THE QUIET LIFE

It occurs to me that anyone has been reading my blogs for a while might have concluded that my life is a trifle dull, the daily and weekly round of tasks, family business, small joys and woes of every day life. I might even have thought so myself thirty years ago, perhaps even more recently than that. It was not until I became, for a time unable to do these things that I realised how important they were, how necessary to my well being and happiness. I spent most of my youth living from one adrenalin rush to the next. I suppose you could say that I had quite an exiting time of it. At the age of seven I wanted to be David Attenborough and at fifteen landed a job on a nature reserve in Norfolk.

Unfortunately my mother felt that it would not be safe to have a young girl wandering round the fens ringing birds so she scouted my plans and instead I was packed off to Art school, it was 1968 and I was fifteen years old, I would have been safer in a tank of sharks! After that came drama school and for a time the theatre was my life. Everything, and I mean everything I learned at art school came in handy there. Life was hectic but oh so stressful even when I was having fun. I came to understand that all that really matters are the small dear homely pleasures, the comfort of the every day ordinary things that wrap us in a sense of safety and belonging. I find great joy in pleasing my family with home made treats and caring for them in any way I can. I am aware that this may seem shocking to my feminist sisters, but for me it seems no disgrace to be a mother, house wife and carer. I am so very glad I found this out, the life I have suits me, I wish I had been wise enough to have discovered it sooner.

That is quite enough philosophy for now. Back to today, my son arrived home in a cheerful mood and we chatted for ages before he went off to bed. Pa and I made do with toast and marmalade for breakfast as he had to go out and I needed the kitchen for some serious cooking. The marigold buns made yesterday did not last the evening, we polished off the lot with some assistance from the boys next door, so I made a fresh batch, they smell wonderful when they come out of the oven. Next I baked a large batch of chocolate biscuits as the tin was almost empty, then out into the garden to pick tarragon, dig up some fennel roots, and gather the windfall apples before the slugs took liberties.

Then there were courgettes to pick and the shallots to turn. They are not drying well because of the damp weather. Lastly I picked another bowl of wine berries, I note with satisfaction that there are a few young plants going nicely. Once you get them started they grow quickly. Back in the kitchen I jointed a chicken and put it in a spiced marinade, prepared the fennel and some shallots for roasting and also made lots of jacket wedges flavoured with garlic and thyme. Fennel and tarragon dip completed the preparations and as I finished Pa arrived home. We had coffee and biscuits then he went off to feed the birds and I headed out to buy some gift wrap, it has proved difficult to find any close to home so I went to the nearest Tesco and at last found some paper suitable to wrap a gift for a baby.

In spite of all I said at the beginning of this epistle I still cursed the pile of ironing that awaited my return and got it over with as fast as possible. Dinner was lovely and we finished off with the lime jelly I made yesterday. It has been a peaceful, lovely, ordinary day.

Yesterday evening however we had an intruder in the orchard, a man had climbed over the wall, I think he was lost, and the cat Tiggy ran terrified into the house so I went out to see what was occurring. I was surprised to see the strange man and asked him to leave which he seemed disinclined to do so I was obliged to see him off the property at the end of a very sharp muck fork, I always keep one handy as we have had this trouble before, thankfully he left without any trouble, I suspect he thought I was crazy, an opinion with which I am inclined to agree!
As a caveat I should add that in spite of popular legend the sketch at the top of this blog is not a self portrait!

COOKING WITH SUNSHINE

Up early this morning and had breakfast in the kitchen with my son, he seems a little down at the moment, that's not like him at all, any way we chatted away over several cups of tea and by the time he went to bed he seemed a little better. Pa was up in good time this morning as he had an appointment with his G.P. He left at 10:15am,”I won't be long”, he said. At 1:15pm I was still waiting for him to get back, he has never had any idea of time, an irritating habit which he shares with my mother, they are both Sagittarius you see.

While he was swanning about I got on with the bread making, two large white poppy seed loaves, a tomato flat bread and a honey and walnut roll. We shall have the flat bread with tonight's pasta, see I told you that would be my sons choice for dinner. As Pa was still absent I made a batch of marigold buns for tea, they are rather like a rich rock cake with marigold petals instead of currants, you feel as if you are cooking with sunshine when you bake these little beauties. Lastly I prepared a fresh lime jelly for tomorrow's sweet course, with luck I should have less to do tomorrow and with even more luck I shall spend some time in the garden.

Pa retuned at last and at 2:00pm we ate lunch, kippers, this is a meal my son detests and we endeavour to eradicate all track of their pungent aroma by the time he wakes for dinner, this can be difficult even when the meal is eaten early but so late in the day it was quite a task. I flew about lighting joss sticks upstairs and down sandal and patcholi until the place had the fragrance of a Persian market I got rid of the pong at last and I doubt if we shall have a problem with moths for at least a year.

Today on a late afternoon visit to hospital I lost my handbag. There was very little cash in my purse but the bag contained my mobile phone and worse than all my son's camera. I was dreadfully upset and without much hope called the hospital lost property office,behold a kind lady had found my bag and handed it in with it's contents intact. Wild with joy and speechless with relief I went to collect my bag. The security men were very kind to a dotty old dear and handed it over at once, I asked for the phone number of the good Samaritan as I wanted to thank her for her honesty, when I tried to call the number I could not get a connection it seems she gave a false number, so if the kind soul who handed in a large beige handbag at West Middlesex Hospital today is out there you have my heartfelt thanks and may blessings light upon you.

GREAT AUNT AVIE

I am celebrating today, for the third time I am a great aunt, this time a boy, Matthew Thomas Steven. Every one is delighted with the name as there has been a Tom in the family for at least eight generations that we know of. Both mother and baby are in perfect health and my lovely nephew Dan is over the moon, bless him, if his son is half as good looking as he is he will be a lucky boy. Today has been good all round, Pa and I had fried egg and bacon sandwiches for breakfast, I hope my G.P. never finds out! Today I made a roast chicken dinner so first thing this morning I collected some baby carrots, white turnips, French beans, a couple of shallots for the stuffing and some apples for the sauce, I get such a kick out of making a meal with home grown things it's worth all the work that goes into it. There are enough courgettes to make a lovely soup for tomorrow or a cheese and vegetable pasta, I know which one my son will chose he would eat pasta every day I think. Having barded the chicken with streaky bacon and prepared all the vegetables and so on I decided to tackle the ironing ...***!.

As a reward to myself for this endeavour I took the buggie and went to explore the local canal, it is something I have been meaning to do for ages and I thoroughly enjoyed my adventure. For quite a large part of the journey a Red Admiral butterfly perched on in the centre of the tiller sunning its self, one passer by stopped me and asked if it was real. I trundled along the tow-path looking at the many pretty old barges, moorhens and ducks. Some boys were playing a strange game of basketball while sitting in canoes, it looked tricky but they seemed to be having a lot of fun.

The thing that struck me was that the canal is so straight that I reached in a few minutes a road bridge that would have taken a good half hour on the pavement, canals seem to be a good way of getting about. All too soon it was time to turn round and return to get the dinner. I have promised myself that one day soon I shall take a packed lunch and explore properly, it is a place I never visited when I could walk anywhere so it has the advantage of novelty as well as beauty.

I am very tired today as I got very little sleep last night, My knee was hurting and the latest crop of midge bites was itching like mad, my son was bitten yesterday and is experiencing the same trouble. I do not mind not sleeping very much,you do get used to it after a while and as there is a T.V in the room I can always put on a film of watch the all night news, I am usually very well informed! Bread day tomorrow, and perhaps I will make some marigold buns for tea. Bye for now.

ALL OVER THE PLACE

I have been just about every where today, it has been one of those days when there are lots of small unrelated tasks that need attention. After a cup of tea and a chat with my son I packed him off to bed and went off to the kitchen to make today's bread, I used three quarters white flour and a quarter spelt flour today, it makes a light loaf with a lovely nutty flavour,four pounds of flour make three good sized bloomers that will feed us for at least two days, I hope.

Then leaving Pa to wash up I set off for Home base to buy the paint for next week. There were of course other purchases to be made, sand paper, masks, and a rather swish paint pad set which should make the job much easier as this will be my son's first attempt at decorating. This morning he told me he was looking forward to doing the job, he likes a challenge. I intend to have a go at painting one wall in my room as the paint is fine every where else, I have chosen a very pale sage green as it should match the four patchwork quilts, one for each season, that adorn the bed. They were gifts from my son over the past year or two, in fact every where I look I see evidence of his kindness and generosity. He loves to give happiness and he is always planning surprises for us, I cannot begin to tell you how much he is loved by his adoring parents.

Back from my shopping trip I headed for the garden to pick today's crop of wine berries,little jewels, they truly are the prettiest of all the fruits. The shallots were ready to pull so I harvested them and left them to dry on the bench in the orchard, I do hope it does'nt rain! I also I regret to say was obliged to pull up a large amount of thistles that had sprung up among the leeks, and further more I have the prickles to prove it! Finally I set up the hose to water the vegetables as once again they are as dry as dust then back to the kitchen for a well earned coffee.

By now the bread was cold so I prepared my son a packed supper of chicken sandwiches, with the usual adjuncts of crisps and salad cream, a preference which goes back to his childhood. Dinner tonight was another childhood favourite of scrambled egg and bacon muffins, whole meal muffins of course. This meal is not my ideal but it has the virtue of needing no advance preparation and on a day like today, it was a good choice. The jelly did not set in time for yesterday so we had it this evening, jelly is a favourite with all of us.

I observed that the laundry baskets were all overflowing so as a final chore tackled some of the laundry, then it was time to get my son off to work. Phew, what a day. I hope there is a good,film on TV tonight I have watched X2 twice this week already. Oh I almost forgot, to tell you, last night I counted six hedgehogs on the path in the front garden, that should cut down the slug population considerably, I hope.

ONE MAN'S JUNK

My son has decided to decorate his bedroom on his next week off. His announcement has caused a good deal of perturbation for as everyone knows in order to decorate a room it first has to be cleared of its contents. At this point I must tell you that his room is much like the TARDIS in so far as it is a smallish space which contains a very great deal. Book shelves line the room on all sides from floor to ceiling, the space under the bed houses a life times collection of boxed games and those are just the ones he no longer uses,the rest
cover another set of shelves. Then there is the DVD collection, literally hundreds. This little lot in company with a lifetimes collection of curiosities and objects de art once moved will mean that the bath room will look le Bonham's store room for the greater part of next week.....fun and games!

After breakfast, boiled eggs and soldiers, and with the kitchen cleared I decided to clear out a cupboard in my bedroom. Apart from the obvious clothes, bedding and spare curtains this space has become the repository for all the odds and ends that other members of the family are attached to sentimentally but for which they have no room in the own cupboards. Getting anything out of this badly overcrowded space is time consuming and down right dangerous, I was once buried in there for over an hour when a huge pile of throws tumbled of the top shelf,there was no-one in to here my anguished cries for help and when I eventually fought my way out I was black and blue.

Without going in to too many details I threw out five large bin begs full of old videos boots rucksacks and even an ancient hoover. I have taken a chance that some of these items may be missed by their owners but if that happens the rubbish will not be collected for a week so they can go bin diving if they wish; on condition that the junk does not return to my cupboard. It looks much better now and I can actually hang my clothes in there,for a while a least! Also I found a beautiful moth roosting in a dark corner,a bonus in the middle of an unpleasant task.

Today we are having lasagne for dinner and a home-made blueberry jelly, if it sets in time, if not we shall have iced cream instead. The vegetable garden is yielding a good crop of French beans this year and I have never had so many wine berries before, it's good to see the apples getting bigger by the day and we shall soon have some squashes if all goes well. My poor boy was shattered this morning but he still made his old mum a cup of tea and we had a chat before he went to bed, wonder of wonders, for once on a Tuesday the bell ringers were silent, a blessing indeed as it made it easier for him to go to sleep.

Looking forward a week or two we have decided to hold a back-yard sale in conjunction with the boys next door as they have lots of stuff they don't need, One man's junk is another mans treasure as they say.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

As usual Monday has not exactly gone according to plan. In the first place my son, who fully intended to stay awake all night to prepare for his nocturnal exertions ended by turning in at about one, he was totally shattered, poor soul. The idea was then for him to sleep as late as possible, this was made impossible by the roar of aircraft heading for Heathrow, it's our turn to have them directly over head and they started earlier than usual today. They woke me at about four this morning and I was distinctly dis-chuffed. I watched the BBC News channel for a while, depressing
tuned in to a vintage Catherine Cookson, my God it was worse than the news for misery and woe, “Enough of this frippery.” I said, dressed and headed down stairs to begin the day. On with the kettle, tea in the pot and while it boiled I greased the bread trays and heated the oven, it was at this point that my bleary eyed boy arrived in the kitchen with a mournful expression and a huge yawn, I promised tea and breakfast as soon as the bread was done. The kitchen is so warm at the moment that bread dough rises quickly so within an hour I had produced two large loaves two baguettes and a batch of small buns and we were sitting down to breakfast. Pa and I had poached eggs and toast and for my son three slices of toasted cheese to give solace in his trouble, Yawny wake ups are not a favourite with any of us

Breakfast over Pa went out to fill up the bird feeders, it,s quite a long job, My son retired to his room to rest and I tackled the dishes before starting to prepare dinner, an easy meal of roast pork with trenchers, jacket wedges salad and dips. After that I had time to make two orange and lavender cakes, one for us and one for the boys next door, they both have a sweet tooth so a cake is always welcome. Afternoon tea was nice as we were all together and I made a pot of Earl Grey, two cups each.

Hot and sticky from baking I put the meat into the oven and headed for the river, I thought I would walk down as it's not far, Well I made it but it showed me how much worse my arthritis
has become since my operation. It was worth it though because although the sky was dull the river was awash with small boats and many different species of water fowl, our part of the river is lovely, it even has an island full of reeds and willows, I never get tired of looking, it is a wonderful spot and we are lucky to live so close to so much beauty.

Pa bought me a bunch of yellow sunflowers for the kitchen and they look wonderful on the table in a big jug, I sow the red ones mostly though I never have the heart to pick them as the birds rely on the seeds later in the year so getting some as a gift was very welcome.

I must say I am looking forward to relaxing this evening and truly I shall feel a lot better when my son is safely asleep tomorrow morning, He is six foot four with a big black beard which gives him a piratical air and yet I worry as much about him now as I did when he was a cute little boy, such is the burden of mother hood and of course its pleasure. I had been told that I was unable to have children so believe me when I say that not a day goes by when I don't count my blessings, particularly the big hairy one!

INTO THE JUNGLE

During the past few weeks my time in the vegetable garden has been sadly limited and it certainly showed when I advanced upon the weeds this morning. The recent rain has caused an upsurge of every thing including some undesirables such as lesser burdock and nettle. The main problem was the strawberry bed now finished for this year but full of young ash plants, I filled a large wheelbarrow with them and pulling them up was hard work. We are surrounded by ash trees and every year they make a prodigious amount of seed most of which because of the prevailing wind fails on our garden. Left to it's own devices the garden would soon become a woodland,actually that's quite a comforting thought in a way.

Strimmer at the ready I tackled the grass pathways next, I have a petrol strimmer, a birthday present from the boys three years ago, and I would hate to be without it as it makes short work of all the grass in the orchard . The only problem is the weight which is getting a bit much for me, I think a harness will solve the problem and it's on my shopping list for the garden next year. Next I cleared a couple of old spring salad beds ready to sow again for a late crop of corn salad and curly endive to enjoy in the autumn.

I can hardly believe it will soon be August, the summer is passing so quickly. The garden shows the time of year with rows of tall curly kale, thickening leeks and well hearted autumn cabbages. The Bromley apples too are quite large now, soon the herb jellies will be made, a winter store cupboard staple for us and made in large amounts. For now though I intend to enjoy the blue skies, fluffy clouds and the warm evening air, it's much to early to dwell on autumn don't you think?

My son had a house full of friends again today, they ate there way through a large box of shortbread and from all the laughing seemed to enjoy themselves enormously. Pa went to Homebase in search of door knobs........ don't ask, and to put some air in the buggies tyres, he likes to get out as much as I do and it's lovely to trundle about on a nice warm day. Back indoors I bagged the bathroom for long enough to wash my hair, I had run over a rotten apple or two with the strimmer on the result was unpleasant, by the time I came out there were a few people stamping about on the landing, I think I finished in the nick of time.

I observe that once again the mozzies have feasted well and I look very poxy indeed even jungle strength repellent does not deter the little blighter we have our own special breed here about they come from a sewage plant about a mile away and infest the area for miles around. There has been much promised as to the eradication of these little pests but very little action so far. During the election it was suggested that the prospective candidates disported themselves in the lane by the river for half and hour one evening, when they all expressed sorrow at having to decline our hospitality no one was at all surprised.

Tonight we had celery soup with crusty bread followed by iced cream, we were all rather tired but we all agreed that it had been a good day all round.

Top Gear tonight, hooray and hopefully a good nights sleep. My son will stay up all night if he can as he will sleep tomorrow and then it's back to work for him and back on the tread mill for me.......I wouldn't have it any other way, we have such fun on his weeks off.

I hope you had a lovely weekend too and good luck for next week. Night night.

BREAD AND CIRCUSES

This morning we all assembled for breakfast, even Pa made it bless his cotton socks, we ate a hearty breakfast with the condemned man who then set out for his dental appointment. I set about the bread making and was so preoccupied that I turned on the grill instead of the oven setting, fortunately I noticed my mistake in time........phew!

The replacement groceries arrived, this time from Ocado, all present and correct. The next job was to make some Celery soup for tomorrow, it seems to be every ones favourite at the moment, I had just finished the washing up when the poor sufferer returned, sore but with sparkling white teeth. He looked relieved that it was all over, he has been having a rough time lately, it's been a constant round of doctors, hospitals, tests and dentists for a couple of months now, and it messes up his weeks off.

Soon his gaming partners began to arrive, they are playing here as the pub they used to use is still in a state of flux as far as a new manager is concerned, so having packed Pa off to the shops I unwrapped the buggie cover and attempted to assemble it. To begin with it weighted about half a hundred weight and it was soon clear that my own debilitated frame was going to have a hard time assembling the hefty metal frame which held the cover in place. Then there were the instructions? I am not sure what language they were originally written in but a good deal of the sense was lost in translation, I would have laughed if it had not been so frustrating. What a performance!

I will not bore you with the details, almost everybody has experienced this problem I know. Having managed after an hour to check that all the parts were there,harder than it sounds, I began the assembly. Baffled again by the peculiar instructions another hour passed before I began to understand the jigsaw of parts which were by now covering a large part of the garden and most of the path. By now I was exhausted and in no mood to discover that the so called simple to assemble by one person kit was going to take a small army of helpers. “Oh bother .” I said.

There was no way I was going to disturb my son and his friends, who in my opinion need their leisure as they all work very hard, and as my hunky next door neighbours are away for the weekend I packed the parts away with as good a grace as possible.........to be frank I said a rude word to every single part and some even ruder ones about the idiot who wrote the instructions! On the up side I do now know how to put the wretched object together, I am just not capable of doing it.

When my neighbours return I shall bribe them with cakes, cookies and home made bread and with luck if they are free they will give me a hand next weekend. I retired to the peace of the vegetable garden and ignoring the fact that the paths needed strimming and the beds needed weeding I sat in the shade of our burgeoning damson tree an drank a very cold beer, The cat Tiggy tried some and It made her sneeze but she came back for another try, strange creature. We once had a parrot that was fond of soluble paracetamol, you could not leave a glass of it about because once she heard the fizzing sound she would take great swigs of the stuff unless you were quick. Our fellow creatures can be very odd at times.

Dinner tonight was easy, just fresh bread, salad, lots of different cheeses and some cold lamb and pate', no cooking so that it allows the game to go on longer and gives me a break at the same time. We just had some iced cream for afters, If there is time tomorrow morning I shall make a Pavlova for tomorrow's dinner and an egg custard with the left over egg yolks, we will have this on Monday with some fruit, forward planning is the secret of my success.

Today has been a bit fraught but on the whole I am quite content, we are all well, the sun has shone and as they say everything in the garden is lovely, even the weeds have bees all over them. There is a lot to be said for the small pleasures of life.

TESCO VERY LITTLE HELP

This morning the fortnightly Tesco order arrived, well some of it, butter, ketchup, yoghurt, mozzarella cheese, tinned tomatoes and a number of other items failed to appear. As I had planned to make three trays of ginger shortbread this morning having no butter posed a slight problem and I was not at all happy as you might expect. So I called the number on the order form, I made two calls and I might as well not have bothered, apparently there had been a computer error and as these were additions they had “got lost in the system.” Just one small point, these items were not additions and I said so several times. In spite of this she kept repeating the lost in the system excuse, offered to deduct the service charge, what service? I came to the conclusion that I was talking to a not very well programmed machine so I gave up and ordered the missing items from Ocado, and as far a Tesco is concerned all I have to say is BUM to the lot of them, this is not the first time they have messed up but for me it will be the last.

Now for more pleasant topics. The buggie shelter arrived this afternoon and I anticipate some fun and frolic in putting the thing together, the air will be blue with purple edges by the time it is done.

After a breakfast of hot potato cakes and muffins we accomplished all the Friday chores in good time and as we were having fish and chips for dinner and I had no cooking to do I gave myself a half day off and disappeared for a while, only to the garden centre but it was a nice break. Once home I had an hour or so watering the garden and picking fruit, lots of wine berries and as they freeze well we shall have plenty for winter use.

My stiff neck is much better today thank the Gods, that coupled with the cooler weather makes me feel more energetic so everything went smoothly. One odd thing though, whilst cleaning the bathroom this morning I evicted seven huge spiders, I hate the blessed things and by the time I had finished I was a nervous wreck! I cast them from the bathroom window in terror, I hope they are not homing spiders, I once evicted a six legged spider from the bedroom on four separate occasions, now how many six legged spiders can there be in a small house, paranoia is setting in I think.

My poor son is off to the dentist first thing in the morning and I have promised to have an early breakfast with the condemned man, I doubt if we shall resurrect Pa at such an early hour.

In spite of small annoyances today has been good, the whole house is clean and tidy and everyone is happy in spite of dental appointments and the vagaries of Tesco and the sky walker sun flowers are just opening up, life is sweet.

A DAY OF PROGRESS

After much rummaging about on web sites and brochures we have finally decided on a winter shelter for the buggy. Space has been the problem as it has to be kept at the front of the house so even the smallest shed was out of the question as we do not want to disturb the garden. The one we chose is like a very large old fashioned pram hood, I hope it will be OK. I will let you know. I picked up a lovely recycled wool rug to put over our knees this winter, they are cheap at the moment, only twelve pounds, the same rug was twenty last winter.

We have at last sorted out the correct insurance for the buggie, we still have emergency cover but it is time for a more comprehensive package,my husband is on the telephone even as we speak so I hope that will be that. Making decisions can be such a pain I shall be glad when it's done.

The kaftan I ordered arrived this morning and I love it, it's nothing special but it's me if you know what I mean. At my age fashion designers expect you to wear any old rubbish, you become almost invisible, well I don't intend to start looking like my Granny just yet, they will have to drag me out of my jeans kicking and screaming I fully intend to be buried in a pair of Levi's or maybe blue angel's. I once owned a pair of jeans that had embroidered on the back pocket “stolen from Mabel's whorehouse”. It caused a bit of a scandal at the time, today no one would turn a hair.

I have recently de-cluttered my wardrobe and some dire specimens I found there and there are loads more horrors lurking in the loft but since none of us can get up there I shall not worry about those at the moment! I made blueberry muffins for breakfast this morning, we all love them an I'm afraid eat far too many.

For dinner we had roast shoulder of lamb with new potatoes, baby carrots white turnips, and small French beans with fresh mint sauce and gravy. The mint sauce is my Grandmother's recipe she was a shockingly bad cook generally speaking but the few things she could make were excellent.

Grannies mint sauce

half a pint of fresh mint leaves
two tablespoons of vinegar
two tablespoons of sugar
half a cup of boiling water. Put the mint leaves on a chopping board and sprinkle with half the sugar then chop until fine. Transfer to sauce boat and add remaining sugar, vinegar and hot water,stir and leave for at least an hour before use.

This is very simple and makes all the difference to a lamb dinner,almost everyone I know makes it this way once they have tried it at our place. We had thunder today but it did not amount to much, I love a really noisy storm with lots of pyrotechnics, I expect I am in a minority though. I have been plagued all day with a severe stiff neck It,s a wretched nuisance when you don't know what is going on behind your back ! I shall have to resort to the old Tiger Balm rub, pongy but effective. Have a lovely weekend. “And hey, just be careful out there.”

JUDGEMENT DAY

Well the moment of truth has arrived, and as you can see from today's picture the result was quite good, at least it did not collapse in a shame making heap. My son photographed the whole nerve racking procedure so there was no hiding place and as the plate was turned a hush settled over the kitchen, I lifted the mould........nothing happened, I ran a knife around the edge and turned the bowl again........still nothing. One more try accompanied by fervent prayers and ….yes! Out it came. I decorated it quickly with the berries and poured on a fresh raspberry sauce, one or two of the berries slipped off but it stood firm until we demolished it for afters. Note to self - refrain in future from making rash promises, even if I do have a bad conscience.

Today has been a real family day, my son brought me tea in bed, two cups, and I had plenty of time to wake up, no flying start this morning. He also gave me a parcel that came in the early post, it was a jam pot I picked up on eBay which I was not expecting for days, it is just what I wanted and was quite inexpensive. It is big enough to take a full jar of jam and it looks perfect in my old fashioned kitchen,we used it at breakfast filled with strawberry jam, we had crumpets wholemeal muffins and croissants, orange juice and a pot of tea,it was a lovely start to the day. Even better was the fact that Pa got up without any trouble at all and was wide awake at breakfast so we chatted away and larked about,jousting with words which is an old game of ours at mealtimes, great fun and not to be taken seriously.

We had decided on kebabs for dinner so I made a stack of buckwheat pancakes, a dish of bulgar wheat with diced peppers and a spicy tomato sauce,very simple and very quick. You can use any thing to make the kebabs, this time a used mini sausages and bacon rolls, my sons favourite,I like cherry tomatoes with button mushrooms and chunks of courgette and these will be on the menu as soon as the tomatoes are ready, pork with shallots is Pa's favourite, we have it mostly in the winter time.

Spicy tomato sauce
1 red pepper
1onion
eight garlic cloves
1 large tin of chopped tomatoes
three tablespoons of olive oil
3 tablespoons of tomato purree
pepper and salt to taste
If you like chillies add as many as you can stand

Wash pepper and cut in half, peel onion and cut in half and place on an oven tray with the garlic and chillies if liked.
Roast in a hot oven for about thirty minutes of until the peepers blacken a little.
Empty the tinned tomatoes in to a blender,add the tomato purree and the roasted vegetables, blitz until smooth the pour in to a saucepan and reheat when required. If you leave out the chillies and add some Italian herbs this makes a very rich pasta sauce. Oh yes, don't forget to pour the oil in as well as this is full of flavour and makes the sauce very smooth.

A quick trip to the garden centre produced a useful feathery scarf which I shall use on a fancy dress costume that I have in mind, I do it for fun now but years ago I designed costumes for the theatre, it was fun but the hours were horrendous. I walked out into a frosty morning having worked non-stop for a couple of days. There was a wonderful smell of new baked bread and I followed my nose to a little back street bakers shop. It was so early that it was not even open so I hammered on the door and persuaded the baker to sell me a loaf and strolled through the town eating it still warm, It was only then that I realised I had not eaten for more than forty eight hours, I survived in those days on a diet if Guinness and was very skinny indeed. Not any more!

Today I picked the first of this years climbing French beans, I ate several raw and decided to use the rest tomorrow, I think I shall do a roast. Now I am off for a bath before some one else bags the bathroom, it's every man for himself at this time of night.

A VERY LONG DAY

Today seemed to go on forever, not in an unpleasant way, just that for once I seemed to have plenty of time to do things, without having to cut corners or hurry. We were all up early as my son had to have an EKG this morning at ten-twenty and needed to get to the clinic. Pa also had an appointment for ten-o-clock at Hospital and this proved more of a problem. Fortunately I did not actually resort to dynamite but it was a close call. The medication he has to take makes him sleepy, today's brilliant news is that they plan to reduce the dosage over the next few months so we are crossing our fingers for a good out come. I should add that this is a different medication to the one they are increasing. Getting the balance right is what causes the trouble.

Having at last got the house to myself, a rare occurrence indeed I had a leisurely breakfast of toast and marmalade orange juice and a pot of tea..........lovely. Then taking the bull by the horns I set about making the promised blancmange, as the wine berry bush is now in fruit.

Vanilla blancmange

3oz cornflour
2 pints of milk
2 oz caster sugar
a few drops of vanilla essence
You will need a two pint mould or a pudding basin

Mix the cornflour with a little of the milk and set the rest to boil,then pour over the cornflour mixture stirring like mad or it will go lumpy. Return to the sauce pan and bring gently to the boil still stirring, reduce the heat and cook gently for exactly four minutes, keep stirring or it burns. Add the sugar and vanilla then pour quickly into the mould, if you wet the mould with cold water it will ensure the blancmange will turn out. Leave to cool the refrigerate for at least twelve hours, then turn out onto a flat plate and decorate as you wish. One way of another you will see the result tomorrow, I tremble in anticipation, my reputation is at steak!

Next I grappled with the twice monthly Tesco order, their online shopping site is a ..*!..***. No wonder my son, who until recently performed this task prefered the Ocado site I think I shall use it in future for the sake of my blood pressure! On with the motley, or in this case the apron again this time so prepare jacket wedges with potatoes from the garden,seasoned with a little salt and a few sprigs of lemon thyme, very Jamie Oliver, these are to accompany some rump steaks, with salad and three dips, spiced tomato and garlic, tarrogon and crème fraiche and Italian herb and garlic. That should keep them happy for awhile.

I decided to clean the bedroom as it was looking rather untidy,not the nicest job but the result is always pleasing and I can never relax properly surrounded by a mess. My son returned, everything seems to be OK. Pa went straight out again to do some shopping an I revelled in having the kitchen to myself for a change, It usualy resembles a small railway station with people wandering in and out with bags of jam jars, or fruit or just for a chat. Only three-o-clock and all the chores done. How fantastic. I have really surprised myself as I got very little sleep last night, a combination of prickly heat and a sultry night. On the up side it gave me a chance to watch a couple of my favourite films. “A funny thing happened on the way to the forum” hilariously funny and “Ghost Rider” Nicolas Cage is gorgeous. Rather unsurprisingly I finally fell asleep watching the news. Perhaps next time I can't sleep I should try the news first!

I have a date with my son tonight to watch Top Gear, we are both addicts of this show and always watch it together. In my youth I was able to strip down cars, repair exhasts, and fit cyliderhead gaskets and so on, these days you need a computer and a degree in electronics just to change a spark plug. Fortunatly my little chariot has no such troublesome requirements,which is just as well as I am getting a bit long in the tooth for lying about under a broken down car covered in sump oil and axle grease and the only spark plug I mess about with now is the one on the strimmer. Wish me luck for tomorrow, if that blancmange collapses I shall be a laughing stock!

RED HOT MAMA

Phew ! What a scorcher, definitely not the day to tackle the ironing but there was such a tall pile of unironed togs that an avalanche was imminent so needs must, once more into the breach and so on! As my views on the subject of ironing are well known I have said enough. Breakfast was amusing in so far as my husband kept falling asleep with his head on the table, just like the dormouse in “Alice in wonderland,” it made us wonder if he had narcolepsy too.

It was a lovely meal, hot buttered crumpets croissant and strawberry jam and pumpkin seed muffins with honey, we had those to give me an excuse to use the new honey pot. My son was every bit as tired as his Pa and as I slept badly last night we were like a trio of zombies for most of the day, watching us trying to keep each other awake was enough to make the cat laugh.

I have prickly heat at the moment and devilish uncomfortable it is, I thought it was something babies got in hot weather and which made then crotchety, I have to say I can quite see why. Nasty little red spots that itch all the time,I am told that free circulation of air around the body is the best cure, well I ain't frying bacon in the nude - it's too darned dangerous, and would certainly put everyone off their breakfast. Once the weather cools down all will be well.

I made a large batch of tortillas in the morning, these with a lemon and pepper chicken, crispy salad and an assortment of dips made a very suitable meal for a hot day. There were enough windfall apples to make our favourite apple pie. It is not really a pie at all it is a sort of very soft shortcake with apples sandwiched in the middle, between now and October we will eat this dish most weeks.

We had a laugh last night. Very late indeed, after the aeroplane noise had stopped we heard a strange whooshing sound coming from the church yard, a ghost with flatulence perhaps? As a matter of fact it turned out to be two poor souls desperately trying to get the air out of the huge bouncy castle which had been a kiddie magnet at the fête. The antics and the language of these two unfortunate individuals was hardly appropriate for a church yard but it was very funny and we had a grandstand view from the bathroom window. I doubt if the poor souls got any more sleep than I did.

My son very kindly picked up three large bottles of Magners pear cider on his way home this morning we all like it very much so it disappeared quickly at dinner, I think I shall get some for the weekend and also some cans of Boddingtons bitter. Back in the seventies we used to drink draught Boddingtons at a pub close to the brewery. It cost twenty pence a pint, times have changed, back then you could have a good night out for five pounds including a meal and coffee. My God I sound like my mother, I think I will say no more.

THE VILLAGE FETE

It was almost the perfect day for the long awaited village fête, as far as I was concerned it was perfect, a few people however complained about the rather strong breeze that shook the borrowed canvas gazebos and toppled some of the larger dried flower arrangements. It was lovely to meet old friends and indulge in a pint or two of cold beer, but first things first, there were lots of interesting stalls to raid. My favourite is the bric a brac stall, it has every thing from perfume and candles to cuddly toys and mobile phones. They had lots of new toy animals and as I have lots of small relatives and friends with children I bought ten including a very cute Stuart Little and funny puffin. I have not made marmalade this year so I picked up a couple of jars, I know the lady who makes it and her preserves are always excellent. There were some gorgeous soaps and some perfume I could not resist, two silk tray clothes beautifully embroidered and some pretty tea towels,these are for my mother along with a huge brand new jigsaw puzzle of alarming complexity, she loves them, all I can say is rather her than me! I relieved the poor soul at the flower stall of two large silk arrangements in tall glass vases, a bargain at five pounds each, Then picked up a lovely heavy brass front for the open fire in the living room, I have been looking for one for ages.

I met my neighbour buying two large cakes at the produce stall, He told me excitedly that he had just agreed to become a trainee bell ringer, I smiled politely and made no comment, the idea of having one of those noise makers at such close quarters makes me wonder what will happen when my son finds out, perhaps it would be best to say nothing, what do you think?

We had such a good time, except for the new feature of a band who collectively knew about four cords and played Rod Stewart songs very loudly indeed. Fortunately they did not start to play until about three thirty, but by three thirty five my poor son was wide awake and staring in disbelief from his bedroom window. It is a fact that considering it is full of dead people that church yard is one of the noisiest places I know.

Back home in good time to make a meal of omelettes and new bread, I had to make some this morning as we had almost run out, we finished off the key lime pie for afters. Fair day is special, such a happy occasion with lots of excited children. I am afraid I am still one of them, it's just that these days my feet seem to ache afterwards,but its worth it.
I am very sleepy suddenly so I am off to have a bath and then perhaps curl up and watch a film.

I love days like this. Night night.

I AM CONTRITE

What a grumpy bad tempered miserable old baggage I was yesterday, I make no excuses I am what I said. My sincere apologies to any poor soul who had the misfortune to read yesterdays blog, I can say no more. Today was so much better, I think a good nights sleep helped a lot, and everything seems to have gone smoothly, every one doing their bit, in fact total cooperation all round. I can only conclude that I must have looked very dangerous yesterday, I can be a bit scary when on the war path. Well I shall have to be extra nice to make up for being such an old grouch!

My son came home in a better frame of mind than I expected, things at work are not going according to the manual at present I understand, in fact it sounds to me as if they never had a manual to begin with.....hey ho!

After he was safely off to bed I made boiled eggs and soldiers for breakfast with orange juice and a large pot of tea, lovely, and my favourite breakfast meal. Then I set about preparing the vegetables for tonight's soup. Baby carrots small white turnips spring onions and red onion, some celery, young cabbage leaves and kale were assembled and together with half a red pepper were diced very finely and fried in a little olive oil for about five minutes. Next I added about two pints of chicken stock, salt and pepper and set aside,it needed only fifteen minutes cooking time this evening and tasted very good with lots of yesterdays bread. The key lime pie which I made yesterday was also well received.

Earlier in the day I popped out to the shops for a few odds and ends, we had run out of bananas, almost a hanging offence in this establishment. I kept on bumping into people I have not seen for ages. Of course we exchanged the usual politenesses. “Lovely to see you.” True. “You haven't changed a bit.” Not true. I know for a fact that I have put on over a stone in weight since last we met! And I must admit to being equally untruthful, still these little white lies make the world turn more smoothly I suppose. One could hardly accost a long lost acquaintance with “My God you look haggard.” Now could One?

I spent some time in the garden this afternoon tying up tomato plants and sunflowers and picking a pretty bunch of flowers for the living room. I shall have to do some serious weeding as soon as possible and certainly the paths will need strimming before long. I do love gardening, every day there is something new to see or do. I get such pleasure from just watching things grow.

There are a few fruits reddening on wine berry bush, when there are enough I shall make a vanilla blancmange and decorate it with these pretty fruits, it,s another of our funny little traditions. If it turns out well I shall put the recipe and a photo on one of my blogs, if it collapses, and it has been known I shall still put it on as a penance for yesterdays unpardonable fit of the grumps.

Village fair tomorrow hooray!

THE CASE OF THE VANISHING COOK

Today I bit off rather more than I could chew. As soon as I got up I made the bread, three big loaves - three-quarter white flour and one-quarter whole meal, while they were rising it was a good opportunity to make breakfast, however a certain party was still in bed so I let off a few rockets, banged a couple of saucepan lids together and sounded a fog horn and at last after an hour or so resurrected the sleeping beauty. I am convinced that it would be less effort to communicate with the dead! Breakfast of bacon, eggs, mushrooms and fried potatoes was cooked and eaten and after I had cleared the kitchen I set about making six and a half dozen cookies, I love making biscuits, the kitchen smells lovely as they cool in their wire racks. My lord went off to get some odds and ends from the garden centre and while he was out I produced a key lime pie to be eaten tomorrow and set about the forth lot of washing up of the day. Then, having sorted out a huge pile of laundry I absconded to the garden to pick courgettes. The rain has made things grow wonderfully, including then fairest crop of slugs it was ever my misfortune to behold, and all with massive appetites I swear I could hear the blasted creatures chomping their way through the cabbages. Yuk!

With no time to remove the little blighters I hurried back to the kitchen to make fresh pasta sauce using rosemary, margaram, basil and lemon thyme from the herb garden combined with lots of fresh garlic,tomato puree, tinned tomatoes (ours are not ready yet) sundried tomatoes a little sugar, salt and pepper; the whole lot blitzed up in a blender. Then I sliced and lightly fried the sliced courgettes in olive oil and poured the tomato mix over them and cooked them for five minutes, then set them aside until later .More washing up,more laundry. By now I was pretty damn shattered and at this point His Grace appeared in the kitchen and passed a remark........inappropriate is I think the polite term.

There is an old rhyme which says:

She was a good cook as cooks go
And as cooks go she went

That,s just what I did. Speechless with pent up rage I buggied off to the river. In no frame of mind to return soon. Of course it did not last long and I did come back but as you can probably tell from the tone of the epistle I have not completely forgiven the old curmudgeon, I would have needed to stay out a couple of days for that.

The pasta meal was lovely, it is the first time I have made it this year. It is our custom as each new vegetable or fruit comes to the table to make a wish.................no comment! There are enough courgettes to make a soup tomorrow, I must decide which recipe to use, probably the one my son prefers. As for the miscreant, he can have cornflakes for breakfast tomorrow while I wash my hair and go out in to the garden, aggravating a cook when she is in a tizzy is a dangerous game, you may as well annoy a rattlesnake or a tiger.

Of course the day was not all bad the lavender and thyme are in flower and full of butterflies and assorted bees, even the strong wind did not spoil their pleasure in finding so much nectar about and it is difficult to stay really cross when such marvels are disporting themselves about the garden.I think I shall make poached eggs on toast for his breakfast. After all its not his fault I'm a grouchy old ..*!...**. is it? Or is it?

A JOB WELL DONE

Breakfast was a little late this morning, but as it turned out it was a piece of good fortune that we slept late. As soon as I had seen my son safely off to bed I prepared a breakfast of boiled eggs, two each, with bread and butter soldiers, my favourite breakfast in fact. I was planning quite a complex dinner of herb-crusted plaice for my son and stuffed trout wrapped in bacon for us served with a spicy sauce with the plaice and parsley butter with the trout. Before breakfast I had fetched some new potatoes, harlequin carrots and lots of fresh parsley, tarragon and fennel from the garden, it takes quite a while to scrape the skin off so I was eager to get started. We had just finished breakfast when a friend appeared at the back door, there was tea in the pot so I made toast and we sat down for a chat.

Almost at once another chum arrived, this time to mend a broken drawer, he had said he would fix it but I had thought it was beyond repair, I put the kettle on for more tea but before it had boiled we received yet another visitor. I made lots more toast made a very large pot of tea and opened the biscuit tin, by now there was quite a crowd. I was amazed at the super job our friend made of the drawer even down to the new handle it looked great,it is quite an important space as I keep all my baking tins in there in I should be hard pressed to find an alternative home for these much used items. People can be so very kind, I had a good deal of trouble getting him to take a jar of jam as a thank you but I won him round in the end.

By the time everyone had gone it was after one thirty so I cleared away the mountain of toast plates and the egg cups ( by now the egg was welded on) and began to prepare dinner whilst “himself” went of to hospital for a blood test. Actually it went better than I expected, I made breadcrumbs and added them to finely chopped onions fried in walnut oil and a little butter then added chopped fennel and tarragon. Two-thirds of the mixture I stuffed into the trout which I then wrapped in streaky bacon and the rest I spread on top of a large plaice fillet; a little hawthorn wine poured around the trout ant the fish were ready for twenty minutes in the oven.

I am pleased to say that the meal was well received and the cat twiggy was lucky to get a portion of trout, I was still well stuffed with breakfast toast and jam. I don't advise eating two breakfasts, still we had lots of laughs and the kitchen looks much neater now that the drawer is mended. I did get a small outing on the buggie, just down to the river bank to watch the ducks and geese .

While I was out I checked the details of our church fair, which is on Sunday - its only a small one but it has a fabulous second hand book stall, I get quite exited about it. I grew up in a village in the Peak District that had a well dressing festival complete with May queen and maypole dancing and a proper fair with rides and candy floss. For a country child this was excitement indeed and I have never got over the magic a village fair can produce. Until a few years ago we all went off each year to the village fete at Bright Walton in Berkshire.It is an old fashioned affair but it is unusual in that a local man, a railway enthusiast has a huge model railway in his garden complete with station and tunnel and on fair day he opens it to the public for rides. They also have the best hot dogs in the world, A local butcher makes the famous Bright Walton sausage for the occasion. The fair covers the whole village and a free ride on a hay waggon gets you from place to place. I heartily recommend it as good fun for any age, It takes place on the second Sunday in May - and I should add that Newbury fair takes place an the same weekend with a steam rally and all sorts of traditional delights.

Well I have prattled on long enough, I am off now to take a bath, I intend to have a good long soak.............bliss!

THE KITCHEN AND THE GARDEN

I was lucky again this morning, tea in bed delivered by my son who once more entertained my waking moments with tales from the crypt! I must say the place sounds as if it belongs in the seven circles of hell, I am not sure which one but I am sure that if Dante had known about the place he would have surely included it.

I packed him off to bed with the promise of herb coated chicken joints, jacket wedges and an assortment of home made dips, this is a great favourite with him and it is a pleasure to me to make a special dinner for him, it cheers him up and any dish with chicken is certain to please him, the fact that we like it too a bonus.

Today was a breadmaking day, this time I made two bloomers and a cottage loaf which although not very practical looks good, the artist in me has its own way now and then. I acquired an unsolicited pineapple last week end, as it is not a favourite with us I was puzzled as to what to do with the wretched thing, You should know it was a monster. As my husband was going into town I asked him to pick up some bananas, a peach of two if ripe and a mango, these with some grapes would, I hoped make am acceptable fruit salad. He returned with a punnet of raspberries(coals to Newcastle), six plums very under ripe, a punnet of eight rock hard bright green peaches, two punnets of cherries,(we are still recovering from the cherry mountain of last week) two decent mangoes and only four bananas...........history shall not record my remarks on this occasion!

Fearing for my blood pressure I fled to the garden and soon all was well with me again. The courgettes are flourishing and I shall be able to cook our favourite pasta dish of penne with tomato, courgettes, basil, and mozzarella cheese, it is a seasonal treat we all love. We only eat courgettes when we have them in the garden, shop bought ones have no real flavour. The marigolds are looking splendid which means marigold buns in the near future. Small fruits have appeared on the pumpkins but a shall not count my chickens as the last two years crops have been disappointing.

Everywhere I looked the were nasturtiums in flower and sweet peas, beans were climbing up the frames and the late peas just coming in to flower, even the old fig tree had a promising array of green fruits which will be welcome, parakeets permitting. I spent a very satisfying half hour gloating over these treasures and then the heavens opened.........hail, followed by rain that fell like silver chains,I fled once more this time fore the safety of the kitchen, and a hot coffee.

The sky has been glowering all day and seems to mean business this time, well the garden needs it except for the hail of course.

I am beginning to get used to the new television, it does a lot of things I have no use for and not many things I need, still I am assured it is a great improvement on the old one so I must accept progress I suppose. What really irritates is the fact that the only way I can turn it off is by using the switch on the side of the set, even an old fogey like me is used to having a remote control to do such things,I am prepared to admit however that I am probably pressing to wrong button or something...we shall see.

A DAY OF SURPRISES

My son woke me this morning with a lovely cup of tea, the best way to start the day, as I gratefully sipped the hot tea he regaled me with an entertaining account of his night at work …......and gave me my first surprise, Pa was awake!

This is a rare occurrence these days as he suffers from narcolepsy, a condition that causes the sufferer to sleep much more than is normal. His consultant at St Tom's increased his medication last Friday and I must say there seems to be an improvement already, It is so nice to see him up and about, and more alert, he has had a rough trot these past few years bless him.

The post arrived as I was having my second cup of tea bringing surprise number two. I ordered a lovely honey pot on line last Friday to replace one that was broken, I could not believe my luck when I found one almost the same for just three pounds fifty. OK, the postage was a fiver but it is still a fair price I think, and I was not expecting it to arrive until next week. It looks lovely with the breakfast crockery and I shall enjoy using it I know.

I lay awake for ages last night listening to the wonderful sound of rain, I can understand why Japanese gardeners plant broad leaved trees in their gardens to have the pleasure of the sound of rain drops, It is truly beautiful, especially after such a long dry spell, the garden looked gloriously fresh this morning and the birds who are just coming out of moult were very joyful as they splashed about in the puddles.

We needed a few things from the village so after a breakfast of kippers with bread and butter I got ready to set off, It was just as I was getting changed into out door clothes (I am notorious for tatting about in my pyjamas) that my mother rang. She is a dear little woman pink checked and white haired; when she was young she had the looks of a film star, I wanted so much to look just like her but it was not to be, hey ho........... I digress, she chatted away about this and that and then remarked that my nephew's baby would be born any day now ! This came totally out of the blue, bear in mind that I phone mum at least once a week and until today she had not mentioned the fact that I am to be a great aunt again, surprise number three, I already have two great nieces and am beginning to feel positively ancient as a consequence.. Almost all my family live in the north of England and because of poor health I seldom get the opportunity to go home for a visit, I miss my brothers very much but most of all I miss mum, still we have long chats on the phone but that as you can see is no guarantee of knowing what is going on. My cousin died recently and to be unable to go to her funeral was very sad for me, although I knew she was ill I had not realised that things had suddenly become so serious.

Mum kept me talking just long enough for it to start raining again so I quickly headed for the village before the heavens opened in earnest, I made it home only slightly damp. On my return I made the pasta sauce for my sons favourite ,chicken and tomato pasta and prepared a creamy basil sauce for a mushroom and crayfish spaghetti for those of us who do not care for the chicken dish. We had time for a coffee this afternoon and treated ourselves to a piece of the rocky road I made yesterday.........scrummy but it plays havoc with the waistline, however I look at it this way, I have lived my life to the full and if I have a few wrinkles and grey hairs I have earned them and so am entitled to bear them with pride, the same goes for my expanding waistline. I was a hippy in the sixties and I am still a hippy at heart, just an ancient one.

When my son was in his teens he announced his intention of attending an all night rave, he looked quite put out we said fine, as long as we knew where it was. I a fit of irritation he exclaimed “Fine parents you are, how can I be a rebel when you won't give me anything to rebel against.” A sad indictment, we still laugh about it all these years later.

I shall have a lazy evening tonight, maybe play pinball or solitaire, perhaps I shall watch a DVD, while my husband gets on with building his model railway, the world as they say is my lobster. Night night.

MONDAY MONDAY

Everyone hates Mondays, have you noticed that there is often a circumstance that makes the day even more miserable, we call it the Monday factor.

Today's fly in the ointment was a hospital appointment for my husband for a gastroscopy, a charming procedure the details of which are to diabolical to mention. To make matters worse the appointment was for three in the afternoon and the poor soul needed to be collected from hospital afterwards, due to the sedative they administer to make the ghastly business more acceptable.

Of course they give you no idea what time you may collect the poor victim, this posed a problem as the time is always difficult on my son's working week. We are unfortunately only too familiar with the vagaries of the NHS. They behave as if they are doing you a huge favour in seeing you at all, and I have yet to meet a consultant who does not behave as if he were Gods gift to the human race instead of behaving like the public servant he actually is. I have more insight into this phenomenon than most as my husband used to run a geriatric hospital many years ago, before administrators became even more numerous than doctors. Even then they were a pain in the glutious maximus.

I decided to make some smooth celery soup in h the hope that this would be acceptable fair for the poor sufferer, and made the days bread as early as possible then made a tray of rocky road as a treat for my son who got very little sleep today and is tired as a consequence.

At 4. 30pm we called the hospital as directed and yes we could collect the patient at once, we were told which room to go to, as it turned out the directions were both incorrect and incomplete. My son eventually found the right place which turned out to be dark and deserted After a wait of twenty minutes or so porter engaged in removing soiled bed linen took pity on my poor boy and went to find someone to assist. A moment later a nurse, a charm school graduate of course appeared and demanded to know what my son was doing loitering about in the dark and why had he not phoned to say he was coming. If the porter had not at that moment arrived with Pa in tow I think my son might well have given her a very large flea in the ear! As it was they left as fast as possible and were returned home via Osterley by a clueless taxi driver. The patient I am glad to report is none the worse for his experience and ate two bowls of soup and some bread and butter followed by a yoghurt.

I am shattered but thankful that all seems well, perhaps we can get back to normality tomorrow unfortunately I have forgotten what normal is!

FULL HOUSE

The dungeoneers took possession of the kitchen again today, we were all up late and only just managed to clear away the breakfast dishes as the first of the heroic band arrived. They ordered massive amounts of pizza for lunch and I scuttled off upstairs to do the ironing, mostly shirts of which there were a great multitude. It was very hot work and took ages to complete, I shall say no more.

Hot and sticky, I took a buggie ride down to the river which was wonderful and very entertaining - as Ratty says, “There is always something going on”. A nitwit in a motor launch had managed to ground his vessel by cutting in too close to the bank and was obliged to wait for the tide to turn before he could continue his journey. More seriously, two children had paddled out into the main channel in an inflatable dingy and were unable to get back to shore, some people in a small launch staged a rescue, and gave the parents, who were in the pub at the time, a well deserved rocket. Moored on the dock was a beautiful sea going barge, there are so few of these left now that it is always a pleasure to see one at close quarters.

I watched a small motorboat slowly float away upriver, it's owners were in the pub and had not tied up their craft, they were found at last and one of them set about retrieving his drifting vessel by swimming out and hauling it back to shore; rather him than me, most people do not realise that a great deal of raw sewerage is pumped into the river from an outlet on the island, I would be off to get a tetanus shot if I so much as got my socks wet!

On my return I planted up the Semper Vivens I bought yesterday in to a large round terracotta and then decided to go for another look around the garden centre. This time I managed to find an Aloe Vera, a plant which is very good for burns and also sun burn, we have used rather a lot of it of late. I also picked up a Sedum Acre or wall pepper as it is often called. This will be planted around the pots to naturalise the arrangement.

My son's guests left rather late so dinner was later than usual - I had been so busy that I had not eaten lunch and was starving by the time they left. I managed to ignore the World Cup, I have been avoiding it and Wimbledon for ages. Not that I dislike sport you understand its just that all the hype and rubbish that is talked about it on the television is irritating I find. Well, its back on the treadmill tomorrow as my son starts his week at work. No rest for the wicked as they say. I hope the promised rain arrives to cool things down a little, and spare the gardener from dragging hose pipes about.

NO COMPLAINTS

It has been a lovely day for us, sizzling hot but lovely. My husband got up first and made coffee for every one and a very nice it was. Then my son made a breakfast of croissants and strawberry jam and hot buttered crumpets, I felt very cosseted, it was a wonderful start to the day. We cleared away the dishes and then my sons friends began to arrive, they went off to a local restaurant for lunch and then returned to here for their game, they are a great bunch and they are like family to me.

It was much too hot to do any gardening and to be truthful I felt very lazy today, like every one else I am finding it hard to sleep in this extreme heat. With the kitchen full of young men. Cooking was out of the question, for which relief much thanks, so I spent an hour or two improving my score on DX ball, pinball and computer solitaire while consuming copious amounts of fizzy mineral water.

Later in the afternoon I took a buggie ride to the garden centre which is much to close for my purse, I love plants and can never resist. I am a member of their gardening club and I get some good discounts and special offers so that helps a lot. When the tribe left we decided to get fish and chips for dinner, lovely, no cooking, and ice cream completed the meal. As the sun began to go down I swear you could hear the garden sigh with relief, there is so much vivid colour during the day and at night the evening primroses and night flox attract the moths and flying beetles which in turn brings in lots of bats, at least three different types.

After dark you can hear the hedgehogs snuffling about in amongst the flowers looking for grubs. I have seen a lot of the night garden lately, even sleepless nights can be a pleasure in a place like this. I am so lucky, and thank the Gods for my good fortune every day, especially on such a perfect day as this has been.

FREAKY FRIDAY

To say that today was a bit peculiar would be like saying that Frankenstein's creature was a bit ugly.

To begin with my son had to set off at the crack of dawn to keep a medical appointment, a scan of some sort, add to that the fact that we did not get to sleep until about an hour before we were obliged to rise and you will have some idea of the chaos which ensued. We were like a couple of zombies and my poor husband was even worse.

My son departed in the nick of time an I endeavoured to motivate the “auld fella” to get up, have you ever tried moving a dead elephant........I thought not! I departed temporarily vanquished to the kitchen and made the day's bread, three white poppy seed loaves, swallowed a cup of strong coffee and returned to the fray. This time I met with success and much encouraged I prepared a breakfast of kippers with bread and butter and a pot of tea, my triumph was short lived as I had forgotten to lay the table, “Oh bum.” I remarked to no one in particular. Breakfast over I cleared things away and washed up in a hurry. Every other Friday we have a colossal shopping delivery from Tesco and you can be sure that if I am not ready for them they will be early, or if I am waiting for them they will be late, that's just Murphy's law. You could not move in the kitchen for bags full of stuff and at this point a delivery man arrived with an enormous parcel for the neighbours and “Would we take it as there was no body in?”

I am not sure who packed our shopping but I am sure no sane person would pack sugar with washing powder or packs of butter with leaky bottles of washing up liquid! I should also add that the number of incorrect articles was up to the usual average. Why in the name of glory replace twenty litres of milk with ten one litre cartons and ten half litre cartons and explain it by saying they were short of one litre packs, I ask you does that make sense to you, my mind is still boggling.

Shopping put away my son returned just in time to help, poor soul, and my husband who ahad an appointment at St Tom,s set offin a taxi to catch the train at Richmond station. I took a deep breath had a cold drink then went out to water the containers, in the orchard,under the apple tree I discovered a pair of disreputable old trousers and a t shirt which I disposed of at the end of a long garden cane........God knows where they came from, I had visions of some drunken individual wandering home in his under pants, not a pleasant picture so I will not dwell on it!

I spent an hour swanning around on the buggy then home to get the evening meal, cooked meats cheeses, pate and salad, no cooking hoorah. I think the heat is getting to every one I know my own temper is less temperate than usual. I have two three litre bottles of ice in the freezer and tonight I shall stand them in front of the fan, well it might work. See I told you it was freaky didn't I.

A MOMENT OF PANIC IN AN ORDINARY DAY

Nobody slept well last night, it was just too hot, I expect you had the same problem. A happy consequence of this was that my son and I were up early and between us tackled a good deal of house work, he looks after his room as I may have mentioned before. Waking sleeping beauty who had managed to doze off in the early hours took quite a while,still by 10:30am we had cleaned the whole top floor and finished breakfast, a record for this establishment!

I prepared the vegetables and meat for the evening meal, cleaned the kitchen and sorted the laundry things were going very well. My son had an appointment with the medico and returned with no change in his blood pressure and more pills. Then the new television arrived. I have always had very small sets but as my eyesight deteriorates a larger one has become a necessity, also I rather fancy one of those new Xbox gadgets, the one with drums and guitars and so on and a larger T V will be useful,and my son will be able to show me how it work

With my mind boggled by the instruction manual a handed it to my clever son and buggied off to the local garden centre,my husband likes Semper vivens and luckily they had some beauties today. As I was leaving acquaintance asked me if I had heard about the hose pipe ban......I hadn't! I drove home as fast as it is possible to go on a mobility scooter eager to water my gardens before tomorrow, the ban was to begin on Friday. I was in a flat spin, so I thought I would check online and logged on to the Thames water web site, behold there was to be no ban, in fact their web site took to task the media who have apparently been spreading alarm and despondency amongst the gardening fraternity. Whilst thoroughly relieved I would have cheerfully given to the false prophet at the garden centre a swift kick in the pants!

With peace of mind fully restored we enjoyed our dinner and made plans for the weekend, then I retired to do battle with the remote control, I am useless with gadgets, I truly believe I would have been more at home in medieval times than in the present day.

A DAY AT THE CAFE AVIE

Does any one out there remember the old Whitehall Theatre farces that were shown on television in the dim and distant past, before alternative comedy, well my day closely resembled one of those including people wandering vaguely about in their pyjamas! We were expecting a visitor today but instead we had a stream of people coming in through both doors quite fun in fact.

To begin with, we all overslept, I thought I heard a tapping at the door as I struggled to prise my eyes open but by the time I managed to crawl out of bed who ever it was had given up. Then I looked at the clock, and panic set in. As I ran about getting dressed my son appeared looking rather like a grizzly bear after a winter in hibernation. He remarked that it was late.......yes and getting later every minute. It was at this point that my husband appeared yawning like a cavern and asking if anyone had heard a knock at the door, and remarking on the lateness of the hour, as we had been expecting a breakfast guest. My conscience smote me as I hobbled down stairs.

I put the kettle on and began to make breakfast, scotch crumpets with hot jam sauce, the telephone rang, covered in butter I quickly washed and ran to the phone.......to late! Back in the kitchen I made the tea, again the phone rang, and again I was too late. I had visions of our neglected guest phoning the police thinking we had all been murdered in our beds so I asked my husband to return the call. It was the person we had been expecting, we said do come for breakfast but he would not hear of it, he would come at three for afternoon tea, it was a chastened company who sat down to breakfast.

I quickly washed up and began to prepare vegetables for dinner, and label some jam, not at the same time of course, I was covered in glue when a friend who we had expected last week and who never arrived appeared at the kitchen door, she was welcomed with tea and short bread, and we asked if she had called earlier, no she had not. We had a good old natter and she left an hour later with a bag of salad.

I decided to do some baking and just as I put two sponge cakes in the oven, another friend arrived to do a small repair job for us which involved the cooker, so he too was regaled with tea and biscuits
and spent and hour or so chatting. Shortly before he left there was a tap at the front door, it was yet another friend who thrust a large moist bag into my hands and whispered, rather like Private Walker of “Dads Army”.” Keep this quiet or they will all want one, I'll be back in fifteen minutes for a cuppa and a chat.”

With a guilty air I smuggled A huge freshly caught trout into the kitchen and hid it under a tea towel, this was becoming tricky. As our handyman friend left through the back door the person who should have been our guest for breakfast arrived at the front and as he was ushered in I made a better job of hiding the contraband; in today's heat it badly needed cleaning and freezing.

Eager to make up for our earlier neglect we proffered tea and biscuits and asked if he had called earlier, no he had not. At this point our poacher friend arrived and with nods, winks and whispered asides we gave him to understand that we had company so he would know not to ask about the fish, which was by now beginning to make it's presence noticeable, I lit a couple of joss sticks and hoped for the best! It was four in the afternoon before the kitchen was clear of company and I cleaned the fish in a hurry and slipped it into the freezer.......phew!

There is just one thing that bothers me. If none of today's guests knocked on the door then who was it? Not the postman, he came later and no one was expecting a delivery, it is a complete mystery. If who ever it was reads this - don't come back until Friday as we are out of biscuits until I bake again!
Thank you.

HAPPINESS IS A REAL NEW POTATO

I was about to title this blog “happiness is carrot shaped “ but decided against it on the grounds that it might be misconstrued! To start with my appointment with the doctor went well, to my amazement my blood pressure was normal, a circumstance which seldom occurs, and therefore was cause for celebration. On my return home my son made breakfast for the three of us, a real treat, I love it when some one else does the cooking.

Next I tackled the cherry mountain, I have loads of recipes but all of them were for black cherry jam and insisted that red cherries were not good for jam making. Then I remembered that I had recently been given a couple of war time recipe books and sure enough I found a perfectly good, very simple recipe, I also put a pound of the fruit to steep in a bottle of vodka with four ounces of sugar. By Christmas it will be good to drink and the cherries will be used to make a boozy batter pudding on Christmas Eve.

The baby carrots were perfect, also the tiny white turnips, I pulled enough for dinner and scrubbed them clean and then rubbed the skin off the new potatoes. Having popped the shoulder of lamb in the oven I took a buggy ride down to the river, with some good music on my MP3 - I felt freer the I have in a long time. I called at a riverside pub and ordered a pint of bitter, it's been years since I did that, and it felt great and tasted better than good. I think I shall do it again very soon.

I trundled back home and cooked the vegetables while the joint rested and made the mint sauce, the mint is rampant this year, a large jug of lamb gravy completed the menu. We had all forgotten how wonderful crisp young vegetables taste when they have been picked and cooked almost immediately. It was lovely. We were to full to want a pudding, so we had a dessert of fresh cherries and very nice they were.

It has been such a perfect day that I don't want it to end. Have you ever noticed how some days sparkle like jewels along the tarnished chain of memory, I think that for me today was one of those.

DRILLING, FILLING, BIONICS AND A LOVELY SURPRISE?

This morning my poor son continued his siege with the dentist, his second visit and in the knowledge that some serious work was to be done, I confess to being rather nervous on his behalf. He set off after breakfast and to pass the time I baked three wholemeal loaves and a rare delicacy from Wales, bara-brith. It is a type of fruit loaf and is the very devil to get right, whether I succeeded or not remains to be seen as it has to stand for a week to mature before eating, I must say I am not sanguine as to its texture, it resembles a house brick in shape and colour and if I am honest in weight! My son returned bloody but unbowed and was obliged to drink through a straw for several hours. He was quite recovered by dinner time and polished off a three egg cheese omelette with half a loaf well buttered.

My husband set off to hospital at two-thirty to have a leg brace fitted, he was gone for quite a while, and when he returned he resembled a member of the Borg. Fitted to his leg and beautifully articulated was a smart black and silver contraption which even after much fitting still contrived to pinch. He is lucky they decided not to operate, I had knee surgery in February and it was not a resounding success. Fortunately they do seem to learn from their mistakes.

After the baking I decided to strim all the paths in the orchard, a poxy job for a hayfever sufferer, but as I am the only one who can use the blessed thing my straw is permanently short, if you will pardon the pun.

The bright spot on the horizon was the fact that the strawberries are almost finished which means I get a break from jam making.......or so I thought. Just as I sat down to eat my herb omelette there came a knock at the door. It was a kind friend delivering a small bag of jam jars and an enormous bag of the most splendid freshly picked cherries. Guess who's making cherry jam tomorrow, after I get back from My visit to the medic. Oh what I life I lead! Still my son has offered to help get the stones out of the cherries so I won,t complain as its a job I dislike, but then just think of cherry jam on a hot scone or a scotch pancake or with some cheese and biscuits or.......................

Oh yes if any one out there wants the bara brith recipe they are welcome to it, if all else fails it should make a great door stop!