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Another Russian song
19 November 2025 06:36 pmI have another Boyarsky song stuck in my head now (and weirdly, I can't find the crude online translation I'm *sure* I saw for it when I first encountered the song and was desperate to know what was going on -- maybe it was just the YouTube auto-translate? At any rate I can follow most of it now from the lyrics and my memory, however obtained, of what it is *supposed* to mean...)
( Read more... )
( Tomatoes )
( Read more... )
( Tomatoes )
The turning of the year
5 October 2025 10:41 amAfter the brief biannual period of wearing my short-sleeved jumpers I am now considering doing the full changeover to winter clothing; I am wearing dressing-gowns (albeit summer ones) in the morning and snuggling down under an eiderdown and two blankets at night, which thinking about retrieving the third one from upstairs! And I really need more vests, even if not quite full thermals as yet.
( Swan River daisy and marigold seed, and pink Linaria )
( Chives and spring onions )
( Poppies )
( Wildflower trough and tomatoes )
( Chillies )
( Basil )
( Swan River daisy and marigold seed, and pink Linaria )
( Chives and spring onions )
( Poppies )
( Wildflower trough and tomatoes )
( Chillies )
( Basil )
Red hot Chilli Peppers
30 August 2025 01:32 amWe have the first ripe red chillies as of this week :-)
The larger chilli plant has nearly finished flowering, I think -- no sign of any ripening fruits on the smaller one, but plenty of green ones. I shall have to step up my kitchen dried chilli usage in preparation for a fresh harvest!
We are about six weeks ahead of last year in terms of ripening :-)
The larger chilli plant has nearly finished flowering, I think -- no sign of any ripening fruits on the smaller one, but plenty of green ones. I shall have to step up my kitchen dried chilli usage in preparation for a fresh harvest!
We are about six weeks ahead of last year in terms of ripening :-)
Veg progress
26 July 2025 05:32 pmI pricked out three pots of assorted kale seedlings, and redistributed the remainder a little in the freed space in the pot; they are of course all horribly leggy due to having started life on the kitchen windowsill. The beetroot that I planted at the same time failed to germinate anything but poppies and chickweed, so I emptied the last of the matter remaining in the paper bag into the tub a few days ago, and think I *may* now have something with a reddish stem developing (even if the first thing that came up from the second attempt was undoubtedly a double-fronded California poppy!)
( Tomatoes )
I also repotted the larger chilli, which needed it. Both chillies are now flowering nicely.
( Tomatoes )
I also repotted the larger chilli, which needed it. Both chillies are now flowering nicely.
Plant progress
19 July 2025 09:06 pmIt rained heavily, and despite all my previous efforts at pouring water into them at least twice a day, the ripe tomatoes on a couple of my plants split. They do at least now have seeds in :-)
The Roma tomatoes don't seem to have split, despite being larger, but the first few are pretty much ready to pick now. Small by the standards of your average tinned tomato, but considerably larger than the one-and-a-half-inch towel-tomatoes!
Meanwhile the catch-up towel-tomato has set its first fruit, and the chilli has several, which will now have several months in which to ripen before the autumn ;-) The smaller chilli has its first flower-buds.
We have a couple of tiny plump mesembryanthemum seedlings.
The Roma tomatoes don't seem to have split, despite being larger, but the first few are pretty much ready to pick now. Small by the standards of your average tinned tomato, but considerably larger than the one-and-a-half-inch towel-tomatoes!
Meanwhile the catch-up towel-tomato has set its first fruit, and the chilli has several, which will now have several months in which to ripen before the autumn ;-) The smaller chilli has its first flower-buds.
We have a couple of tiny plump mesembryanthemum seedlings.
Plant update
17 July 2025 09:48 amThe larger chilli is nine and a half inches tall and is now in full flower (and I think has set its first nub of fruit) and the small one is seven inches and growing vigorously, and needs repotting. I have had some tomatoes with seeds in, although there are still coming out seedless; the catch-up towel-tomato is now bushy and flowering, and the others are now looking a bit droopy and past it, though that may be from the weight of fruit having bent down the branches -- the Roma tomatoes are ripening, and that plant is still looking quite perky at the tip. I don't actually know if this is a determinate or indeterminate variety (the others are definitely dwarf bush tomatoes), so that may well be the difference!
( Honesty(?), cornflowers, purple packet, rudbeckia )
The kale on the window sill germinated within only a couple of days, to my surprise; a couple of seedlings came up last night in the beetroot tub, but I rather suspect they are not actually beetroot.
The eating peas have definitely finished and the plant dried up, but I can't actually remove it as its stick is currently supporting the neighbouring towel-tomato... The sweet peas have almost finished likewise, but they were definitely a great success. I have left one pod on, but I am not sure it will actually develop into anything before the parent plant simply dies off.
( Honesty(?), cornflowers, purple packet, rudbeckia )
The kale on the window sill germinated within only a couple of days, to my surprise; a couple of seedlings came up last night in the beetroot tub, but I rather suspect they are not actually beetroot.
The eating peas have definitely finished and the plant dried up, but I can't actually remove it as its stick is currently supporting the neighbouring towel-tomato... The sweet peas have almost finished likewise, but they were definitely a great success. I have left one pod on, but I am not sure it will actually develop into anything before the parent plant simply dies off.
Plant progress
6 July 2025 07:36 pmThe final surviving catch-up tomato has been catching up to the rest at great speed in terms of size, although it hasn't as yet shown any signs of putting out flowers, so I have repotted it into what will have to be its final pot, since I have none larger remaining, and now have my prescribed row of six towel-tomatoes (plus one Roma tomato) filling the front of the balcony :-)
I have managed to give away all but two of my various chilli seedlings, and now have one vigorously bushy plant that is seven inches high and on the verge of flowering, and another that put out a strong spurt of growth and is now five and a half inches high.
I have managed to give away all but two of my various chilli seedlings, and now have one vigorously bushy plant that is seven inches high and on the verge of flowering, and another that put out a strong spurt of growth and is now five and a half inches high.
Plant progress
30 May 2025 12:41 pm( Tomatoes, sweet peas and poppies )
The blackfly problem is getting worse (as happened last year, the chives are unusable as a result, although they are flowering prettily!) Despite my plants being entirely 'organic' there is no sign of any predators moving in on the pests, so I am doing what I can to rub off the blackfly manually. They are currently making a move on the various nasturtiums :-(
After some thinning-out I now have five small but thriving chilli plants, some from all of the various attempts at sowing seed I made this year. Which is of course too many ;-)
The blackfly problem is getting worse (as happened last year, the chives are unusable as a result, although they are flowering prettily!) Despite my plants being entirely 'organic' there is no sign of any predators moving in on the pests, so I am doing what I can to rub off the blackfly manually. They are currently making a move on the various nasturtiums :-(
After some thinning-out I now have five small but thriving chilli plants, some from all of the various attempts at sowing seed I made this year. Which is of course too many ;-)
Catch-up tomatoes
13 May 2025 09:41 amHaving pretty much mentally written off my attempt at planting some more, very belated, towel-tomatoes, I was surprised to find first one and then two seedlings popping up, despite the heat and the pot drying out! (And another one coming today, by the looks of it; two weeks to the day with outdoor germination.) It will be an interesting experiment, given that the survivors of the first batch currently all have flower-buds on... I have successfully re-homed the two smaller Roma tomatoes that didn't get larger pots, so we are down to the single adult plant that is required (or desired).
( Chillies )
Both the chives and one of the spring onions are now in flower, as is a love-in-the-mist which self-sowed in the buddleia pot.
( Water-carriers )
( Chillies )
Both the chives and one of the spring onions are now in flower, as is a love-in-the-mist which self-sowed in the buddleia pot.
( Water-carriers )
Splitting things up
29 April 2025 08:23 pm( I forgot all about the cover art when uploading to FFnet... )
This evening I dissected the soggy cardboard of the six-pack, into which the roots of the seedlings had of course entwined themselves, making separating and transplanting them more and not less traumatic :-(
We have three Gysophila elegans seedlings -- which I was quite unable to separate and ended up flattening out sideways in a wide pot to try to gain some distance between the plants! -- and several Gypsophila vaccaria, even though I pulled out at least one of those at the seedling stage because it strongly resembled yet another shoo-fly. I split those between a couple of smallish pots, having emptied the supposed Coreopsis pot and transferred the smaller pink Linaria (and four healthy and vigorous possible Blue River daisies around its base!) into a wider pot, mainly in order to free up the small one -- I have no small or medium-small pots left. I then used this pot to put the possibly-white California poppy seedling from the final segment of the six-pack into. If it lives, it will be an interesting but not conclusive genetic experiment!
( Towel-tomatoes )
( Chillies )
Likewise I transplanted one of my smaller pots of marigolds into a larger one out of the motive to use the pot for something else, although most of those marigolds have been flourishing mightily and do rather need repotting! I have split up the main pot of Swan River daisies -- without labelling them, which I hope wasn't a mistake; they should be large enough to recognise now...
This evening I dissected the soggy cardboard of the six-pack, into which the roots of the seedlings had of course entwined themselves, making separating and transplanting them more and not less traumatic :-(
We have three Gysophila elegans seedlings -- which I was quite unable to separate and ended up flattening out sideways in a wide pot to try to gain some distance between the plants! -- and several Gypsophila vaccaria, even though I pulled out at least one of those at the seedling stage because it strongly resembled yet another shoo-fly. I split those between a couple of smallish pots, having emptied the supposed Coreopsis pot and transferred the smaller pink Linaria (and four healthy and vigorous possible Blue River daisies around its base!) into a wider pot, mainly in order to free up the small one -- I have no small or medium-small pots left. I then used this pot to put the possibly-white California poppy seedling from the final segment of the six-pack into. If it lives, it will be an interesting but not conclusive genetic experiment!
( Towel-tomatoes )
( Chillies )
Likewise I transplanted one of my smaller pots of marigolds into a larger one out of the motive to use the pot for something else, although most of those marigolds have been flourishing mightily and do rather need repotting! I have split up the main pot of Swan River daisies -- without labelling them, which I hope wasn't a mistake; they should be large enough to recognise now...
I have typed up the current edit of the new fic (now entitled "A Sword Outwears Its Sheath" after I'd subconsciously echoed bits of Byron in the text) at about 3,500 words. But having fixed the geopolitics I now really ought to fix the weather -- being reminded by d'Artagnan's complaints about the English weather in "Twenty Years After" that "je suis d’un pays où il n’y a pas un nuage au ciel", while Rousillon lies even further south than Gascony ;-p
( Occitan October )
( Basil and California poppies )
I also transplanted a random rocket seedling out of the chilli pot, where it was rapidly overtopping the still entirely puny chillies, and likewise moved some mesembryanthemums.
No sign of anything but a vigorous crop of chickweed (and a mesembryanthemum) in the pot where I sowed the two pink Swan River daisy seeds, so those weren't viable or didn't survive. There is a healthy batch of the blue ones, however (which really need potting on). Oddly enough I think there may be some self-sown Swan River daisy seedlings at the base of the smaller pot of pink Linaria, though goodness knows how they got there...
I think the coreopsis has just failed entirely, I'm afraid. A pity, because it was colourful, if not native.
( Occitan October )
( Basil and California poppies )
I also transplanted a random rocket seedling out of the chilli pot, where it was rapidly overtopping the still entirely puny chillies, and likewise moved some mesembryanthemums.
No sign of anything but a vigorous crop of chickweed (and a mesembryanthemum) in the pot where I sowed the two pink Swan River daisy seeds, so those weren't viable or didn't survive. There is a healthy batch of the blue ones, however (which really need potting on). Oddly enough I think there may be some self-sown Swan River daisy seedlings at the base of the smaller pot of pink Linaria, though goodness knows how they got there...
I think the coreopsis has just failed entirely, I'm afraid. A pity, because it was colourful, if not native.
Flowers and fic
22 April 2025 11:15 pmI think some actual dill has finally germinated while I wasn't looking; the seedlings are very hard to tell apart from poppies during the early stage! Two of the over-wintered California poppies are now in golden bloom, and there is a bud just coming out on the miniature rose, which has died back entirely to a vigorous new shoot -- apparently a rose's way of reinvigorating itself, as it has done this more than once before.
I pulled out the dying towel-tomato, which actually seemed to have quite a robust stem after all -- however, it is too late now! One of the second batch is not looking too healthy either, and the chillies are almost all still sitting there with just their single pair of seed-leaves, with only a couple showing signs of putting out a tiny pair of true leaves. But this does tend to happen...
Made some hot-cross buns for Easter, but unfortunately, due to the extreme rush of getting them through the oven after 36 hours' "slow sourdough fermentation", I forgot to put the crosses on this year! At least that means it is reasonable to freeze them and continue eating them after Easter :-P
And I have begun (and in fact now almost finished; I was hoping I might get through it in a single day, but that was several days ago and clearly over-optimistic!) a 'Three Musketeers' fan-fiction. ( A possibly inevitable admission )
I pulled out the dying towel-tomato, which actually seemed to have quite a robust stem after all -- however, it is too late now! One of the second batch is not looking too healthy either, and the chillies are almost all still sitting there with just their single pair of seed-leaves, with only a couple showing signs of putting out a tiny pair of true leaves. But this does tend to happen...
Made some hot-cross buns for Easter, but unfortunately, due to the extreme rush of getting them through the oven after 36 hours' "slow sourdough fermentation", I forgot to put the crosses on this year! At least that means it is reasonable to freeze them and continue eating them after Easter :-P
And I have begun (and in fact now almost finished; I was hoping I might get through it in a single day, but that was several days ago and clearly over-optimistic!) a 'Three Musketeers' fan-fiction. ( A possibly inevitable admission )
Potting on
13 April 2025 11:23 amSplit up the four nasturtiums, and the coriander, of which of course we now have far too much (four pots of multiple seedlings; you get a pair of seedlings from the two halves of each viable seed, but even so there was clearly a high viability rate!)
Pricked out the 'old' chillies (sown at the start of March), although they have almost no root on them even now; they were growing in clumps and did need splitting up. But all the chilli seedlings are really still barely developed, despite all the warm weather, with just a couple just starting to put out true leaves.
I took off several inches of thick moss from one corner of the original tray of California poppies and inserted some of the various self-sown seedling California poppies from other pots in there. My long-established pots all seem to end up developing a covering of moss, which does help to stop them drying out but eventually makes it very hard to water the pot effectively in the first place! I end up stripping it off and storing it indoors to dry out, with the vague thought that in a dry powdered form it may serve as an analogue for peat (I stick it in the bottom of pots before filling them up with compost, in the hope of helping retain water down there without allowing the moss access to reanimate on the surface...)
Also transplanted the possible-corn-camomile from the sage pot into the so-called wildflower seed pot :-p
Pricked out the 'old' chillies (sown at the start of March), although they have almost no root on them even now; they were growing in clumps and did need splitting up. But all the chilli seedlings are really still barely developed, despite all the warm weather, with just a couple just starting to put out true leaves.
I took off several inches of thick moss from one corner of the original tray of California poppies and inserted some of the various self-sown seedling California poppies from other pots in there. My long-established pots all seem to end up developing a covering of moss, which does help to stop them drying out but eventually makes it very hard to water the pot effectively in the first place! I end up stripping it off and storing it indoors to dry out, with the vague thought that in a dry powdered form it may serve as an analogue for peat (I stick it in the bottom of pots before filling them up with compost, in the hope of helping retain water down there without allowing the moss access to reanimate on the surface...)
Also transplanted the possible-corn-camomile from the sage pot into the so-called wildflower seed pot :-p
Separation
2 April 2025 11:44 amSeparated out the Roma tomatoes and potted up the ( sweet peas )
I now havethree four nasturtiums showing, and at least one seedling in each of the calendula seed-compartments -- I clearly planted a lot more than six! And the corn-flowers that I sowed from the worryingly tiny packet of seed I managed to save last summer, are coming up, to my relief.
The 'official' coriander is finally germinating, in addition to all the seeds that apparently found their way into the compost ;-)
( Chillies )
I remember that I was originally advised to take up growing seeds as a means of therapy -- a form of creative activity, I suppose, and a way of paying heed to something outside one's own needs. And I definitely find annuals more interesting than having a low-maintenance house plant just sitting in the corner Keeping Me In Touch With Nature, as advised for hospitals and corporate buildings. But it occurs to me that, characteristically, far from being calmed and soothed by my plants I simply adopt them as another sort of constant worry :-(
( Corn-camomile and feverfew )
I now have
The 'official' coriander is finally germinating, in addition to all the seeds that apparently found their way into the compost ;-)
( Chillies )
I remember that I was originally advised to take up growing seeds as a means of therapy -- a form of creative activity, I suppose, and a way of paying heed to something outside one's own needs. And I definitely find annuals more interesting than having a low-maintenance house plant just sitting in the corner Keeping Me In Touch With Nature, as advised for hospitals and corporate buildings. But it occurs to me that, characteristically, far from being calmed and soothed by my plants I simply adopt them as another sort of constant worry :-(
( Corn-camomile and feverfew )
Planted a second batch of lettuce and of rocket, now that the first plants are large enough to begin harvesting.
( Mesembryanthemums )
There has been no sign of life from the rudbeckias (though apparently they can take 30 days to germinate!) and I put in some more of the seed/chaff mix from the bag -- I didn't bother with the two-step method when I harvested the seed-heads, so it is inevitably mostly dead black petals as opposed to trapezoid dark grey seed...
However I think we have a single nasturtium showing and possibly a towel-tomato from the second batch, and some more seed-necks are visible in the new and old chilli pots (plus one seed that fatally managed to germinate on the surface). I note that I didn't even sow the seed until April last year, which reflects what a cold spring it was!
Successfully assembled a home-grown salad of baby lettuce, rocket, pea-shoots, beetroot and turnip-tops, kale, mint, chives, spring onion and some random chickweed for lunch, although it was more of a garnish than the sort of hefty cabbage-based salads I normally make ;-)
( Mesembryanthemums )
There has been no sign of life from the rudbeckias (though apparently they can take 30 days to germinate!) and I put in some more of the seed/chaff mix from the bag -- I didn't bother with the two-step method when I harvested the seed-heads, so it is inevitably mostly dead black petals as opposed to trapezoid dark grey seed...
However I think we have a single nasturtium showing and possibly a towel-tomato from the second batch, and some more seed-necks are visible in the new and old chilli pots (plus one seed that fatally managed to germinate on the surface). I note that I didn't even sow the seed until April last year, which reflects what a cold spring it was!
Successfully assembled a home-grown salad of baby lettuce, rocket, pea-shoots, beetroot and turnip-tops, kale, mint, chives, spring onion and some random chickweed for lunch, although it was more of a garnish than the sort of hefty cabbage-based salads I normally make ;-)
Germination progress
28 March 2025 12:47 pmThe sweet peas are germinating en masse in their jar. The Swan River daisies have come up in embarrassing profusion and will need thinning out; I have been 'thinning' the lettuce seedlings by eating them, but ought to plant up a second batch. Ditto the rocket.
The Oriental poppies popped up suddenly this morning, having been completely invisible yesterday. Two and possibly three of the six calendula seeds I planted have germinated, and half a dozen flax seeds (assuming it actually was flax!)
There are several seedlings among the limanthes, and germination this morning in the second tray of marigolds; I think a few of the frosted ones are managing to put out true leaves between the stubs of their dead seed-leaves, although that tray is mainly occupied by self-sown corn-marigolds -- and what looks like coriander that I definitely didn't plant in there, although the coriander that I did plant hasn't come up yet!
No sign of activity as yet among the rudbeckias or nasturtiums, ( chillies )
( Tomatoes )
The one surviving honesty seedling has been trying to flower despite being only a few inches high, so I have transplanted it into a deeper pot. Ironically I think I have another self-sown honesty plant popping up in the wildflower trough!
The Oriental poppies popped up suddenly this morning, having been completely invisible yesterday. Two and possibly three of the six calendula seeds I planted have germinated, and half a dozen flax seeds (assuming it actually was flax!)
There are several seedlings among the limanthes, and germination this morning in the second tray of marigolds; I think a few of the frosted ones are managing to put out true leaves between the stubs of their dead seed-leaves, although that tray is mainly occupied by self-sown corn-marigolds -- and what looks like coriander that I definitely didn't plant in there, although the coriander that I did plant hasn't come up yet!
No sign of activity as yet among the rudbeckias or nasturtiums, ( chillies )
( Tomatoes )
The one surviving honesty seedling has been trying to flower despite being only a few inches high, so I have transplanted it into a deeper pot. Ironically I think I have another self-sown honesty plant popping up in the wildflower trough!
I have one more sweet pea seedling popping up from the second batch I sowed a couple of weeks ago; fertility seems to be about one in three. I tried pre-soaking another dozen or so and putting them in a jar as I did with the dwarf peas to such successful effect. Of course if anything like all those seeds germinate I shall have far too many...
The peas are doing quite nicely, although ironically the ones that I sowed incredibly thickly are actually looking more advanced than the ones that were 'properly' spaced out. I was going to say that nothing had germinated yet out of all the seeds I sowed last week, but actually I think a Swan River daisy and a poached-egg plant have come up. Of course lots of 'weeds' are appearing, e.g. poppies, speedwell, chickweed and corn-marigolds :-)
And I think we have one chilli seedling in the original pot, although of course I can't now tell if that was from the 2024 seed I sowed at the beginning of the month or from the left-over commercial seed I added to the pot last week....
( Tomatoes )
The peas are doing quite nicely, although ironically the ones that I sowed incredibly thickly are actually looking more advanced than the ones that were 'properly' spaced out. I was going to say that nothing had germinated yet out of all the seeds I sowed last week, but actually I think a Swan River daisy and a poached-egg plant have come up. Of course lots of 'weeds' are appearing, e.g. poppies, speedwell, chickweed and corn-marigolds :-)
And I think we have one chilli seedling in the original pot, although of course I can't now tell if that was from the 2024 seed I sowed at the beginning of the month or from the left-over commercial seed I added to the pot last week....
( Tomatoes )
Another towel-tomato seed germinated last night -- possibly stimulated by the warmth of its trip outside! I evacuated them again this morning from the fifty-five degree chill of indoors, and since the balcony was so warm I ended up sowing a lot more seeds.
( Marigolds )
( Chillies )
I sowed limanthes, rudbeckia (after a panic when I thought I had failed to save any seed and had only my one scrappy overwintered plant to go by), oriental poppy, calendulas (again I have several overwintered plants), nasturtium and some rather optimistic coriander. ( Flax )
( Swan River daisy )
I have *not* sowed the basil, mesembryanthemums, coreopsis, or any of the 'Linaria' and 'Gypsophila' varieties -- and yes, the pink Linaria is, unbelievably, *still* flowering and putting out new buds, having been doing so all winter while growing in a tiny pot. It is clearly extremely tough, hardy and prolific, as well as naturalising easily. Precisely the sort of flower that I like, in other words :-D
( Bulbs: mystery, grape-hyacinth, chives, garlic )
( Marigolds )
( Chillies )
I sowed limanthes, rudbeckia (after a panic when I thought I had failed to save any seed and had only my one scrappy overwintered plant to go by), oriental poppy, calendulas (again I have several overwintered plants), nasturtium and some rather optimistic coriander. ( Flax )
( Swan River daisy )
I have *not* sowed the basil, mesembryanthemums, coreopsis, or any of the 'Linaria' and 'Gypsophila' varieties -- and yes, the pink Linaria is, unbelievably, *still* flowering and putting out new buds, having been doing so all winter while growing in a tiny pot. It is clearly extremely tough, hardy and prolific, as well as naturalising easily. Precisely the sort of flower that I like, in other words :-D
( Bulbs: mystery, grape-hyacinth, chives, garlic )
Peas and Milady
9 March 2025 05:31 pmI planted up my peas, which were rapidly outgrowing their damp newspaper -- one pot sown very thickly, for cutting as pea-shoots, and one with just half a dozen peas in it for growing on. I also tucked two or three of the 'spares' into the large pot with an overwintered corn-marigold in it (I think it was probably the Roma tomato pot last summer...)
No sign of germination yet among the tomato and chilli seeds, although it was warmer outside than inside today so I put them out for the afternoon.
Sous le Signe des Mousquetaires, Episode 32... well, that's certainly an unusual take on "The Man in the Iron Mask" :-D
In this version he is apparently a sinister supervillain who arrives to terrorise Paris... with the possible aid of Milady, whom d'Artagnan spared in a child-friendly and entirely uncanonical fashion at the end of the episode in which she should have been executed. I did wonder if she would really disappear and become a reformed character, as she had promised, or whether d'Artagnan's act of mercy would come back to bite him later.
And of course now he can't admit his concern that she appears to be involved in the misdeeds of the Iron Mask, because he would have to admit that he was tricked by her sob-story into letting her get away, despite his assurances to the others. He has already been obliged to lie outright to Athos (who in this version has no personal connection to Milady), who is beginning to wonder...
No sign of germination yet among the tomato and chilli seeds, although it was warmer outside than inside today so I put them out for the afternoon.
Sous le Signe des Mousquetaires, Episode 32... well, that's certainly an unusual take on "The Man in the Iron Mask" :-D
In this version he is apparently a sinister supervillain who arrives to terrorise Paris... with the possible aid of Milady, whom d'Artagnan spared in a child-friendly and entirely uncanonical fashion at the end of the episode in which she should have been executed. I did wonder if she would really disappear and become a reformed character, as she had promised, or whether d'Artagnan's act of mercy would come back to bite him later.
And of course now he can't admit his concern that she appears to be involved in the misdeeds of the Iron Mask, because he would have to admit that he was tricked by her sob-story into letting her get away, despite his assurances to the others. He has already been obliged to lie outright to Athos (who in this version has no personal connection to Milady), who is beginning to wonder...
