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I tried to make him go to rehab – he said “no, no, no”!

I saw signs of this last summer when Jeremy sowed some catnip seeds in a pot in the courtyard. Nigel took an unhealthy interest in the plants but Mabel wasn’t bothered. Today, as the sun shone in the courtyard and I was weeding some of the pots and planters, Nigel appeared.

He stuck his head in the emerging catnip and then went into ecstasy click below

It seems that many cats (but not all and not Mabel) get high on the oil and scent given off by Catnip

“Effects of catnip on most domestic cats include rolling, pawing, and frisking”

“Cats get high off catnip by inhaling the nepetalactone — whether from a live plant, dried plant material, or an oil extract. The chemical binds to receptors inside a cat’s nose, which stimulate sensory neurons leading into the brain”.

Should I be sending Nigel to NA or a therapist or just digging up the Catnip? It seems such an innocent pleasure

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It’s been a “baking morning” but now I’m off outside to garden in beautiful sunshine

A birthday cake for granddaughter (now in the freezer to be defrosted and iced on Sunday). Two marble cakes

And, below, a new recipe which required me to do something I haven’t done for years – bake blind i.e. use beans to weigh down the homemade pastry case and cook it before putting in the filling and cooking for a further short time
The beans can’t be cooked now but can be stored for future blind baking

In the pastry case slather Dijon mustard, then sprinkle grated cheese, add sliced tomatoes and seasoning and a swirl of olive oil. Eat tonight!

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A fabulous sunrise and a good milk yield for reasons below

My friend, Em, sent me one more piece of information about the Lupino family and this triggered a higher morning milk yield from Willow

Em told me that Lupino Lane (a cousin of Ida Lupino snd himself a well known performer of stage and film) appeared in the film “Me and my girl” popularising the song “Doing the Lambeth Walk”. I played it to Willow as I milked her. She loved it!

Here’s the YouTube link https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GHPbdkMMnZ4

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Tonight and tomorrow we celebrate Tu Bishvat – the new year for trees

At The Gables our custom is to plant at least one tree (and often many more) to mark the day. Earlier this afternoon we took a trip to Pells farm shop and nursery. During the first and very strict lockdown (our leaders please TAKE NOTE) my niece stayed with us for 13 weeks and her socially distanced and fully masked treat was to visit Pells to buy Pink Lady apples

Today we selected a weeping cherry tree which we will plant in the ground tomorrow.

We brought it home in the Land Rover
I also bought four Pink Lady apples for old times sake

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Some additional information

Sent to me from a friend who I haven’t seen for 40 years. Em and her partner and we lived in adjoining thatched cottages in a Devon Hamlet many moons ago. We have kept in touch and the internet has played a significant part in our regular exchanges. Em often sends me information for which I am truly grateful. This time it related to the reply to a letter that my grandpa Charles sent to a vaudeville performer complaining about a perceived slur the man had made against the Jewish people. I put the letter in a blog I posted on Thursday night to mark the yahrzeit of my grandpa. I couldn’t read the performer’s signature but Em did and correctly told me that it was Stanley Lupino, father of his much more famous daughter Ida Lupino. Here is the letter again with links to both Stanley and Ida Lupino

.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Lupino

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Lupino

As the son of a Jewish mother Stanley Lupino would have been a member of the race but did not regard himself as such
Stanley Lupino
His daughter and Hollywood actress Ida Lupino