It was the first Sunday that it felt truly autumnal this year, and it was still August. That's Ireland for you! If the sun shines, it's still lovely, but the minute the clouds appear, you have to think layers, rain jacket and wooly hat!
The chestnut trees seem to be the first to lose their summer greens. I guess it's the energy going into the chestnuts. Although some of them have no chestnuts whatsoever. Last year, I remember a tree that seemed to die in a matter of weeks in UCD, and it was promptly cut down by the campus team, so that it wouldn't infect the neighbouring trees, presumably. Is there a chestnut tree disease in Ireland, I wonder?
Well, I promptly forgot about my concern for the trees when I discovered that Ambiorikx, the Belgian Fries food truck, was in the park. I had to try them, and I'm definitely giving them the thumbs up. Although not quite as good as my granny's chips, which were deep-fried in lard of course. I still remember the white waxy substance in the frier. I hadn't a clue what it was then. But apparently, it can withstand very high temperatures, which makes it good for deep-fat-frying. I wonder is that still used by some businesses? In which case vegans who think that chips are OK for them may be consuming more animal fat than they realise! And if you're curious as to what makes Belgian Fries different from other chips, read Ambiorikx's in-depth blog article!
I still had a bit of time before meeting with the other sketchers so I found a quiet little corner and sketched this tree and the bit of the house behind it that I could see - there was a wall. By the time I was finished, the sun was shining and it was glorious again. Time to shed the layers and chat with my friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment