Friday 2nd May the Thornbury Local is having a country rock n roll evening. I think I could get into that on election eve. And Missing Link is playing at Shotkickers on election night. OK, who needs to doomscroll when you can dance!

Is everyone’s fire insurance paid up? Cos at work we’ve had TWO burned out trucks in our back alley so far today. One was a furniture mover’s truck (this morning) and now the fire alarm went off cos the next door block of flats had a small truck with a burning engine stuck in the garage door. Alarm was stupid loud too - had to finish up phone calls cos neither one of us could hear the other over the noise. Boss now gone down to bound and plunge and lose his temper. Not that that will accomplish much.

Pedal to the metal time!

My local ringies have absolutely destroyed my potted fuschias. In previous years the mint has been fairly safe - not this year. They even had a go at the lemon thyme and the really spicy oregano, neither of which have been targeted before. Lotta hungry possums out there rn. So far the chives are safe but I’m holding my breath a bit.

7/10 - OK with a couple of guesses (both wrong)

Pepitas are nice. Different flavour to pine nuts but equally snackable. Use in pesto, roast gently and sprinkle with salt & chilli powder for snax. Add to salads etc. Grind to a paste and mix with tahini/lemon/garlic for a different hommous. Truth to tell, I like them better than pine nuts - more options to tweak the flavours.

Last chance to clean coats, pillows, blankets, doonas etc. before winter sets in. I’m aiming to do a search & destroy cleaning this weekend ready for Easter. Plus gardening if I still have the energy.

Yumm. Thanks chef!

Bit of a red flag that.

Fattoush salad and a couple of goat kebabs please.

??? Never heard of it/him/whoever. Have I missed out on something?

Green/underripe pumpkin can be eaten if cooked. Not as much pumpkiny flavour - more like apple but perfectly edible and def not poisonous.

Also, next weekend is going to be warm at 28 deg/29 deg so just may continue to ripen a bit more.

Granny Smith yes. Pink Lady, Gala, Yellow Delicious - no. Best to leave peel on though.

Vale Kerry

Source of much reading pleasure over the years. Will be much missed.

Thanks chef! Much stronger now.

Pavlova with sardines please. Feeling in need of protein.

Chilly today, so a nice bowl of pho would be very pleasant please chef.

Um, don’t know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but … Read the manual carefully. Check to see if there’s an outlet valve that’s not working properly. Clean any outlet points/valves/tubes with a pipe cleaner (the coloured ones for craft work well) or straw size bottlebrush. Even a small blockage may mean that rinse/wash water is re-circulating when it shouldn’t be. Also air bubbles in the intake valve may prevent proper water circulation so poke a pipe cleaner in them too (gently).

Do not choose pure linen as a replacement - wrinkles even worse. Poly blend would stand up to washing if required though, so could be a good choice.

Tried that - now my head hurts.