Sunday 25 May 2008

Found it!

billhooks

I found the billhooks. Paul's was with his woodworking tools, mine was hidden on the back of a shelf next to a damp wall and had green mould growing on the handle. Whoops. Still, I've cleaned it up and used it to demolish some more brambles, this time in the back garden. The work had to be interrupted several times so that anxious blue tit parents could make food deliveries to their ravenous young. It really is a most useful tool, known as a serpette in French although I could have sworn when I bought this in the hypermarket it was labelled scierie italienne which is apparently an Italian sawmill...

Paul's is by far the more authentic, probably antique and picked up at one of those wood working and craft fairs they have from time to time in the wilder parts of the country, but I like the slim good looks of mine and the weight is right for my girly muscles.

Also today I bottled the Beech Leaf Noyau and just as before my doubts are stirred. The beech leaves simply don't add anything much, other than a slightly off colour tinge to the gin and by the time you've added the brandy and sugar one has to wonder what it's all in aid of. Still, what's not to like in fortified sweetened gin? We'd better still like it with nearly 3 litres of the stuff in the cupboard now.

sky line

The météo is promising storms for later and this looks like they might be right.

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