A Bluestocking Knits

Saturday.  Last day of Summer.

Ran into Mrs. Cotton on the path, coming down from the farm.  She has a great many recipes that she got from her old family cookbooks, for the Cooking Club – but her old mixing bowl is bent out of shape, & would I take it to someone called Nefi, at the forge.

Nefi is a rather alarming individual — a Dwarf — though much taller than I expected.  I may have stared a bit — I have never met a Dwarf before.  He was stern & brusque.  “Making friends is like ice fields carving the mountains.  Powerful.  Mighty.  Very slow.”  I was not a little taken aback when he said it was impossible to mend the bowl, but then he said that this was because his tongs had fallen into a tunnel, down which he could not fit.  (I can well believe that.)  But I was happy to go down there, once I found the way in, although it was dark & not a little dank, & fetch them.  “I am grateful,” Nefi said, “Now I will call you ‘Tong Friend.’”  That is something to tell the folks back in Bree!

Found another lost parcel, a bit wet from the dew so that the address was illegible, but I could still read “From your favourite cousin, at Bucklebury.”  Wandered about for a while, foraging, then it struck me — Brandybuck, of course, you mutton-head!  It did indeed turn out to be for Miss Delphinium, & she was so happy to get it at last that she gave me some Delphinium seeds for my garden.  The seeds are from ones growing up on the hill above her home —

Sunday.  First day of Autumn.

First day of autumn — the leaves seem to have turned golden overnight!

New season, new vegetables for the kitchen garden!  Bought a bag-full of seeds from Farmer Cotton — Brown Tater & Brown Onion, Eggplant, two kinds of Pumpkin, Squash, & Turnip.  Don’t have quite enough room yet for everything, with the last summer things not ready to harvest yet.

Had Hobson Hornblower & Nora Burrows here for tea.

Went out for a spot of night-fishing — 2 Blue-finned Gudgeon, 2 Ruffe, & 1 Stone Loach.

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… suspect that Delphinium Brandybuck does not eat meat, for she adds in her note of thanks, “Some hobbits aren’t used to cooking the food I like,” wh. is interesting. 

Monday.  Second day of Autumn.  Rain.

Orlo & Old Noakes here, & we talked about fishing the whole time.  Made two dishes of Very Good Fish Cakes, experimenting with flavour combinations.

Went down to the Village Square afterwards with Orlo.  He is certainly welcome to come for any meal, any time — my door is always open.

Tuesday. Fine.

Completed my first Club mission! — foraged eight stems of Hedge Mustard.

Had Nefi & Marigold here for luncheon.

Overheard in the Village Square: “Sometimes I see a Puffball mushroom & I have the urge to just give it a kick”!

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Wednesday.  Rain.

Completed a Fishing Club mission.  “You might not know a lot about fishing,” Old Noakes grumbled when I told him, “but you know more than you used to.”  Patience.  That’s the secret.  So practice it!