Calamondine and Lime Marmalade

We have had a little calamondin tree (spelt calamondine on our label) for a couple of years and it had grown a number of fruit. So I decided to harvest them and make some Calamondin Marmalade today.

Courgettes

This was yesterday's crop of courgettes from the garden, which included another massive one (I must have missed it when cropping them last week when I also had a large one), 

Weekend Quick Cryptic 56 - Solution

My fellow TimesforTheTimes contributors Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce Quick Cryptic crosswords to fill the gap left by the Saturday Times not having one. The plan is for us to take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's my turn. 

You can find a link to the crossword here and the answers below. Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on TfTT. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 56 - My Holiday Destination by Johninterred

Click here to read about the origin of this series of crosswords.

A brief history of the origins of these crosswords for those who are new to them. As a blogger of the Times Quick Cryptic Crossword on Times for The Times every other Friday, I often had comments on the blog bemoaning that The Times only provides a Quick Cryptic on Mondays to Fridays. When I finally gave up work at the end of February 2020, I decided that I would try my hand at compiling crosswords. It was with some trepidation that I published, in May 2020, the first of these Weekend Quick Cryptics to fill the gap. Well it seemed to go down well so I did another. And then my fellow crossword solver and commenter on Times for the Times, Phil Jordan, volunteered to produce some too. And then, more recently, so did Sawbill. So now the three of us take turns, publishing each new crossword via my Friday Quick Crossword blog. 

This time it is my turn to provide the fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic crossword, Number 56 in the series, entitled "My Holiday Destination".

You can try and solve the crossword interactively here on MyCrossword or here on crossword.info.  As usual you can download a PDF to print which you can find here. Alternatively you can copy and print the image below. Comments and queries are welcome with the solution post (which also gives tips on some of the clues).  I will react to any comments or queries there as soon as I can. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.

Old Newton Walk

Today we did a walk that had been on the list to do for quite a while but cancelled twice because of conditions underfoot and weather forecast. I did a walk from Old Newton in January (see here) and Joyce thought it might join up quite well with a walk she had planned from Haughley. The plan was to do it on Monday, but the weather forecast this time last week was for Monday to be rather hot. So instead we did it today and, because it was just an afternoon walk, shortened it from the estimated 12-13 miles to about 8.5 miles, with a plan to finish by 5pm.

Bedford River Festival

What a day out! Yesterday we joined Laura and Laurence to visit the famous biennial Bedford River Festival. There was such a lot to see and do. 

Kentford Walk

Today we did a summery linear walk from Kentford back to Bury St. Edmunds (with lifts from Kennet Station to the start). Mostly out in the countryside it was a peaceful route through straw-coloured fields - some already harvested and some not and it felt quite a contrast when we got to urban Bury St. Edmunds at the end.

Laura's Graduation Official Video Clip

Laura got sent this today...

Here's the full video clip the still is from...

Southsea Food Festival 2022

Four years ago when we visited Laura in Portsmouth we found the Southsea Food Festival was on and visited it (see here). And it was on this year on the same weekend... this one! So that was our entertainment for the after graduation sorted!

Laura's PhD Graduation

Today Laura formally had her PhD conferred on her at a degree ceremony in the Guildhall in Portsmouth. We were all there - me, Dawn, Sarah, William and Laurence. 

Portsmouth Sundown

Yesterday we converged on Portsmouth for Laura's graduation today (q.v.). Laura and Laurence drove from Bedford and we left home after Dawn got home from school, leaving about 5:30pm. We were all staying at Portsmouth City Centre Travelodge, where we had 2 rooms.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 55 - Solution

My fellow TimesforTheTimes contributors Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce Quick Cryptic crosswords to fill the gap left by the Saturday Times not having one. The plan is for us to take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Sawbill's turn. 

You can find a link to the crossword here and the answers below. Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on TfTT. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 55 - by Sawbill

Click here to read about the origin of this series of crosswords.

A brief history of the origins of these crosswords for those who are new to them. As a blogger of the Times Quick Cryptic Crossword on Times for The Times every other Friday, I often had comments on the blog bemoaning that The Times only provides a Quick Cryptic on Mondays to Fridays. When I finally gave up work at the end of February 2020, I decided that I would try my hand at compiling crosswords. It was with some trepidation that I published, in May 2020, the first of these Weekend Quick Cryptics to fill the gap. Well it seemed to go down well so I did another. And then my fellow crossword solver and commenter on Times for the Times, Phil Jordan, volunteered to produce some too. And then, more recently, so did Sawbill. So now the three of us take turns, publishing each new crossword via my Friday Quick Crossword blog. 

This time it is Sawbill's turn to provide the fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic crossword, Number 55 in the series.

You can try and solve the crossword interactively here on MyCrossword or here on crossword.info.  As usual you can download a PDF to print which you can find here. Alternatively you can copy and print the image below. Comments and queries are welcome with the solution post (which also gives tips on some of the clues).  I will react to any comments or queries there as soon as I can. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.

Summer Holiday

We're off to Scotland for a week in August, staying in Comrie at this place.

Oh no!

Dawn came down with Covid-19 on Thursday. I thought I'd managed to avoid her enough not to catch it, but apparently not. Rats!

Long Melford Walk

Today we had a walk starting and finishing in Long Melford going via Stanstead on some new paths for many of us.

Suffolk Witbeer 2022 Edition

Yesterday I bottled my latest brew, a Belgian Witbeer, or wheat beer, and today I labelled it. 

Stutton Walk and Village Fete

It was a lovely morning and everyone was up for going on a walk. I decided to do a version of a favourite that would keep it to less than 7 miles. We gathered together a picnic lunch and set of for Stutton... only to find, when we got there, that we couldn't park at the Community Hall today as it was the Village Fete from 12pm. But we did managed to park just round the corner and started walking just after 10:30.