A group of us went to a small local cheese makers, Colliers Cornish Cheese, in Penryn, this morning and learned how to make soft cheese. It was a fascinating process which we were encouraged to join in and the end results, (Here’s one I made earlier!) were delicious. It was a delightful and informative morning with lovely Mother and son as instructors. Click on any photo for the caption and more detail.

Vat of Cornish milk heated to 32º

Curds and whey

Curds draining in their frames

Half a wheel of soft cheese with chives

Clulow, a soft cow’s cheese

A mature hard cheese with chilli

Gwig Keus (Village Cheese) with chive and garlic

Colliers Cornish cheese with chilli

As I was waiting this morning, on Islington Wharf where lots of small makers have space, I went past a sculptor’s studio and was very taken by the flowers in the window and love the snail.  They are made by Ronn Beattie. I like the reflection of the boat yard in the window glass too.

Made by Ronn Beattie

As I started to write this evening, a most unusual cloud formation started erupting from the horizon, as if someone were boiling an enormous kettle just out of sight

Cloud boiling up from the horizon

To go with that image, I have just found a poem by Henry David Thoreau, Low Anchored Cloud, which this cloud seems to be. I’m pleased with this new find.

 

Low-Anchored Cloud

Low-anchored cloud,
Newfoundland air,
Fountain-head and source of rivers,
Dew-cloth, dream-drapery,
And napkin spread by fays;
Drifting meadow of the air,
Where bloom the daisied banks and violets,
And in whose fenny labyrinth
The bittern booms and heron wades;
Spirit of lakes and seas and rivers,
Bear only perfumes and the scent
Of healing herbs to just men’s fields!

Henry David Thoreau