My turn to make marmalade

Back to being damp and overcast today. I woke up as my phone reminded me to post the link to Morning Prayer for today. After breakfast a walk to St John's to celebrate the Eucharist with seven others, and pray for Pope Benedict as his funeral proceeded in Rome. After a cup of coffee and a chat, a quick trip to Tesco to buy some tins of butter beans, then home to prepare lunch, and make ready the next batch of marmalade oranges and lemons for cooking. 

I snoozed in the chair for an hour and then went into town, walking part of the way and taking the bus to hasten my arrival. Another visit to John Lewis' to check out a potential sale bargain travel camera, but on inspection I realised it didn't have quite the specifications I need to replace my damaged HX90. Ah well, keep on looking I suppose.

As I was walking up Westgate Street on my way to the bus stop outside the Holiday Inn, I noticed dozens of taxis parked along the other side of the road. I wondered what exodus after a big event they were waiting for. Then one by one they began to sound their horns. Other taxis went past in procession, also honking their horns and I noticed that many were flying a Unite Trade Union pennant from a window. The penny dropped. It was a protest action. There was a similar one held a month ago. The concern being voiced seems to be about taxi licensing fee reductions for electric car owners, an incentive to owners to upgrade their vehicles. Well intended, but many self employed taxi owners cannot afford to buy a new vehicle and end up being unable to continue earning a living this way, as their running costs are higher. Greening the economy isn't always as simple as we'd wish it to be.

After supper, I extracted all the pips from the cooked oranges and lemons, chopped them all up, added the required amount of water and an amount of sugar less that the recipe requires, so that the jam wouldn't be too sweet to taste, and boiled the lot for over two hours to reduce the mixture to a right consistency. I had to keep an eye on it throughout, so I sat at the kitchen table and watched the first two episodes of another series of 'Madam Blanc Mysteries' on Channel five, rather lightweight sometimes comic amateur sleuthing stories set in the ex-pat community in Provence. Well, it helped to pass the time. Check and stir every time the ads come up. Another eight jars of marmalade produced!