Perverse Illegibility

From time to time I'm irritated by notices that are hard to read because there's too little contrast between background colours and text colours. Notices in a supermarket printed in black ink on a dark red background are much harder to read than notices printed in black text on a white background using the same font. My toaster has a scale with numbers in black on a dark brown background.

Those who design such things must be extremely dim.

Praising Stewed Fruit

In my childhood, puddings, if any, were either 'milk puddings' -  horrid slimy concoctions of milk and cereals - or if we were lucky stewed fruit. During the 1950s and 60s we became,more sophisticated, or so we thought, making quite elaborate puddings rich in eggs, cream and alcohol.

The threat of heart disease has made me wary of such delights, so I no longer eat puddings regularly.

A few days ago I stewed some apricots, and was surprised how well they turned out. Eaten raw apricots strike me as insipid and in texture floury rather than juicy, but once they were cooked I found them delicious, juicy with a rich flavour.

Enlivened by Lists

In the last few months I'd become very lazy, pottering about doing very little and dozing in the afternoons.

I decided to make a list of little jobs I needed to do, and to consult it whenever I found myself at a loose end.

Since then I've got quite a lot done, and very rarely doze in the afternoon.

Inactivity seems to be more tiring than activity.

Damsons

I was delighted to find some damsons in the farmers' Market today. It's very unusual to see them for sale. I don't think I've ever seen any in a supermarket. I've made damson jam.