Blackberry time

We managed to catch the last of these up along the loch - scratches and yelps later and we had a bucketful apart from the ones that were eaten along the way. Blackberries are really good food and full of antioxidants and omega 3 - whatever they are. Personally I think they triumph in Blackberry & Apple pie but here is our recipe for Blackberry wine - chateau longwayhome.


4lb Blackberries
3lb Sugar
1 Gallon water
Yeast
Pectic Enzyme

1. Wash berries well - small maggots hide in 'em.
2. Put fruit in a basin and crush well with a wood spoon.
3. Pour over the gallon of boiling water.
4. Leave until lukewarm - add the pectic enzyme according to instructions.
5. next day add the yeast.
6. Cover and leave for 4/5 days - stir every day.
7. Strain through net or muslim onto the 3lb of sugar. Stir well.
8. Pour into a dark fermenting jar - just to the shoulder of the jar. Fit an air lock.
9. Keep the spare stuff in a bottle plugged with c.wool. Keep an eye on for a week to see if it is going to erupt through the airlock - if all ok add the leftover stuff.
10. Keep in a dark warmich place.
11. Wait until it clears and rack off into bottles. Keep for a year - (if you can) but taste occasionally to check it is ok.

John Martin

Ever heard of him? Many other people I ask haven't either. Maybe where you are that that is reasonable but up here in Scotland it is just a sadness. if you haven't go to this place on You Tube and listen to him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLNnzrlim-4&feature=PlayList&p=5DDD1F72895684EB&index=0&playnext=1
John died just before Christmas last year and gave his last performance in Glasgow -home town - just a couple of months before.
You can see this on the Tube too if you look.
I've been listening to John since the 70's and playing some of his songs. I think he is the finest songwriter ever to come out of Glasgow and think he should have a statue in George Square.
His music explored all avenues - his songs recorded by so many - his asscoiations and contributions read like a musical Who's Who
Quote - Folk? Blues? Jazz? Rock? Reggae? Trip Hop? Funk? John refuses to conform to any particular music genre whilst simultaneously embracing them all. Without fail he always takes the less travelled road in search of new experiences and inspirations. The diversity and quality of John's music is undeniably stunning. A virtuoso musician with a voice to melt the coldest of hearts.
He never made the mainstream or the big lights but year after year produced music of such intense emotion and diversity.
Here is his site - www.johnmartyn.com - treat yourself. Listen to him singing Hurt in Your Heart and not be moved.

George Butterworth

It has been since 2007 since I did this place. If you start something keep going. Unless its falling off a high building or watching Big Brother in which case revise rules fast.
Ask people who George Butterworth was and you too often get a shrug. This is a dire sorrow becaue if you are English (or would like to be (form an orderkly queue of 6 here)) you should at least onece listen to his music. Along Ralph Vaughan Williams and Elgar who is quintessentially romantic, bucolic english. He was born 1885 and between 1911 and 1912, he composed two of the most enduring cycles of British song: Bredon Hill and Other Songs and Six Songs from “A Shropshire Lad”, both settings of Housman poems. His career was brutally cut short, however; after enlisting with the British Army in World War I, he eventually became a company commander with the Durham Light Infantry. On 5th August 1916, while leading a raid at the Somme, he was killed by a sniper; he received a Military Cross during that battle, and was posthumously honoured at the Thiepval Memoria. For me his The Banks of Green Willow is a defining picture of english countryside. Everytime I travel through Somerset I play it as I pass Brent Knoll and anytime else.
If you haven't - go make a cuppa- find a quiet spot in the garden with a player and do yourself a favour. Or go here to Youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8Q9dz1kse8&feature=PlayList&p=479539E66953DA65&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=34