Dorchester Flyer

A few months ago my neighbour was having a clear out and gave me this bike, A Dorchester Flyer by all accounts, which has been sat under a tarpaulin in my back yard since the day he gave it to me.
Today I uncovered it to see what kind of state it is in and see if I can return it to it's former glory. Well, make the wheels go round and stop when I brake at least. Maybe add a foraging basket to the front.
After a quick look over the bike it's not too bad actually. A little bit of rust here and there but nothing seized up. I managed to alter the seat height and twist the handle bars to face forward without any difficulty, the side stand works fine and the seat is really comfy. The gears need sorting out because I can't select 1st gear and I may need some inner tubes, but until I find a pump to inflate the tyres I won't know
.
I decided to lift the beetroot out of the garden. They were late going in this year and it doesn't look as if they are going to grow any more, so I will pickle them ready for Christmas.
I read somewhere that the leaves are quite tasty so tonight I made this for dinner. The liqueur that develops is gorgeous.

Beetroot Leaf with garlic and yellow pepper

Recipe

Beetroot Leaves (as many as you like. They wilt like spinach so put plenty in)

1 Rasher of bacon

1 Onion (chopped)

1 Clove smoked garlic (crushed)

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Yellow Pepper

Slosh of Cider Vinegar

Slosh of Water

Salt

Black Pepper

1. Wash and drain the beet leaves
2. Brown the onions, peppers and bacon in a little olive oil and then add the garlic, salt and pepper
3. Add a drop of water to the pan and stir into the mix. When it starts to simmer add the cider vinegar and the sugar
4. Add the beet leaves and wilt

Enjoy

I was chatting with Paul about mushroom foraging and he told me about an amusing take on foraging as a pastime.
Every morning he follows the same route on his walk with the dog. On several mornings a week he sees two or three young lads on motor scooters crawling down the lane. Every so often they would dismount, drop to their hands and knees, part the bushes and stick their head in.
Occasionally they would come out with something in their hands, pop it into their bag, hop back on their scooter and crawl along the lane once again.
It turns out that the lane in question is a favourite spot for the local cannabis growers to dump their root balls or whatever they are and the scooter kids are aware of this fact. I wonder if they realise what all the other stuff growing under there actually is? Maybe in this roundabout way of coming to the foraging lifestyle, they will eventually be blogging about it like the rest of us.

My crafting for the day was to make roses from leaves that I collected whilst walking the dogs. I wish I had collected more of them because this looks quite pretty.