.. they were the only customers with Franco, the piano player smiled and said.. "quiet night, I think I'll go early, night Franco".. Franco went to say something, SHE put a finger to HER mouth and shook HER head.

He left, Bill smiled, gave HER a kiss on the cheek and asked "is this ok?", SHE grinned, he slid onto the piano stool and asked Franco "what's your favourite song?" He replied "Teenage Wedding".. Bill ripped into the keyboard and that old piano leapt into life.. Franco got on the phone, the manager came down, listened and ran off upstairs.

The place was packed and jumpin' within half an hour.. Bill never ate when he was a high and he was having such a marvellous time. For people, who simply could not believe their ears, were asking him to play anything and absolutely everything and everyone was singing.. whether YOU could or not!

SHE ate at the bar, the manager had to put up a sign on the door saying "SORRY.. BAR FULL" and a good thing that they were underground and the restaurant had a 'Full License to consume alcohol on the premises'.. as the party did not break up until well after closing time.

They closed the joint at 4.30am and went with Franco and several new friends to have breakfast in Soho, needless to say.. there was NO BILL FOR BILL!

And yes, to those of YOU who have good memories and are thinking of the Post about 'Begin the Beguine', that was indeed Bill's favourite song.. and it was he that bought HER that LP.

Indeed, his mama did wish 'em well and asked HER many times "please marry Bill" but they never did..

Bill died October 2003.. YOU see as last line of the song says "YOU never can tell".

GeeGee Parrot.
March 27th, 2013.  

MON DIEU.. en France.

Dear Readers.. what a surprise WE have just had!

For SHE has just seen on OUR Stats that over the Channel or La Manche if YOU are on the other side.. we have six Dear Readers reading MY Blog!

Ooooh.. this is a record, for as YOU all know for over a year now, WE had that ONE Dear Reader.. and now WE have six.. SIX?

WE know that WE will never know.. keep up at the back, no slouching whilst reading MY Blog.

Today SHE has to go to the Post Office, for LuLu in New York, who, coincidently had a French Grandmother and whose daughter, Nora.. YOU will have read about Nora if YOU have read previous Posts.. she spent a year at the Sorbonne in Paris, she is no slouch, our gurl Nora.

Anyway, poor Lulu has sore paws.. from working on her computer, she is a writer but never fear, Dear Readers, YOU will get to read LuLu's book because SHE is going to make those poor old finger joints happy again!

For into the post to LuLu, SHE is putting a bottle of HER secret weapon against arthritis, cold and damp earth, computers etc, a bottle of magic oil.

For this oil, it may be the very same oil that our old friend Ali Baba used in his magic lamp, made 
HER finger joints and dodgy knee better and it will certainly work on computer damaged digits!

So SHE is off and so am I.. HER onto a route # 74 bus and ME by flap-flap to MY favourite perch.

What is this, I hear, disgruntled mumbling from YOU! Excusez MOI. Now, when have I ever been horrid to YOU? No, I have never been, so am I likely to leave all of YOU, MY Dear Readers, in the dark wondering what this magic oil is called?

No, of course, not.. so now go immediately, if not sooner, to purchase a bottle of.. 

Black Seed Oil.. L'huile de Cumin Noir.. 

Rub it into afflicted joints twice a day, every day..

Pip pip.. au revoir.. more later.. on a song..

GeeGee Parrot.
March 27th, 2013.

BLUE & WHITE ARE SO PRETTY TOGETHER..

Good morning Dear Readers.. and good evening if YOU are in the Southern Hemispere.. 

Well.. here in deepest Knightsbridge, the iPad says that it is below zero and do YOU know? WE believe this hideous fact for, indeedy, it very chilly-billy indeed.

Never mind, for WE have great t'ings to tell YOU. 

At the top of the steps to the pavement, there is half a barrel in which lives a fat, old Brown Turkey Fig. SHE prunes this tree HARD every June and it seems to like this.. for every year it responds by giving us some delicious fruits.. yum.

But old Fig is not the Star of today's Post on MY Blog.. no, that honour goes to a un-invited guest who came to stay three years ago.

One day, three years ago, SHE saw sticking out of Fig's earth a skinny little leaf. SHE was VERY strict about Fig's barrel.. only Fig was allowed to grow in it! SHE pounced on this poor skinny leaf and yanked it out, thinking it was norty Mr.Weed who was doing his invading trick, only to find a small, equally skinny, little bulb on the end!

"Oh.. sorry", SHE said and pushed it back into the earth and wondered who little bulb was and which kind bird had dropped a seed onto Fig's barrel? Fast forward to last summer, when all was revealed, for skinny leaf threw a skinny stem with a flower.

To HER absolute delight, skinny bulb is an English Bluebell! There are two varieties of Bluebells, the Spanish and our own native ones.

The very invasive Spanish ones hold their heads up straight and have no smell, whilst our own natives are very shy, they hang their heads and have a fragrance all of their own. A marvellous perfume.

Penhaligon's 'Bluebell' is a charming fragrance but it is not a pure essence.. for that, YOU have to have a bunch of the real flowers. Only then can YOU understand the passion that WE have for this small but most beautiful of the English wild flowers.

Bluebells spread and from that one little, skinny bulb, WE now have two large clumps of this most welcome of guests. But, YOU are all wondering why the title of this Post is Blue & White, are YOU not?

For YOU see it is snowing here but our guest has decided to show a little bit of true 'English Bluebell' spirit and spring into flower!

She is 'dancing' in the snow and Mr.Fig is smiling, for YOU see, our pretty guests keep his toes warm!

All is well here as WE surely hope that it is with YOU.

GeeGee Parrot.
March 26th, 2013.

TWO TRUE TALES.. ONE FROM TODAY & ONE FROM LONG GONE BY.

Stinky-Dinky.. That is one of the names that MY beloved calls ME. There are others too.. but perhaps I will not spill the beans as children may read MY Blog and I do not want complaints from parents.

Anyway, stories about men with nick names are plots for this Post.. 

In one of the English Sunday papers today, there is the story of a young British soldier serving in Afghanistan who has recently been made an MBE. The reason for him being so honoured is for having the extraordinary talent of being able to glance at a tree and tell immediately if the insurgents have hidden things amongst its' branches. 

On one day alone, he identified eleven trees with ammunition and parts for bombs concealed amongst their branches 

He attributes this talented skill to a childhood love of climbing trees and playing hide-and-seek. He also developed a knack of spotting the 'marker' that the Taliban used to mark where they had buried AK-47 rifles. 

He has found FORTY SEVEN such stashes.

His nickname.. Private Squirrel.

The much older Tale comes from faar away from Afghanistan.

Exactly when he began his epic journey is unknown but in 1806 Jonathan Chapman loaded a boat with apple seeds and floated down the River Ohio to Wellsburg in West Virginia, where, with his brother, he started a nursery. 

From there he paddled into the very centre of Ohio, handing out his seeds to every settler who promised to plant and take care of them. 

Occasionally, he planted the seeds himself, protecting them with brushwood and asking the local farmers to protect the trees and to help themselves to the fruit.

Often he travelled by foot and as he moved westwards into Indiana, he left a living trail of infant Apple orchards behind him. His trees were still to be found in northern central Ohio in 1900, and a tree was reputed to still be alive on a farm in Ashland County until the 1960s. 

He wandered the wildernesses of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana for forty six years and travelled more than a hundred thousand miles.

His nickname.. in the USA.. YOU know him as Johnny Appleseed.

Over two hundred years separate these two men.. but courage and determination are two adjectives that SHE applies to them both.

Oh.. Tea time.. Lapsang is what WE want. Black, no sugar. Slurp..

GeeGee Parrot.
March 24th, 2013.

RICOTTA CHEESE.. DELICIOUS HOMEMADE RICOTTA CHEESE!

RICOTTA.. HOMEMADE RICOTTA.. 

Which has to be one of the easiest things to make and one of the most delicious things to have in one's fridge.. waiting to be eaten with a savoury twist or with Red and White Currants or even Strawberries with a twist of fresh Black Pepper.. 

I bet that YOU are wishing that YOU had some in YOUR fridge? Yes, I thought so. Well, I wish WE had some in our's as well.. for was SHE not planning going to go to Wimbledon this morning to purchase fresh, white Goaty Milk from Debbie of Ellie's Dairy?

Yes, SHE was, but early this morning SHE received a call from a friend wanting a copy of something.. so no trip to Wimbledon, there ensued a big hunt for item to fax to friend, naughty paper, it had slid between two pages of an article in a folder.. 

So next Sunday will be Goaty Milk buying day at the Farmer's Market just past Parson's Green.

Whoooo.. WE don't know where YOU are Dear Readers, but the photos of the snow in Sheffield make HER feel very sorry for HER niece. Liverpool looks pretty dire as well, however, Leigh, who is there for the week-end, assured HER that it was not as bad as the papers showed. 

It is snowing lightly here but the temperature is well below zero, so SHE is pleased that SHE did the Library and all the food shopping yesterday afternoon, when SHE was coming home and reached South Kensington it started raining and this turned to hail by the time SHE got home.. but now there is house work and ironing.. stuff to keep HER very busy inside. 

SHE checked the Currant and Rose bushes in the buckets, one daft Black Currant is as happy as can be and is starting to flower! OH.. WHAT a good thing they were not planted out last Monday!

The weather people are saying that for the UK, this is the coldest March since 1963.. SHE remembers that winter, on the farm in Kent where SHE loved, they had drifts of snow of over FIFTEEN feet and the last bits of snow did not melt until the third week of April!

SHE is off to do chores, I will snooze on sitting room door, which is a very comfy door.. I hope WE will post later on a subject VERY dear to MY heart.. APPLES.

GeeGee Parrot.
March 23rd, 2013

THE BEAST FROM THE EAST IS HERE.

Yes, norty old Jack Frost summoned up his wicked friend, aka The Easterly Wind and it is this pair of delinquent hooligans who are responsible for the temperature not getting above 40 degrees this week-end and dropping to below zero on Tuesday!

A friend in Essex emailed that every possible surface in her laundry room is covered in seedlings in pots. She's lucky, for in our so-called sitting room, it is, well untidy is a polite word, with pots stacked absolutely everywhere.

There are buckets full of bare rooted fruit and rose bushes in there all jostling for some day light.. fat chance they have, with the sky looking as if WE are just about to have another mother and father of a thunder storm the like of which WE had last Saturday.

Did YOU know that the humble Radish won't even think about germinating until the SOIL temperature is 45 degrees? No, I am not telling YOU gross fibs! FORTY FIVE degrees.. huh, it will be a few weeks before the soil at our plots reach that dizzy height of heat, that's for sure.

Our previously recorded LAST Frost date is June 9th, but SHE never plants any treasured Tommy plants out in the plot until the second week of June  but this year.. well, they maybe staying at home in deepest Knightsbridge for even longer, at this rate!

SHE received an email from Rosamund in Australia. She says that she and her husband will soon be back home in Northern Germany and she said that her garden is still covered in snow and that it has been a very severe winter.

She told us that home owners are responsible for making sure that pavements outside homes are free from ice and snow and that this has to be done each day before 7.00 am! And that people who do not do this.. can be and are fined.. 

SHE made very sure that OUR steps were indeed completely free from ice and snow during that particularly evil snap WE had earlier this year.. a mixture of Road Salt and Sand did the trick.. a bit messy but Mr.Rubbish man said "Good morning lass, we are very grateful to you for doing this and wish that more people did it". 

"Lass".. SHE liked being called that! Bless his heart, so sweet as it made HER day. Now, SHE has to go out to the Library, so I will sign off and find a suitable door to snooze upon whilst SHE is out and about.

GeeGee Parrot.
March 22nd, 2013.

KIDS.. LOTS & LOTS OF KIDS.. AND NO, SHE'S NOT KIDDING!

For down at Ellie's Dairy on the North Downs in Kent, HER favourite Goaty folk are having Kids as fast as they can and at the last count, that SHE knows about which was on Monday, there were 179 new babies.. lots of Kids!

Have YOU ever seen a photo of a newly born Kid, well.. do yourself a favour and go to look at Ellie's Dairy's Blog.. beware, YOU will fall in love.. for they are mighty cute indeedy, oh yes, they are.

And SHE has a date for Saturday.. which is to go to meet Debbie aka Goaty Mum at The Farmer's Market in Wimbledon, the last time they were there, they ate ice cream and sat chatting in the sunshine. 

This time, however, they will both be looking like the Michelin Tyre man, wrapped up in multiple layers of thermals and fleece with rubber boots on, for the forecast is not good... in fact, to be correct, it is dire! This is what they are forecasting.. ugh.

Very cold, very wet and very windy weather.

But Debbie has something in a box which SHE wants, "what is that", YOU think to yourselves and this is what THAT is, it is un-pasteurised Goaty Milk. 

SHE drinks it BUT the very best thing is that it makes the best, the very best and most delicious Ricotta Cheese. SHE makes it.. WE both love it.

And just before SHE picks up that novel, I thought  I would give YOU an up-date on todays 'stats'.. Germany has gone on to do other things and now Sweden is very busily reading MY Blog, with 32 Swedish Readers!

Sleep well everyone, thanks for reading MY Blog.

GeeGee Parrot.
March 21st, 2013.

YOU SAY TOMAYTO, I SAY TOMAHTO, THE FRENCH SAY TOMATE.. BETTER GET DIGGING THAT SOIL..

For if WE don't.. well.. there won't be anything to eat.

With apologies to George and Ira Gershwin..

Catalogues and catalogs.. with glorious techi-coloured photographs of blemish free, perfect fruit and vegetables.. "dream on" SHE said, when SHE had refilled the third hot water bottle. 

For old Jack Frost is a'comin tonight, that's for sure! With his evil icy cloak that he lays upon the ground.. so pretty.. yet so deadly.

It is very chilly-billy out there and it is not yet 9 of the clock, aka MY bedtime. SHE is looking at old Gardening books which have taught HER how to do stuff, good word stuff, is it not?

But the oldest book SHE has in HER possession is a very battered and much used copy of Mrs.Beeton's Household Management. 

It first belonged to HER Great Grandmother Constance Hooper and has a stamp on the flyleaf which says 'Higginbotham & Co - Booksellers - Madras & Bangalore'. These are towns in India.

Some advice SHE gleaned from this extraordinarily detailed book was used when SHE was working with HER restoration teams.. on how to clean various things, how to get the best results from using something else. Now, it is safely tucked away up on a shelf in a cupboard.. Away from norty old Beaky Beak.

I will remind HER to share some of the 'more unusual' pieces of advice on how to do things with YOU one day.

But not tonight, for SHE has to finish a Library book.. yes, shock horror.. a novel. And take it back tomorrow.. plus, I think if SHE looked at another Tomahto plant, SHE would turn into one.

Good night Dear Readers.. stay safe and warm, those of YOU in the Northern hemisphere.

GeeGee Parrot.
March 21st, 2013.

THREE WONDERFUL BLOGS FOR YOU.. NOT JUST GREEN FINGERS.. HARVEST TO TABLE & GOATS.. ELLIE'S DAIRY.

Slowly slowly.. catch the monkey.. 

For gardens are not made in one day! There's much reading and researching being done and this is to make a list of varieties and suppliers for YOU.

Now some companies will ship overseas, some won't. SHE has, thank goodness, a couple of friends who allow seeds to be mailed to them and they forward them.

Dear Lesley, aka LuLu, in NYC, very kindly sent some books on to HER earlier this year, because for some strange reason Amazon would not ship a couple of them to HER, others yes, no problem! Wasn't that peculiar, most weird.

Anyway.. here are excellent Blogs that WE hope YOU will enjoy. SHE will give YOU more but these are quite enough for today.

NOT JUST GREEN FINGERS..
This one is based in England.. the owner / writer is a woman (much younger that HER), she also has four plots AND she has photos! Cor.. very clever!
www.notjustgreenfingers.wordpress.com

HARVEST TO TABLE..

The second is based in the USA.. the owner is called Steve. His Blog is about growing vegetables and preparing them.. he also has photos.. sigh, WE don't but WE might, if WE got our computer back.
www.harvesttotable.com 

WE hope that YOU enjoy reading both these Blogs. I know, the title said THREE so here IS number 3! 

It is certainly the funniest.. go immediately, if not sooner, see for yourself, it has fabulous photos!

ELLIE'S DAIRY..
WE hope that YOU read an old favourite of HERS 
called Ellies Dairy which features HER most 
favourite Goaty Folk & Debbie, aka Goaty Mum!
Find them all at.. elliesdairy@blogspot.com

It is tea time.. oh, I do love a slurp of Lapsang. By the way, WE do other things apart from eating in this house.. but warm tea down the throat, is, YOU have to agree with ME, very good.

GeeGee Parrot.
March 21st, 2013.

LATVIA.. BULGARIA.. SWEDEN.. LUXEMBOURG.. RUSSIA & TWENTY SEVEN GERMANS!

Goodness ME.. what a very fine day it was today! 

For WE awoke see old Mr.Sun shining his torch over deepest Knightsbridge.. yippee! Hurray!

Then WE found in our Stats on MY Blog a truly amazing collection of overseas Dear Readers! 

And at the top of the list of countries reading MY Blog today, is Germany with 27 readers! 

I, correction, WE always find it fascinating when there is suddenly a huge jump in the number of Dear Readers from one country and, of course, WE never know why?

It would be really nice if YOU would post a comment or two on how YOU 'found' MY Blog and whether YOU read it most days or just very occasionally. 

Some of YOU do write and HER friends give us a bit of feed back on a post but there is a whole big world of Dear Readers, whom WE have never met, who read about our antics and what SHE got up to before I laid MY talons upon HER.

Oh dear.. Old Mr.Sun has obviously become very 
embarrassed by the amount of Press he is getting for he has done 'a runner' behind a big cloud, oh 
dear, when will he come back to shine his shiny light upon us here in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales?

There is dear Leigh, on a train to Liverpool, I bet she would like a few rays of sunshine whilst she is up there for the week-end.

Those bare rooted Currant and Rose bushes are getting bigger by the minute.. they are sitting in buckets in our sitting room.. with huge amounts of  new growth, strong new growth too, not skinny 
weak shoots, indeed not!

But.. WE know old Jack Frost is lurking and he 
would love to give them a nip or two, so they will 
sit in our sitting room for another week or two.

It is 39 degrees here at home and the plots are just always a couple of degrees colder.. So it truly is a case of "Shiver MY Timbers" and all those other Pirate sayings that MY ancestors used to say when they sailed the Spanish Main on their Galleons.

Where is SHE.. HER head is always cosy and 
warm for MY toe-toes to sit upon.

More later.. please let us know how YOU found MY Blog.

GeeGee Parrot.
March 21st, 2013.

JAM FLASH NEWS.. ANOTHER STORE.. READ ALL ABOUT IT!

  NEWEST NEWS ON JAMS WHEREABOUTS

It can never be said that WE don't have YOUR best interests at heart! No sirree.. for it has been brought to OUR attention that there is another purveyor of See Canyon Blenheim Apricot Jam!

And here is their location..

SQIRLS @ 720. North Virgil Avenue # 4
Los Angeles 90029
(213)-394-6526

I am waiting for HER to make a dish of Brown Bread Ice Cream.. yes, I have already posted the recipe for this.. go back and read it, for it is mighty delicious and very easy to make! 

But YOU, Dear Readers, who already know how simply delicious it is.. can YOU imagine how a little (not too little) amount of a superb Apricot Jam on top of Brown Bread Ice Cream would be?

Oh.. human food.. I am so very glad that SHE is not the type of human that thinks Parrots should only eat parrot food.. oh, it makes ME feel quite faint at the thought of life without Humous / Pink Stuff aka Taramasalata / Bavette Steak or Scrambled Eggs.. just imagine it.. no thanks.

Oh, it's past MY bewitching hour of 9 of the clock
and time to go to bed.. I have obviously grown up considerably in the last year for I used to carry on alarmingly at the thought of going to bed and SHE used to literally spell it out on MY Blog but now.. I am quite happy to say "Good night"..

GeeGee Parrot.
March 20th, 2013.

BLACK SEED OIL.. NIGELLA SATIVA..

"SPRING TIME IN LONDON. DODOODOO".

SHE's lost the plot.. is out to lunch.. gone away with the Fairies. 

Dear Readers. I am sure YOU get MY drift! Well, it maybe classified as the beginning of Spring with the start of this Spring Equinox but when SHE stuck HER nose out of the door to see what 'it' aka the weather was doing.. SHE retreated smartly!

It is pouring with rain.. bouncing off our steps. So off came the outer layer - of many - of clothes and those cosy fleecy lined boots. 

WE are so bored of the days being dull as it is so dismal, especially as there was a pinkish sky last night. SHE thought it might be a 'nice' day.. sigh.

At home WE have buckets full of bare rooted Black Currants, Red Currants and Rose bushes waiting to be planted in the ground. Huh.. 

For it is extremely COLD and very WET the ground and this brings ME to the title of this Post.

SHE hates wearing gardening gloves and only wears them when dealing with Brambles / Blackberries and very spiky Gooseberries. So naturally poor fingers get a lot of abuse from cold, damp soil. 

The allotment plots are in England, between Chiswick and Kew, if YOU are new to MY Blog.
And there is not much warmth being beamed in 
our direction at the moment.

SHE remarked to dear Gabi Flixeder, a wonderful 
Austrian Kinesiologist based in Gmunden, Austria about having stiff fingers and sore joints and Gabi then told HER about BLACK SEED OIL.

The seed is, in fact, Black Cumin. So when YOU are looking for it.. make sure that the ingredient listed is Black Cumin Seed. SHE simply cannot recommended it more highly but especially if YOU are a gardener! The effect has been nothing short of miraculous on HER poor swollen knuckles!

That will have to do YOU for a while, as a late lunch is on the menu.. and YOU all know how much I love food.. especially Human Food aka YumYum.

GeeGee Parrot.
March 20th, 2013.

BLACK, RED & WHITE CURRANTS & PLANS FOR A SOLAR GREENHOUSE.

Good day to YOU, Dear Reader.

SHE saw sunlight yesterday afternoon! Yippee..

And, there were several very large patches of blue sky, pale but blue! SHE thought "just in time for Spring Equinox, maybe gardening work can commence".

FAT CHANCE.. WE woke up to another very cold and wet day, there is no point in even thinking of going out there. Everything is tidy, but pretty much still fast asleep, the Narcissi are only growing very slowly. 

The flower and leaf buds on the fruit trees are all firmly curled up with the exception of one fruit tree!

A little 'Sonesta' Plum.. who only dropped half of her leaves last autumn, the other half, not all on one side, are all still there and as green as can be! 

What a daft tree, the bald half is covered with fat fruit and leaf buds, so it will be interesting to see how it grows this year.

The assorted Currant bushes that were planted three years ago have settled in well and look good with lots of new growth, SHE is increasing to their quantity by adding an extra four of both Black and Red varieties and is on the hunt for more White ones.

SHE has to find that plastics company with whom SHE spoke last year. The site is far too exposed to even think about using glass. This is for the Solar Greenhouse that SHE plans to build.. after the plot has been cleared! It has to face due south in order to reap the full benefit of this design of 'glass' house. 

But SHE has to get out and about so WE will post more on Solar Greenhouses when SHE gets back.

I will snooze, SHE will run errands, a fair division of labour.

GeeGee Parrot.
March 20th, 2013.

VALERIE CONFECTIONS.. ADDRESS & TELEPHONE.

OK.. here are more details on how to contact the makers of the See Canyon Blenheim Apricot Jam.

Valerie Confections
3360. West 1st Street, Los Angeles
+ 1 213-739-8149
Open 10:00AM - 6:00PM

They are also on Face Book which is where SHE found this information for YOU.

It is time for ME to close MY eyes and drift away to the land of neenie-byes.. and just in case I feel beakish before our official getting up and the of breaking our fast tomorrow, there are, in MY night house, a couple of dishes filled with an ample sufficiency of those beloved things called Cashew Nuts and some vitamin enhanced water.. therefore, all is well in MY life, as I trust it is in yours?

Good night Dear Readers.. good night.

GeeGee Parrot.
March 19th, 2013.

BLENHEIN APRICOT JAM.. WHERE TO BUY IT!

Now get up off the floor.. did YOU not think SHE would come to the rescue?

SHE'S been told by Patsy that none of those Farmer's Markets will be having any of her brother-in-law's fruit until late June.. 

So here for all YOU lovers of scrummydumptious edububble things is the source.. straight off the label, yes, YOU won't have to comb through those Search Engines.. of jam aka preserve. Here it is.

                     SEE CANYON 
           BLENHEIM APRICOT JAM
                               8 oz
Produced for Cirone Farms by:
Valerie Confections
Handmade in Los Angeles California
www.valerieconfections.com
888.706.1408

SHE is a kind woman, MY mum. SHE thinks that folk who keep the details of fantastic suppliers of wonderful stuff and things to themselves and not letting other people know are 'rather' mean spirited.. and that is ME being quite the diplomat!

So Pegeen.. none of that purchasing jam from Messrs Williams Sonoma.. get the real deal!

WE have Beet Leaves, Garlicy Humous and Bib Steak aka Bavette for supper.. So Slurp.. To the YumYum HQ I must flap flap.. SHE has to walk, I am a bit quicker.

GeeGee Parrot.
March 19th, 2013.

WELL.. THERE'S NO SENSE TO BE HAD FROM HER.

None at all, Dear Readers, for SHE has 'the nose' into a couple of books.. 

YOU are to read this with an Irish accent.. for it is not St.Patrick's Day today? It surely is.. and so it is most appropriate that the books are on green t'ings.. indeed they would be known by sensible folk as Gardening Books. 

No one has ever accused US of being sensible, heavens no! For that would not be fun.. and the Lord knows.. WE certainly enjoy a lot of that around here! Well, most of the time anyway. WE both have the ability of finding the nonsensical in most of our friends.

Anyway, those books.. SHE has a pad of paper and a pen that has somehow escaped meeting my beaky beak.. oh, I love the noise of a crunchy biro. SHE wants to grow different t'ings this year.. many strange and weird coloured vegetable plants. 

Did YOU know that Carrots were NOT originally Orange? Neither did SHE until quite recently, that nugget of information was gleaned at same point last year when SHE learnt that Peppers are Perennials!

Who knew.. Not us!

Back to those books GeeGee.. concentrate, anyone would think I have a Bird's Brain.. huh, no rude comments from YOU, Stephane in Moscow, please!

So there are lists.. of folk who sell unusual or hard to find seeds.

YOU know SHE is delighted to share this sort of information with YOU all.. so come back later and see what SHE has pulled together for YOU.. sadly not for lovely Rosamund in Sydney or for Peter and Sally up in Queensland.. Australia are VERY strict and do not allow importation of any seeds of into their country.

But YOU can have it for when YOU come back to Germany! How is the garden coming along? Do write and let US know, did YOU get any Peonies? What fruit trees have YOU planted? Send photos, how is Lotta.. has she found something to keep her busy and out-of-the-house? Tell all..

Well, Dear Readers.. YOU know that that applies to All of YOU! There is Mr. Sam in New York City who is wishing it was time to go up to Maine.. and Patsy in California.. what's for sale in those Farmer's Markets? 

And WE might have a new Dear Reader! Yes, from HER days at school.. don't snigger in the back row.. SHE did go to school, several of them.. and came away with a strange assortment of information.. some of it not very useful.

Anyway, there is someone called Sally.. first names only on MY Blog unless YOU are a seller of seeds or priceless information.. who is moving to France.. she told HER that she had Primroses in 

the garden.. PRIMROSES! WE haven't seen anything except little 

Snowdrops, that will tell YOU how cold it has been! And one poor little Radicchio who was foolish enough to stick her nose out of the snow.

SHE is making moves to the YumYum HQ. Flap flap, I'll be off.

GeeGee Parrot.

March 17th, 2013.. St.Patrick's Day to be sure.

BLENHEIM APRICOTS.. THE ELUSIVE FRUIT!

They seek them here.. they seek them there.. they seek them everywhere!

YOU, Dear Reader, may even thinking about them as YOU read this Post on MY Blog because for a very short time they are available to a fortunate few but trust ME.. position or wealth does not get YOU to be a member of this group of happy folk.. no sirree. 

What YOU have to be, to join this merry bunch of Epicures, is within reach of a Farmer's Market in California which sells Blenheim Apricots.

And guess what arrived with our most treasured Mr.Postie yesterday? Go on.. give it a shot! Don't just sit there gazing at your computer screen.. stretch our old friend Mr.Brain. We know Sally in Switzerland is going to cheat, because she knows the answer, what came out of the box was a pot of Blenheim Apricot Preserve.

The fruit is grown by Michael Cirone and it is his sister-in-law, whom YOU all know as Patsy who comes to stay with us, who sent HER the preserve.

Blenheim's have a very short season and SHE has not eaten a fresh one since the summer of 2005, so to have a pot of this preserve is like opening a jar of memories!

The sunshine, warmth, people SHE was with, the food they ate, they had eaten at The French Laundry, a curious name for an amazing restaurant.

What can WE say to Patsy? "Thank you" seems a 
trifle inadequate.. so let's add a few words and YOU may start to realise the level of gratitude that is whizzing about our YUMYUM HQ! 

"Patsy.. dearest woman, YOU did it again girl, the degree and level of YOUR generosity of friendship and sweetness of spirit is beyond par, please try and make it over here in October.

Eating home made Rye Soda Bread with YOUR Blenheim Preserve is beyond scrummydumptious. THANK YOU".

Dear Readers.. I apologise to the rest of YOU who are NOT able to taste this most exquisite of fruits.. what can WE do to ease this level of deprivation? 

The answer is, I am afraid, not a lot. It is ALL down to YOU.. so go on-line.

Google or use which ever Search Engine YOU prefer and enter Mike Cirone Fruit Farmer, find out which Farmer's Markets he sells his fruits and to YOU Dear Readers of California who may be reading this Post.. get immediately, if not sooner, to where Mike sells his fruit and maybe just maybe YOU might meet OUR pal Patsy.

Say "Hello" to her and tell her how YOU learnt about Mike and his fruit, ask when Blenheims are in season and make sure that YOU are in town when they are.

If YOU are really lucky.. YOU will remember to ask where YOU would be able to purchase a jar of Blenheim Apricot Preserve.

Then YOU too will be able to taste the taste of Californian Sunshine in a jar..

Pip Pip.. Dear Readers.. Pip Pip or should that be..
Stone Stone.. it is ok, YOU don't have to live with ME!

GeeGee Parrot.
March 19th, 2013.

SHERRY AT ALDERSHOT!

Dear Readers..

This is by-the-way.. for is SHE not supposed to be ferreting out names and details of seed suppliers?

SHE was but got side-tracked into reading Sunday newspapers on line.. where SHE read, to HER horror, that Irish Guards had given their Regimental Colonel's wife a glass of Sherry. 

Sherry.. And what good would that be doing her?

In the old days, even before Dagga-the-Parrot's time, HERSELF went to many a lunch with this Regiment.. and yes, there was Sherry to be had but SHE can't remember drinking it.. no, indeed not, for why drink Sherry when Guinness of Dublin had made sure that a couple of barrels of their very finest Stout would be shipped in especially for this very day.

Very good stuff Guinness Stout.. and a little when you are pregnant never hurt anyone..

WE had our late lunch and very tasty it was too! Poached Eggs on Red Leaves with Hollandaise Sauce.. yes, proper Hollandaise Sauce, the one with boiled Vinegar etc.

Now WE have settled back again and more books have joined the pile.. endless list.

ME.. I have had MY pudding which was a Cox Apple and Almonds and am ready for a doze.

I trust that all of YOU are having an equally pleasant day? Yawn.. bye bye.. more later.

GeeGee Parrot.
March 17th, 2013.

SILLY BLOGSPOT..

Dear Reader. 

Sometime SHE could smack Blogspot very hard.. For it will not allow HER in to correct something.. but perhaps it is those very norty Leprechauns who are having a game at HER expense! 

SHE meant to write "that Carrots were NOT originally Orange..

Flap flap.

GeeGee Parrot.
And it is still St.Patrick's Day.

BAH HUMBUG.. stupid man!

No.. Dear Reader, WE don't mean poor old Mr. Scrooge but some other very silly Blog writer.. he wrote in one of his posts on his Blog about Britain about the visit with his wife to the wonderful food shops on Pont Street in Knightsbridge.

SHE, who has lived two doors away from Pont Street for 38 years, posted a polite comment onto his Blog saying that he must have been confused with the wrong street as never have been any food shops on Pont Street. 

There was Drones Restaurant which closed many years ago and now there is another restaurant there whose name SHE does not recall but a food shop.. nah, never.

What he IS describing is the section of Sloane Avenue at the junction of the Fulham Road and Pelham Street.. there are shops, some restaurants, a fish shop.. and the Michelin Building.

Anyway.. HER comment was removed.. WE always laugh at things like this and hope that the next poor tourist who follows this foolish mans' direction gives him a rude 'toot' or two onto his Blog when they find out he wrote all the wrong street names.

Well.. are YOU all ready for St.Patricks Day tomorrow? 

Have YOU baked a couple of Soda Bread, got some Galway Oysters in the chiller and are YOU ready for some 'fine crack'? YOU don't know what I am talking about.. well, to be sure, it is a word very particular to Ireland and it means good conversation.. usually fuelled with a few glasses of the dark stuff.. aka Guiness.  

HoHoHo.. yes indeedy, there are Tales that will never be told about HER and the dark stuff and St. Paddy's Day.. nope, it is more than MY beak is worth to tell them! 

Onto another subject I will swiftly move..

As HER norty old right knee gave HER a tweak and a twinge this week SHE knew lots of rain was a'coming, so SHE did our food marketing yesterday.. the lovely Carol Vegetable gave HER a huge bag of goodies for FREE!! 

SHE knows it was because SHE had noticed Carol had a sniffle last week, SHE came home, got a bottle of HER strong Ginger Syrup and took it back to Carol.. chilly work selling from a market stall in this weather and neither Carol nor SHE are getting any younger!

Beautiful beef from Butcher, Humous, Nuts and Olive Oil from the smiley Mohammed, crisp delicious Apples from funny Kaza.

So here WE are.. with three cosy hotties in bed, I am sitting on HER head keeping MY eye on HER typing MY Blog.. all is well in OUR life..

And WE have a package flying here from California! Patsy has put a jar of something delicious and edibubble in the post.. come along Mr. Postie.. hurry up!

But before WE go off to YumYum HQ to HER to rattle some pans.. I want to say "Thank you" to Otto & Phoebe's mum.. no, YOU don't have to know her name.. but she was very kind and sweet to MY mum this last week.. sniff. Wish more folk were, some folk have been really mean.. nope, MY beak is zipped.

Pip Pip.. enjoy YOUR Saturday & Sunday wherever YOU maybe!

GeeGee Parrot.
March 16th, 2013.