Most satisfactory events of today

Pay day.

Fish and chips night.

The June issue of NZ Gardener arrived in the post. Under Lynda Hallinan, this magazine has really developed into something fantastic. There are still the profiles of beautiful and expansive ornamental gardens and rare plants, but there is now much much more on growing edible fruits and vegetables. They are even talking about digging for victory. It is a glossy and positive magazine and well placed to appeal to mainstream readers. Lynda herself is pretty and sexy (and clever) and does lots of talks, including on television, which have raised the magazine's profile. It's all welcome in my view.

Went to Alf Harrison's menswear shop. This shop is a small locally owned business in our small town and it is something of a blast from the past. The current window display is of tweed caps. Very nice they are too. Anyway, I was looking for dress trouser socks for Favourite Handyman for use in his other life where he doesn't do jobs around our home and garden. And here in our small local shop I found just the thing, in a merino and possum and nylon blend which is made (most of the raw materials and all of the secondary product) right here in New Zealand. A rare opportunity to make such a satisfyingly ethical purchase.

From the library: the autobiography of Clarissa Dickson Wright (of The Two Fat Ladies fame).

I have started another bread making venture. It uses an overnight yeast liquor method. I did this once before for the High Fibre bread earlier this month and it all got so brothy that the mixture overflowed out of the bowl, the towel and onto the sheets below. Both the sheets and the liquor were in the hot water cupboard. So I have used a bigger bowl this time. I got to use up a bit more oat bran. I'm through nearly all of the Surebake yeast (the expensive kind with added improvers) and now I'm working my way through the ordinary dried yeast container. Once they're all used up, I'll go back to sourdough experiments for the most part, I think.