Monday & Tuesday were a blur of waiting around, affirmations and cross-examinations, technical hitches and really quite cross judges. It was all rather exhausting and not a little stressful. I cannot imagine you would want to hear about all that. The most horticultural and the most pleasurable thing I did today was to eat chard. My favourite recipe, especially for difficult times, is Nigel's Slater's chard gratin. You can find it here, right towards the bottom or (as ever) in Tender. It is simple, easy, quick and delicious. I did not take a photo of the completed dish because it was dark and I was beyond photographing food by that stage. 

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The chard in the picture is Fordhook Giant (and it really is giant, this is a young leaf) which has been chosen to be the chard in the Nourish collection. Mostly because I adore chard and the bigger the plant the more I can eat, but also because it is tough as boots, more than happy to grow through frost and it tastes absolutely delicious. I have also been writing my ultimate guide to squash. Expect yet more squash pictures.
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Wednesday 18th November. More Court, but I also managed to get a pot of walnut dye on the hob for tablecloths. The book in the picture above is resting on hemp dyed with walnuts and a hint of an iron modifier. It is a beautiful earthen brown. I harvest yet more Black Knight Scabious for paper dye. If you are in Gather, there is a how to about this on the blog. It has been a bit of a rude awakening to find that proper dyeing is a complex and subtle art. Making paper dye out of scabious is genuinely no more taxing than making a cup of tea. If you do not have any scabious, then I will also be doing a how to on doing this with actual tea.

Thursday 19th November. Rainbows everywhere. Big, thick, perfect arcs that stay for much of the afternoon and touch the ground this side of Netherclay. It feels like an omen, so I make a big decision. I'll let you know if I pull it off. 

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Friday 20th November. I spend the entire day photographing ribbons. I make the mistake of looking at Silk and Willow's website to get inspiration, and nearly give up before I have begun. But with the help of some soft light and a lovely new mug from Kneeboneware, I keep going. (The ribbons sold out in an hour, I am so sorry if you missed them. There will be some of The Natural Dyeworks silk ribbons going in the Gather shop this week, but that's it until I learn how to dye silk myself.)

Plate by Kneeboneware. Bowl by the also wonderful Rebecca Proctor. Ribbon by Heirloom Silk. Tablecloth by me. 
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Saturday 21st November. We head off with a foraging bag to collect acorns and Knopper galls. It felt like we left soon after lunch but night falls quickly and it is almost dark by the time we reach the big oaks. We see the moon rise over the ridge of the trees and walk along the lane accompanied by a bat overhead and the sound of an owl in the distance. It is so dark that, when we meet the local farmer checking his cattle with a torch, Hugo doesn't even shout. 

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Sunday 22nd November. Tulips. Surely it is tulip time by now? How is it not cold yet? I'm planting them anyway.