After much pruning and the tree not taking the slightest hint that its endless growth was unnecessary, I arranged to have our fig tree chopped down last winter. Holes were drilled into the stump and poison poured in. But sure as can be, a few months later it started sprouting up again.
My one regret about chopping it down the last time was that the leaves could have been put to good use, even though the fruits never fully ripened.
Before I attack it again, I'm going to harvest some of its leaves.
Most fig leaf recipes involve steaming fish wrapped in the leaves. It's also possible to make a variation on stuffed vine leaves.
But the simplicity of this Fig Leaf Liqueur recipe caught my eye. Depending on the results, we could even be making a start on this year's homemade Christmas presents.
Last Saturday was dry, mainly sunny and just the right temperature for getting out and about. It was ideal weather for the annual Lewisham People's Day - a free day-long festival with several performance stages for dance troupes, acoustic and amplified musicians and so on. There was a small funfair, plant, craft, cake and clothing stalls and lots and lots of worthy community organisations keen to pitch their stories to interested locals.
I liked the fact that as well as outreach orgnisations there were education establishments highlighting the offerings for continuing and return to education. With all the recent talk of excluding people from education due to very high tuition fees, plus the fact that it can be hard to find out about opportunities that are available, it was great to see several such organisations represented.
Another fun element was the presence of 'bobbies on the beat' in uniforms from Peel's day onwards. Vintage police cars were also on show and I was intrigued to come across references to a police vehicles museum that was formerly in Catford - from the photos displayed it looked very much as though they had been at the old Ladywell Police Station. I will look into this.
My friend Julieta from Knitshop on Lee High Road was holding knitting sessions at The Big Top. Entertainment going on behind her there including a public singalong in the vein of Glee and demonstrations of swing dancing. Across the other side of Mountsfield Park was a dedicated dance stage where, inevitably, teenage girls performed the routine from Katy Perry's California Girls and more energetic groups performed acrobatic dances.
There was a curious chidren's tent with decorations made from recycled plastic bottles - a great idea, though the sharp ends of the colourful plastic flowers worried me a bit. A crazy bikes arena saw a successive of people take a turn on a revolving, six-handed cycle that moved in mysterious ways, much like a pedal-powered ouija board. I used the Kodak Playsport camcorder I was reviewing to take a quick video of this in action.
There's also a video of the final song played by indie band The Cleaners (myspace link). We didn't stay until the evening, when the star act was Neville from The Specials and Fun Boy Three.
Knitting is great for relaxing, destressing and generally feeling creative, but it's a pretty static activity. You get to exercise your mind as you figure out how to fix those extra stitches you accidentally created and whether the pattern you're sort of following could work in an oh-so-subtly different way (alright, if you go freestyle).
But I can't help but notice that the summer months are wiling away and while my projects are progressing, my waistline is hardly something I'd be proud to show off in my summer wardrobe.
Like many people, I have a gym membership. I used to make pretty good use of it and, even though the one time a personal trainer told me cross-training for an hour wasn't as impressive an indicator of fitness as I thought, I ratcheted up the resistance dial and ploughed on harder than ever.
Latterly, though, the gym equipment and I have become strangers. My workout motivation ebbed away long ago and I'd far sooner be knitting, gardening or doing any number of other things.
Since the gym's no longer where it's at, it's time to act. I'll be waving goodbye to what has become little more than an excuse not to find another activity instead. Forking out £50 a month as displacement won't shift the extra inches I've acquired.
Instead, it's time for more walking, cycling and perhaps even running. Scary, but free and far more effective and accommodating to my lifestyle whims.
