What an engaging and enjoyable piece, Mark (as ever). I'm very sure that as a music fan you will know that the Housemartins (as in the band) were so named due to their practice of stretching the limited touring budget available to them during their formative late 1980s years by gratefully accepting the successive overnight hospitality of fans/kindly residents of their destination-towns. I believe I recall also that they used to present them on leaving with a gift in the form of a pin-badge containing the legend: 'The Housemartins are Quite Good'.
How in those pre-internet days the Hull-based four-piece effected advance advertisement of their needs for suburban stays in Derby, Bristol, Wolverhampton, and points N/S/E/W- I do not know. Fanzines may have been involved, or the morse-code tap-tap-tapping of indiepop-inclined woodpeckers, subscripted specifically for the purpose. I would very much like to believe the latter.
Burrata is the food of angels 💕 and Mark, you win the prize for the best simile ever. Rulers twanging is exactly what woodpeckers sound like. I feel sorry for children nowadays with their non-lidded desks - they'll never know the satisfaction of ruler-twanging.
Did you know, each species of woodpecker has a unique tempo to its drumming?
Top knowledge, Jo! And spot on. Great Spotted is the strongest-sounding drummer of the three British woodpeckers (Moon? Bonham? Collins? Pick your own drummer of choice) and its drumming is also the shortest. Lesser Spotted (much rarer these days) is generally quieter but lasts longer – over a second. Green Woodpecker only drums occasionally – it sounds to me more like a creaking door than the fast drrrrrr of the others.
At the risk of interfering Mark, not with you, the recipe. I find that a little scrag end of red cabbage, left in with the pickled red onions, gives a massive bounce of colour.
Wow what a description of an early Autumn walk - perfect timing for me to read that. Quick pickled onions? Who knew there was such a thing! Straight to the top of my to do list. I fancy luminous pink, so red onions it will be and it sounds easy.
Loving the writing and the pictures you're conjuring in my mind...... Really can't afford to upgrade at the moment.....but plan to when some stuff finally falls into place 😉 Your salad recipe is so inspiring and shares 2/3 ingredients with an orange and fennel salad I'm making today.....
What a wonderful salad – I have never thought of putting fennel seeds with figs. And of the ongoing tragedies in this country, the fact that people grow fantastic figs in Britain, but you can only buy ones that look beautiful and taste of nothing, is definitely worth a government inquiry... Perhaps mass demonstrations. And thank your the onions, and the woodpecker.
Poetry in motion, and the sounds of the woodpeckers in the trees, a sound I have never heard before. Your salad reminded me that I had emailed a business near my daughter to see if they sell it, it is something I find extremely difficult to purchase, which amazes me, considering how often these days it is used in recipes.
Hi Mark, strangely none of our local supermarkets sell Burrata, it is on their websites but not in store, possibly due to them only selling it online. They do have fresh Mozarella which is nice, but doesn’t have the runny centre. The other item was Nduja which as you may know is a spicy salami paste, so good. Woolworths sell Nduja Sugo, but that’s not what I want. I think possibly my problem is where we live, the customers are not necessarily the type to buy what I want. I remember many years ago I was wanting to buy Mignonette lettuce, and the manager of the green grocery section in the supermarket I shopped at ordered it in, but I was the only one buying so naturally he had to cease ordering.
What an engaging and enjoyable piece, Mark (as ever). I'm very sure that as a music fan you will know that the Housemartins (as in the band) were so named due to their practice of stretching the limited touring budget available to them during their formative late 1980s years by gratefully accepting the successive overnight hospitality of fans/kindly residents of their destination-towns. I believe I recall also that they used to present them on leaving with a gift in the form of a pin-badge containing the legend: 'The Housemartins are Quite Good'.
How in those pre-internet days the Hull-based four-piece effected advance advertisement of their needs for suburban stays in Derby, Bristol, Wolverhampton, and points N/S/E/W- I do not know. Fanzines may have been involved, or the morse-code tap-tap-tapping of indiepop-inclined woodpeckers, subscripted specifically for the purpose. I would very much like to believe the latter.
What an excellent story Jonathan! How on earth did anything ever get done without the connectivity we have now, but of course it did
Burrata is the food of angels 💕 and Mark, you win the prize for the best simile ever. Rulers twanging is exactly what woodpeckers sound like. I feel sorry for children nowadays with their non-lidded desks - they'll never know the satisfaction of ruler-twanging.
Did you know, each species of woodpecker has a unique tempo to its drumming?
Jo T, I did not know this and now my day is made. Thank you thank you thank you
Top knowledge, Jo! And spot on. Great Spotted is the strongest-sounding drummer of the three British woodpeckers (Moon? Bonham? Collins? Pick your own drummer of choice) and its drumming is also the shortest. Lesser Spotted (much rarer these days) is generally quieter but lasts longer – over a second. Green Woodpecker only drums occasionally – it sounds to me more like a creaking door than the fast drrrrrr of the others.
This is gold. Substack gold.
What a lovely article/chapter. Off to pickle an onion now
Thank you Jonathan!
At the risk of interfering Mark, not with you, the recipe. I find that a little scrag end of red cabbage, left in with the pickled red onions, gives a massive bounce of colour.
You sir, are a champion, and interfering of this calibre is always welcome
Phew! And there’s me thinking I’m a meddler.
Wow what a description of an early Autumn walk - perfect timing for me to read that. Quick pickled onions? Who knew there was such a thing! Straight to the top of my to do list. I fancy luminous pink, so red onions it will be and it sounds easy.
Thank you for brightening my day.
Thank you Kim
Now that’s my kind of salad and I have lots of plump inherited figs: does happy fat fig dance. Thank you Mark. Btw, homemade woodpeckers - brilliant!
Happy fat fig dance! Made me smile - thank you.
Me too!
What an inheritance – worth a daily fat-fig-dance.
Loving the writing and the pictures you're conjuring in my mind...... Really can't afford to upgrade at the moment.....but plan to when some stuff finally falls into place 😉 Your salad recipe is so inspiring and shares 2/3 ingredients with an orange and fennel salad I'm making today.....
It's great having you here Lucy, and thank you. I hope that salad was as delightful as it sounds
Happy so see a mention of Prof. Yaffle, my nickname since I was 11 owing to having an impressive nose and geeky nature.
I am envious of your nickname, partly from having many worse
Such a beautifully written uplifting piece Mark.
Thank you Suzanne, that makes me very happy
Professor Yaffle - love it! Bagpuss enchanted me as a child and did so all over again when I watched it with my son. A pleasurable read - thank you.
Thank you Jenny. One of the great things about having a child is enjoying things all over again that otherwise you might not
Lovely stuff, as always. Fun fact: Professor Yaffle got his name from the old folk name for a Green Woodpecker, which comes from its laughing call.
This is why we are here Lev; someone like yourself adding something excellent to the day. Thank you
My pleasure! And thanks for your Abundance.
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this! 🙏🌳🍂Thank you.
Thank you Karen
Homemade woodpeckers… smiling bigly at that
Glad to be of service!
What a wonderful salad – I have never thought of putting fennel seeds with figs. And of the ongoing tragedies in this country, the fact that people grow fantastic figs in Britain, but you can only buy ones that look beautiful and taste of nothing, is definitely worth a government inquiry... Perhaps mass demonstrations. And thank your the onions, and the woodpecker.
Thank you Lizzie! Very true about the figs too. I hope you give it a try - the fennels seeds are so good
I definitely will – and am in Italy next week where there should still be some figs!
Poetry in motion, and the sounds of the woodpeckers in the trees, a sound I have never heard before. Your salad reminded me that I had emailed a business near my daughter to see if they sell it, it is something I find extremely difficult to purchase, which amazes me, considering how often these days it is used in recipes.
Thank you Sally. Not sure what it is you are finding hard to purchase...is it burrata? Increasingly available in supermarkets if you have one near by
Hi Mark, strangely none of our local supermarkets sell Burrata, it is on their websites but not in store, possibly due to them only selling it online. They do have fresh Mozarella which is nice, but doesn’t have the runny centre. The other item was Nduja which as you may know is a spicy salami paste, so good. Woolworths sell Nduja Sugo, but that’s not what I want. I think possibly my problem is where we live, the customers are not necessarily the type to buy what I want. I remember many years ago I was wanting to buy Mignonette lettuce, and the manager of the green grocery section in the supermarket I shopped at ordered it in, but I was the only one buying so naturally he had to cease ordering.
Oh this does look lovely... It's not fig season here (the opposite, in fact) but I'll bookmark for when it is.
One for down the line for you Joanne! I hope you enjoy it when the time is right