tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7767918086420070312.post7348542697841952717..comments2023-12-14T17:43:04.484+00:00Comments on timbobig: Useless grapesTimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11201835677426254567noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7767918086420070312.post-54593062717444555622011-09-05T08:06:39.611+01:002011-09-05T08:06:39.611+01:00Ascetic forbearance? Yes, that fits. I think the b...Ascetic forbearance? Yes, that fits. I think the blackberries were probably to top up his phone - he finds modern technology challenging.<br />When I say "once" I use it idiosynchronicalistactally in the sense of "once upon a time". It may have been twice, thrice or morice upon a time.<br /><br />I can't see you releasing ladybirds into the Oxford Road on a Saturday night at midnight. And getting the car out to take them to somewhere properly "wild" also seems unlikely. <br />What do you shake to? Johnny Kidd & the Pirates? And what gap before the next 3 month shaking period? And what good does it do the jar contents anyway, sitting on a shelf watching you doing a Colin Firth & Geoffrey Rush impression?Richard WalkLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12306430776956627549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7767918086420070312.post-33568756781476173132011-09-04T22:24:18.952+01:002011-09-04T22:24:18.952+01:00I take them off the stalks. I don't bother to...I take them off the stalks. I don't bother to prick them, because they're much softer than sloes (which have to be pricked with a silver fork, according to some authorities). I extract many ladybirds and release them into the wild. I put everything into one of those big old-fashioned sweet jars and shake regularly for three months.<br />I will bottle small quantities (<2MB) and email them to first-comers in January.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11201835677426254567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7767918086420070312.post-16411770714244406372011-09-04T21:37:34.448+01:002011-09-04T21:37:34.448+01:00Did you take them off the stalk or prick them or j...Did you take them off the stalk or prick them or just ram the bunches willy-nilly into the bottle of vodka? It sounds brilliant, I'll try it if the birds leave any grapes, which is a bit unlikely. I could always buy a bunch of grapes, anyway. <br /><br />We never seem to quite finish the sloe gin, Soaring, I've got some that's at least 10 years old. It keeps improving.Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00822383355869390919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7767918086420070312.post-86953295897171761702011-09-04T19:06:35.619+01:002011-09-04T19:06:35.619+01:00Christopher - 'turned' in the sense of ...Christopher - 'turned' in the sense of 'transformed'. Piptomancy sounds a very inexact science, compared to, say, bibliomancy, onychomancy or scapulomancy. Too many variables.<br /><br />Soaring - once?? Ten years??? Your neighbour is a model of ascetic forbearance. Or something.<br />Blackberry brandy sounds like an idea ...<br /><br />Rog - I don't, they're welcome. But most of my birds are clunky great pigeons that would have trouble perching on a delicate vine stalk. (They can't even perch on a fence.)Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11201835677426254567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7767918086420070312.post-89439261936962891132011-09-04T18:34:40.942+01:002011-09-04T18:34:40.942+01:00How do you stop the birds eating them?How do you stop the birds eating them?Roghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09430706557035189147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7767918086420070312.post-65518358344343574682011-09-04T12:29:12.246+01:002011-09-04T12:29:12.246+01:00Just back from a walk during which we passed a nei...Just back from a walk during which we passed a neighbour picking blackberries, which seem to be almost over already round here, that's a tad early isn't it?<br />Anyway next to the blackberries were stacks (bushes anyway) of sloes (I am told they are sloes, not blueberries). Neighbour said he made some sloe gin once & kept it for about 10 years to mature. Now that's what I call sloe gin.Richard WalkLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12306430776956627549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7767918086420070312.post-5889917178570236582011-09-04T12:21:01.070+01:002011-09-04T12:21:01.070+01:00When you say you turned them, do you mean you trod...When you say you turned them, do you mean you trod them? It's a messy business, and not just because of getting the pips out from between your toes. I believe there is a recognised system of divination based on the position and number of pips between the toes. Piptomancy, or some such thing.Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14227767014123557100noreply@blogger.com