Ed Vogue's World

So the summer is almost over and the long weeks of holidays, sun, lie-ins and barbecues are coming to a close. But with today being the first day if metereological Autumn there is still much to look forward to.  The best time of the year for garden produce makes this the time to make preserves, chutneys and jams.   Even though we live in the city our garden is full of an abundance of fantastic fruits just ready to be stored and eaten.  The apples on our two trees are perfect for picking and eating straight from the branches or peeled and sliced and mixed with blackberries picked from the local park to create arguably the best crumble filling ever considered. Just don’t forget the custard! At the bottom of the garden our pear tree, which in previous years as been decidedly unproductive, has this year been dropping delicious pears every day for the last three weeks. Together with the addition of walnuts, sultanas and copious amounts of cider vinegar (with a little sugar for...

Bertie our three year old mini dachshund is always up for a walk. Considering the tiny legs that he has his stamina is something akin to Eddie Izzard running three marathons in one day. This is even more remarkable considering that he popped a disc in his spine whilst getting out of his bed 6 months ago leaving him paralysed and requiring an operation that literally saved his life.  He likes a walk anywhere: in the woods, up to the kids school, in the park...but his favourite place to walk is across the beach and on the cliffs with the wind blowing his ears as he trots along sniffing out the smells of the sea air.  For a little thing he can walk for miles and even when his human friends are exhausted he still finds the energy to go bounding up to a canine coming the opposite way woofing with the attitude that belies his small form.  Today he was in his element.  Bertie took to the South West Coast path in West Dorset from Abbotsbury to West Bexington and back. The wi...

Picture the coast of Southern England 180 million years in the middle of the Jurassic era and you would see tropical shallow seas teeming with life.  Crustaceans, fish, marine reptiles and ammonites filled the waters.  The clays, sandstone and limestone that form the wonderful cliffs of West Dorset were formed as sediment in these seas.  How time has changed the landscape. The seas are no longer tropical and although still teeming with life,  marine reptiles hunt no longer in the waters off the Dorset coast.  Nowadays the coastline between Lyme Regis and Charmouth reveals the secrets of this long ago time. The remnants of the creatures that once swam in the warm oceans can be found strewn over the beaches, imprinted into the rocks and embedded into the cliffs.  The ‘dink-dink’ of the fossil hammers against stone rings out across the shoreline as keen fossil hunters of all ages descend on the sands attempting to find that perfect specimen, enabling the lucky...

If I wasn't in the job I am in now I think that I would like to train as a fishmonger and open a small fish shop on the coast selling fresh fish caught locally. I find these fish shops and market stalls fascinating places. Some of the fish are displayed whole with their remarkable colours and shapes, their brilliant designs providing an insight into how they live and eat. Lovely fresh fish Next to them on the chiller shelf are the amazing crustaceans, the prawns, shrimps, crabs and lobsters. Even better are the crabs and lobsters that are alive in a tank with rubber bands around them to prevent them from doing damage to the fingers of those that will in a few hours be tearing them apart to get to their succulent sweet flesh. Of course not everyone feels the same way about seeing fish ungutted, unfilleted and uncooked. People find the thought of eating a plate of prawns, mussels, scallops or oysters completely unpalatable. To me this could easily be food from the gods; fresh, d...

Officially I believe we have entered the winter months but it seems that no one has told the weather. Yesterday I partook in a delicious lunch of tempura hake and chips whilst sitting on a beach in my t-shirt. There was a little breeze coming in off the sea and the Sun was not as strong as it would be in August but the day could easily be mistaken for a Summer one. By evening the 'trick or treat' of Hallowe'en evening was pleasantly warm with no requirement for wooly hats, scarves or coats and the bonfire night on the beach tonight promises the same conditions. Be aware though as the weatherman last night warned of cold fronts crossing the country bringing with them rain and plummeting temperatures. The warmest October 31st ever will be followed by more seasonal temperatures. Jack Frost will be with us soon and according to some newspaper predictions following that the coldest winter ever with 'freezing Arctic temperatures' is on the way. For the time being I...

Over the summer my brother and I attempted to start a campfire without using matches. My brother wanted to start it by rubbing two sticks together. After some research he made a bow selected the right type of sticks and start to furiously twist his stick against the other. After numerous attempts and many hours of rubbing a wisp of smoke was seen and embers started to form. Unfortunately that was as far as it went, eventually frustration built and the stick was last seen flying through the air towards the long undergrowth only to be retrieved and eaten by our parents dog. http://content.artofmanliness.com/uploads/2008/04/bowdrilldemo.gif According to my defeated brother the embers were the wrong colour, they were too brown and therefore not hot enough. I was impressed though, he nearly made fire without the use of any modern techniques. I on the other hand was on to a sure 'fire' technique. I recalled how I used to burn various things in the garden as a kid using a...

I first started blogging to set myself a challenge. That challenge was to see if I could write an entry every single day for one whole year. It really was a challenge. To think of something interesting to write about, or perhaps moan about, every 24 hours was quite something and even I have to admit that most of my entries were quite pedestrian. However, interesting or not, I was quite close to completing my own personal goal and my blog was beginning to get a few followers. I received comments from people that I knew that they liked reading what I had to write; I even think some of those comments, well a few, were actually genuine. But events that I could not have predicted in my life when I started my challenge overwhelmed me and I had to put the writing aside. Now, after a number of comments, I have decided that the blog should be resurrected. Ed is returning. Perhaps not every day but frequently enough to warrant a look in and a huzzah from Ed's followers. I made this...