Some more light painting

這是年青德國廚師HELPER近日要求我拍攝的創作 (只有我部相機可以EXPOSE 20秒或以上)，雖然係幾好玩但亦為這批圖片捱了至少30口蚊咬...

鴿子

一對鴿子個多月前在屋簷起巢，之後清晨不時被幼鳥叫、鴿子咕嚕咕嚕叫和牠們走路的聲音吵醒，有點惱人。我們有天興起，把監察停車場的閉路電視鏡頭放到屋簷上，看到兩隻幼鳥和一隻蛋。

鳥的監察不夠一天，我們發現其中一隻快長大成人、只餘頭頂點點down的幼鳥一直癱著，原來牠一隻腳和鳥巢的乾草交纏得腫起來，我們把牠抱下，清理好後放回屋簷上。

翌早，再發現這幼鳥掉到地上來，無奈地癱坐在泥地上。是因被人類觸摸過後而被父母拋棄嗎？是試飛不成掉下嗎？先禁止貓走近，再給鳥遮陰和水，但如何處置牠才好？這鳥未長成已有殘疾，恐怕未必長得大，但每當走近牠牠就奮力拍翼，看著牠未有放棄生命，於是翻書找出好的處理方法，書說鳥的嗅覺不會辨出幼鳥被人觸及，至於牠是否被拋棄就不得而知，我們決定放牠回巢。

等了半天，黃昏鴿子父母回巢了，幼鳥和牠的兄弟馬上吱吱叫，在模糊的監路電視中，只見父母走向幼鳥的兄弟餵哺，過一會終於走到幼鳥身邊有所動作，我們相信鴿父母仍有照顧幼鳥，可以放心了。

佛地魔

最近的玩意..

Snow-white and the seven dwarfs

*給點耐性慢慢讀，實在很正。

from REVOLTING THYMES by Roald Dahl

illustrated by Babette Cole

When little Snow-White's mother died,

the king, her father, up and cried,

"Oh, what a nuisance! What a life!

Now I must find another wife!"

(It's never easy for a king

To find himself that sort of thing.)

He wrote to every magazine

And said, "I'm looking for a Queen."

At least ten thousand girls replied

And begged to be the royal bride.

The king said with a shifty smile,

"I'd like to give each a trial."

However, in the end he chose

A lady called Miss Maclehose,

Who brought along a curious toy

That seemed to give her endless joy -

This was a mirror framed in brass,

A MAGIC TALKING LOOKING-GLASS.

Ask it something day or night,

It always got the answer right.

For instance, if you were to say,

"Oh Mirror, what's for lunch today?"

The thing would answer in a trice,

"Today it's scrambled eggs and rice."

Now everyday, week in week out,

The spoiled and stupid Queen would shout,

"Oh Mirror Mirror on the wall,

Who is the fairest of them all?"

The Mirror answered every time,

"Oh Madam, you're the Queen sublime.

You are the only one to charm us,

Queen, you are the cat's pyjamas."

For ten whole years the silly Queen

Repeated this absurd routine.

Then suddenly, one awful day,

She heard the Magic Mirror say,

"From now on, Queen, you're Number Two,

Snow-White is prettier than you!"

The Queen went absolutely wild.

She yelled, "I'm going to scrag that child!

I'll cook her flaming goose! I'll skin' er!

I'll have her rotten guts for dinner!"

She called the Huntsman to her study.

She shouted at him, "Listen buddy!"

You drag that filthy girl outside,

And see you take her for a ride!

Thereafter slit her ribs apart

And bring me back her bleeding heart!"

The Huntsman dragged the lovely child

Deep deep into the forest wild.

Fearing the worst, poor Snow-White spake,

She cried, "Oh please give me a break!"

The knife was poised, the arm was strong,

She cried again, "I've done no wrong!"

The Huntsman's heart began to flutter,

It melted like a pound of butter.

He murmured, " Okay, beat it, kid",

And you can bet your life she did.

Later, the Huntsman made a stop

Within the local butcher's shop,

and there he bought, for safety's sake,

A bullock's heart and one nice steak.

"Oh Majesty! Oh Queen!" he cried,

"That rotten little girl has died!

And just to prove I didn't cheat,

I've bought along these bits of meat."

The Queen cried out, " Bravissimo!

I trust you killed her nice and slow."

Then (this is the disgusting part)

The Queen sat down and ate the heart!

(I only hope she cooked it well.

Boiled heart can be as tough as hell.)

While all of this was going on,

Oh where, oh where had Snow-White gone?

She'd found it easy, being pretty,

To hitch a ride in to the city,

And there she'd got a job unpaid,

As general cook and parlour-maid

With seven funny little men,

Each one not more than three foot ten,

Ex horse-race jockeys, all of them.

These Seven Dwarfs, though awfully nice,

Were guilty of one shocking vice -

They squandered all of their resources

At the race-track backing horses.

(When they hadn't backed a winner,

None of them got any dinner.)

One evening, Snow - White said, "Look here,

I think I've got a great idea.

Just leave it all to me, okay?

And no more gambling till I say."

That very night, at eventide,

Young Snow - White hitched another ride,

And then, when it was very late,

She slopped in through the Palace gate.

The King was in his counting house

Counting out his money,

The Queen was in the parlour

Eating bread and honey,

The footmen and the servants slept

So no one saw her as she crept

On tip - toe through the mighty hall

And grabbed THE MIRROR off the wall.

As soon as she had got it home,

She told the Senior Dwarf (or Gnome)

To ask it what he wished to know.

"Go one!" she shouted. "Have a go!"

He said, "Oh Mirror, please don't joke!

Each one of us is stony broke!

Which horse will win tomorrow's race,

The Ascot Gold Cup Steeplechase?"

The Mirror whispere sweet and low,

"The horse's name is Mistletoe."

The Dwarfs went absolutely daft,

They kissed young Snow - White fore and aft,

Then rushed away to raise some dough

With which to back old Mistletoe.

They Prawned their watches, sold the car,

They borrowed money near and far,

(For much of it they had to thank

The manager of Barclays Bank.)

They went to Ascot and of course

For once they backed the winning horse.

Thereafter, every single day,

The Mirror made the bookies pay.

Each Dwarf and Snow - White got a share,

And each was soon a millionaire,

Which shows that gambling's not a sin

Provided that you always win.

創作閣8

摘提琴頭

 

 

提琴頭 fiddlehead是北美洲東部野生的厥類，只在春天一現，物以罕為貴，每次提起人人大多點頭讚好，味道有點像露筍，比較清淡，附近河邊每年都會有提琴頭，有間餐廳肯每周要5磅，所以我就去採摘之。

 

 

 

這是提琴頭的外表，及膝高的，屬已經長大，不能採了，嫩如下圖的才是最佳時候。

 

 

 

狠狠地扭甩提琴頭的頭，每棵留兩三個活口讓它們明年回來就可以。

只要蒸或燙熟就可吃，若下點牛油炒當然更好吃。只是最考功夫的是洗淨它們，因為啡色的紙狀外皮是苦的，要又拍又捽又浸數次才算乾淨及不會帶苦味，其實真是太煩了點。但一磅 (約半斤) 可賣8加元 (加元等同美元)，當然有得摘總比無得摘為好。

The story of french

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	History
Author:	Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow

正在看這本書，說由15世紀法語還未出現、到19世紀法語成為歐洲各國爭相學習的語言，再由法國殖民美洲、非洲、太平洋群島，以至今日各地發展出不同的法語。

書裡提起Acadians，他們是幾百年前移居加拿大Nova Scotia省的法國人，幾百年前法國人除了派國民住進魁北克省外，也派人到Nova Scotia (當時叫Acadia)。

幾年前跟朋友去吃過一頓Cajun宴，糊里糊塗的，不知道cajun代表甚麼，只獲告知那是美國南部的一種菜式。吃過甚麼已忘記了，只記得是格局有點高級，但實則很普通很普通的菜，像炸雞之類。

今日讀到這本書，說其實Cajun是指位於美國南部Lousiana州的Acadians的菜式或音樂。當年Acadian在Nova Scotia開墾農地，但法國把當地敗予英國後，英國為了讓自己人使用農地，竟把Acadian一船一船遞解到英國或英國殖民地，令Acadian妻離子散。走得掉的，都逃往隔壁的New Brunswick省；走不掉而被解到南方的，不少人會走到美國Lousiana州落地生根 (因那兒也是法語區)，這年被命名為Great Deportation的事件，令本來還不太有團結性的幾萬Acadian從此團結起來，他們在Louisiana務農為生，拒絕說英語，即使已事隔幾代，而且人口只幾萬至十萬，但仍然很自豪於Acadian的身分。

而他們的法文名字Les Acadien，慢慢演變成Cajun，而由於是農家菜，當然是很樸實的菜式。

有了故事，若再去吃Cajun餐，菜式應該會好吃得多，只是，我相信那餐廳在香港也很難捱下去。