courgette, surprise, value

 The courgettes, which I planted in the Spring, have been lavish in their returns. I have must have picked hundreds. What to do with them? They're good in salads, lightly fried, grilled on the barbecue, but my favourite way of dealing with them this year is grated in a frittata,(Italian omelet). I add some crumbled feta cheese (mixing cultures, but worth it). I fry the grated courgette first to extract surplus moisture and, before adding to five or six beaten eggs, introduce some basil leaves to perfume the mixture. The omelet, slow cooked, would be appreciated even by those who dislike the cucourbit family as a whole. It can be eaten hot or cold. It is more like a savoury cake than an omelet.

Who do we meet in The Compasses but Steve and Tony respectively the landlord and the barman of  The Grove Tavern 100 yards down the the road? I always feel guilty when I see them because The Grove Tavern is my preferred pub, but you can sit outside at The Compasses, and, on the whole, the beer is better at the Grove. As proof that there is no ill will, Steve buys me a pint of The Compass's present guest beer, Bateman's Triple X, which is even better than Harvey's.

In Mount Pleasant I  see and hear a girl talking to herself. She has a mobile phone with a microphone, so that she can have her hands free. Not only that: she has a speaker attached to her person, so that I can hear another voice replying. Two voice for the price of one, as they say in supermarkets.