New Year’s Eve comes and New Year’s Eve goes, painting red all over our sky and against the Pyrenees – trying hard to portend good things. Looks uplifting, anyway. For sure, the last night of 2020 burnt itself up in a flame burning tiger-bright all over the sky, and the first day of 2021 announced itself with Homeric […]
Wednesday 3 December The influential Dutch wine writer, Harold Hamersma, reminds us that Christmas is just around the corner. He was on to this quite early in the day, his article was actually published last month, but we’ve only just seen it. He chose our Odyssée to accompany a recipe proposed by his cook/culinary/cookbook expert […]
This entry was begun at the beginning of the month – but there was absolutely nothing to say. Not a thing. As if our minds were frozen and trapped in the tundra of presidential elections in North America, the alarming growth of Covid-19 cases, and the resulting general air of malaise, misery and mayhem all over the place, and […]
So it’s October. An early season of mists and mellow fruit/ful/less/ness. The vines are changing colour under our eyes. Suddenly we’re surrounded by fields of gold, that stretch in a brilliant glow from here to the infinity of mountains covered in lavish lashings of snow. The temperature ricochets from top-summer heat to mid-winter cold, and […]
Earth’s increase, foison plenty, Barns and garners never empty, Vines and clustering bunches growing, Plants with goodly burden bowing— Spring come to you at the farthest/ In the very end of harvest. Scarcity and want shall shun you. Ceres’ blessing so is on you. (From Shakespeare’s The Tempest) We could do with some blessings from […]