my yummy pesto pasta

pasta
lots of basil ( the plant in the kitchen needed trimming )
pine kernels ( toasted in my wicthy iron couldron )
virgin olive oil
few cloves of garlic
freshly grated parmesan

boil water in kettle ( faster )
pour into pan
add sea salt , bring to boil and add pasta ( the healthy brown pasta takes a bit longer , at least 12 minutes )

meanwhile ....
grate lots of parmesan in the mixer and set aside

then ,, without needing to was mixer (practical eh ? ) chuck in garlic, mountain of basil leaves and pine kernels handful or two of grated parmesan ....all go into the mixer ..drizzle in virgin olive .. et voila .. a green paste !!

by this time pasta is ready
drain ( AND here's the secret ) leave a bit of the pasta water in the pan so that pasta is swimming about a bit ....and then add the pesto ( flavour with peppar, herb salt, italian herbs etc ) and handfuls of parmesan..... then stir until water evaporates - takes a couple of minutes ... ang magic .. it sort of goes all starchy and gooey in a yummy sort of way .. mmmmmmmmmmmmm I really enjoyed that !

There's also quite a bit of pesto paste left over .
I freeze that in spoonfuls and keep in freezer for a rainy day.
Also excellent for flavouring sauces etc

6 June is now a public holiday- we had to sacrifice Whit Monday , I think. The government are desperately trying to make it into a big thing. It's not really catching on. Artificial. Still .. give the media time and it will become a bif commercial event. I think Swedes have always been jealous of the Norwegians because they a have always seem to celbrate their day ,17 May so passionately, so enthusiastically . Paddy's day , St Patricks day is also popular and fun. That's the 17 March too, isn't it ? 17th seems to be an auspicious day for national holidays .

Patriotism ....What a load of rubbish though and a waste of space. Start of many a war.

I've lived in Sweden for nearly 30 years , but I don't consider myself Swedish. Born in the U.K. a Bradfordian , or more specifically an Idle person yes I'm Yorksharian ( ? ) maybe , citizen of the universe , yes , that's more like .. suits me fine. When is citizen of the universe day ? The day that includes us all ?

Love and imagination are magicians

Who create an image of the Beloved in your mind

With which you share your secret intimate moments.

This apparition is made of nothing at al,

But from its mouth comes the question,

“Am I not your Loved One?”

and from you the soft reply”Yes.Yes.Yes.”

RUMI

O Love, O pure deep Love, be here, be now,
Be all – worlds dissolve into your
stainless endless radiance,
Frail living leaves burn with your brighter
than cold stares –
Make me your servant, your breath, your core.

RUMI

Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy,

absentminded. Someone sober

will worry about things going badly.

Let the lover be.

RUMI - Persian Sufi poet and mystic

Translator: Coleman Barks

Hear, O Humankind, the prayer of my heart
For are we not one, have we not one desire,
to heal our Mother Earth and bind her wounds
to hear again from dark forests and flashing rivers
the varied ever-changing Song of Creation?

O humankind, are we not all brothers and sisters,
are we not the grandchildren of the Great Mystery?
Do we not all want to love and be loved, to work
and to play, to sing and dance together?

But we live with fear. Fear that is hate, fear
that is mistrust, envy, greed, vanity, fear that is
ambition, competition, aggression, fear that is
loneliness, anger, bitterness, cruelty... and yet,
fear is only twisted love, love turned back on itself,
love that was denied, love that was rejected...
and love...

Love is life - creation, seed and leaf
and blossom and fruit and seed, love is growth
and search and reach and touch and dance.
Love is nurture and succor and feed and pleasure,
love is pleasuring ourselves pleasuring each other,
love is life believing in itself.
And life...

Life is the Sacred Mystery singing to itself, dancing
to its drum, telling tales, improvising, playing
and we are all that Spirit, our stories all
but one cosmic story that we are love indeed,
that perfect love in me seeks the love in you,
and if our eyes could ever meet without fear
we would recognize each other and rejoice,
fot love is life believing in itself."

~Manitongquat

Manitongquat (Medicine Story) is a medicine man and storyteller of the Wampanoag Nation. This prayer came to him at the first Rainbow Gathering in 1971. Its beauty and truth moves me to my very core.