OUR SUPPLIES ARRIVE

Early last week a stock take of the freezers revealed that the time had come to place another order with our butcher in Yorkshire. While we were by no means out of meat the choice was becoming rather limited .Our last order was placed last October and included all the Christmas meats and I feel that we have done well to get through the first part of winter with meat to spare.

Ham was decided upon as we all enjoyed the Christmas joint so much. A 10.85kg whole ham
arrived and this will ,I hope provide us with at least ten main meals plus sandwiches and several soups for the cost of £35.00. Ham if cooked from fresh can be frozen after cooking and cut in to steaks or dice, the bone can be used for soup as can the stock and as the meat is already cooked it needs only to be re-heated thus making an important saving on fuel .

Chicken dice, breasts and thighs also arrived along with three large brisket joints, and the usual minced steak, bacon steaks and pork bellies. Pork chops ,pork mince for burgers, and a pair of ham hocks,,diced pork and diced venison completed the delivery and were soon packed away in to the awaiting empty freezer. Tomorrow we shall feast on hot roast ham with all the trimmings and it is good to know that I can give the family this treat while at the same time knowing that the meat cost less than a pound a head! I must say that this order has been predominantly made up of pork cuts,at the moment pork seems to be in favoured use.

Later in the morning the dry goods were delivered, such necessities as flour, rice ,semolina and of course store cupboard essentials such as tinned tomatoes,pasta and olive oil. Cleaning products are also ordered and in fact the only items we usually purchase ourselves are vegetables and fruit and since our garden supplies much of this the amounts are not large.
I find that a meat order every three months or so and a grocery delivery once a fortnight works well for us and a few trips to the shops for fresh fruit, vegetables and fish are all we really need in addition.

Fresh steak mince proved too tempting for my son and he stopped dropping hints and came right out and asked if I would make lasagne for dinner so as we had some fresh pasta sheets arriving of course I agreed. Pasta in any form is his very favourite food and I am certain that he would ,if given the opportunity eat the stuff daily. On the other hand it does make him easy to please for which I am thankful during busy times as pasta is quick to do.

Our first day has gone well and we all enjoyed unpacking the meat boxes, my son always tries to be at home on delivery day. We had a lazy breakfast of poached eggs on toast and spent the rest of the day with my son writing, Pa feeding his wild birds and myself planning menus for the next few weeks. I do not stick too rigidly to the plan but I do find that it helps to prevent waste and ensures the best use of any leftovers.

Twiggy hate delivery day as it disturbs her peace and quiet, she dislikes callers and the bustle cause all over the house by the putting away of the produce causes her to fidget from room to room and in and out of the house until I feel that we must have at least a dozen cats . When at last peace was restored she betook herself to my bedroom and hiding the window behind the curtain with her head under a lamp and her tail over the radiator. Talk about creature comforts!

For the past few nights I have been dreaming that I was back in the theatre, first playing a part for which I did not know the lines second in a play where I had on the wrong costume and last night I actually failed to get to the theatre on time for the performance. After each of these dreams I awoke in a cold sweat and I am now convinced that my subconscious is trying to tell me something although I am in the dark as to what it is.

I am not sure that dreams mean very much, I have had some real humdingers in my time and all in vivid colour which came to nothing at all. Then I have had dreams which I did not understand which came true so as far as it goes the jury is out`!
Perhaps tonight dream will reveal all, I do hope so as I cannot think what worse scenario my brain could possibly create.

FREE....FOR A WEEK.

Today began with rejoicing all round as we began our week of freedom and we celebrated with a dozen soft rolls filled with crispy panchetta and fruity sauce. All the talk around the table was the RBS bonus story and the fact that the brass hats have at last done the decent thing even if they had to be dragged kicking and screaming to it!

Enough people have made enough noise about it that at last those arrogant ******** who thought they were unassailable are beginning to wonder if that is indeed the case! After all the Government cannot protect them from the rage of a nation betrayed and judging by the vox populous I would say that this is the beginning of the end for the fat cats and those who aid and abet them. Oh and by the way it's me first with the clothes line when they string up the chancellor!

Back to more pleasant matters, today was as is usual for a Monday a baking day and loaves were on the agenda, five to be precise. Three for us and two for our some friends who like us cannot abide shop bought bread but who unlike me do not have the time to bake their own.
We operate a kind of barter system, I do their baking and one of them does odd jobs for us ,another donates a bag of bird food every so often and this works well for us all.

Delivering the bread gets me out of the house and into the fresh air for half an hour and a chance to do a little personal shopping. If I mention to the boys that I am going to the shops within minute I have been given a list of errands a mile long! Today I purchased some mustard and cress seeds some of which will, I hope be ready by the weekend.

On my return a once again tackled Herman the sour dough cake. I have only managed to off load one portion of this prolific cake plant this time and so I bit the bullet and baked two huge caked. One was stuffed with cherries, candied mango, papaya and pineapple and the other with dates walnuts and apples with a good helping of spice. Soon the whole house was wreathed in the most delectable aromas which I cannot begin to b
describe. Both the boys arrived in the kitchen to see what was making the wonderful smell and were delighted when I told them that the cakes would be ready by dinner time.

I always fill the cake tins and the cookie jars an Monday as we are sure to have callers, especially since the estate workers are working on a nearby house and will certainly pop in for their breaks, unless of course their Gauliter of a boss stops them from doing so.
Our evening meal was a simple one of baked Camembert with fresh crusty bread and butter apricot sauce, tomato sauce and ham. The choice of cakes for afters more than made up for the lightness of the meal although it is far more filling than it sounds.

Concerned that my son should get to bed early everything was done early and quickly so that soon after dinner he had a lovely long soak in a nice hot bath and then to bed. He was asleep in minutes poor boy. Pa and I will have our hot chocolate and a little super later and then we too will turn in. Plagued by the pain in my legs I am sleeping badly at the moment but my bed is soft and warm and I have my little cat for company and of course the new book to read . I have no complaints.

THE WEIGHT OF KNOWLEDGE

The peace and quiet of my Sunday morning was splintered, quite literally by the collapse of an ancient bookcase in my bedroom. Our family is considered somewhat peculiar in certain quarters as we are all book fanatics who line the walls of ever room(not even the bathroom escapes) with books of all kinds. Between us our tastes cover a wide range of interests although the contents of our shelves tend to indicate the prevailing interest of its inmate.

The shelves in question contain several complete works a collection of illustrated editions of such favourites as “The Thirty nine Steps”, “A Christmas Carol” “The legends of Robin Hood”. This collection is the work of many years and some of the volumes are quite rare and old. This morning it was I fear a the last straw with broke the camel's, or in this case the
bookcases back.
I happened to find a small volume of poetry owned by my mother as a child and from which I learned to love poetry in a drawer and decided,fool that I am that there would be room for it on a shelf housing other poetry anthologies...............I was mistaken.

As the book touched the shelf it groaned loudly, creaked alarmingly and then collapsed. In between the groan and the creak I had the presence of mind to grab a small ornament of which I am fond, it would have been better had I grabbed the collapsing shelf which as it fell took with it the one beneath.........and so on!

Riveted to the spot by the weight of literature in which I was now buried up to the knees I surveyed the damage while wondering how the hell to extricate myself from the debris. This was to prove tricky as my plight was made worse by the fact that I was carrying a small tea tray and had no where to put it. My son was sleeping peacefully in the next room and it was my first thought that he should remain so, this of course meant that I had to stifle the yell of pain when the books hit my slippered feet.

Perched on top of the heap was a small and very pretty clock which was to my amazement still ticking. I never seem to have time on my hands yet hear I stood like a graven image with time on my feet.......a poor joke.
Every time I tried to move something else hit the floor and I tried to remember what other fragile treasures had decorated the shelves. By now my feet were throbbing alarmingly so in spite of the risk of further damage I began gingerly to extricate myself from the mess.

During the following ten minutes I began to wonder if Pa had passed out , gone out or bottled out as he did not appear in spite of the fact that he must have heard the initial bumping as the books hit the floor. Down stairs Pa was listening to the radio and hearing the noise thought that I was simply moving the furniture about. Not that I make a practice of hauling large pieces of furniture about before breakfast you understand.

My feet were a peculiar colour and an even more peculiar shape as we sat down to breakfast and discussed the problem. Pa had cereal, feeling rather queasy I made do with a cup of strong tea.
Could the bookcase be mended? Pa thought so and so I set off on the buggy to Home base to purchase the necessary fittings to do the job. I spent over twelve pounds and bough home three different types of fitting...............none of which were the right ones. Pa decided to try his luck and off he went while I hobbled about the kitchen preparing a casserole of mixed game for tonight's dinner.

Pa returned with the correct bits and pieces and I left him to get on the task of re fitting the collapsed shelves, Fortunately Pa is used to the work for , as I mentioned earlier we all collect books and so this mornings little disaster piece is quite a common occurrence.

It was late in the day before the shelves were mended and the wreckage cleared away.

They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, as far as my poor feet are concerned it is all too true!

THE DAY WIL;L COME

I discovered to my amazement quite recently that the freedom to express my opinion is conditional in some quarters in that I am not allowed to criticise a certain group of people without fear or favour. This in spite of the fact that I ALWAYS publish the truth and in spite of the fact that this bunch deserve a well aimed kick up the backside from time to time.

Now I must tell you that I have no fear of becoming involved in a legal wrangle over my jottings,quite the reverse, I, unlike my target have taken steps to cover my backside. I am breaching no laws which is more than they can boast and other than that they cannot harm me personally............unless they hire a hit man!

I am unable to tell you how they have, for the present succeeded in drawing my claws, a fact which aggravates me exceedingly as they devolve daily deeper in to the suicidal abyss, nice bit of alliteration there. Suffice it to say that they have chosen the sneakiest and most despicable way of preventing themselves from hearing the truth about themselves, which is I assume what has scared the britches off them.

Their chosen method is more worthy of the KGB that any decent British organisation and is the pathetic reaction of a pathetic bunch of truth shy noodle headed …..............ostriches !

Hiding from the truth will not make the truth disappear, and silencing my voice will not hide what everyone but these misfits already knows...that for them and their little empire the writing(not necessarily mine) is on the wall. If they continue down their current road at their present speed they are doomed . If they fail to make the fundamental changes necessary they are pulling the chain on their own futures and the futures of many others.

Having written this I am sure that more than one group of people will recognise themselves in the dismal portrait I have painted and if it jolts them out of complacency some good will have come of all this nonsense. I just hope that they do not make the same mistake as Dorian Grey and think that hiding the painting in the attic will prevent the inevitable denouement.

The restraint under which I now operate will not last for ever and when that day comes I shall not scruple to blow the lid off the who;e wretched business and in all the right quarters.

They will discover as others before them that this little old lady does not care to be threatened, and particularly in the cowardly way they chose to do it. I have been shooting this sort of game for many years and with much success.

I wonder if they realise that should they carry out their threat they will effectively release me from literary bondage ,probably not!

ROSE COOKIES

Reading my sons latest novel has been something of a revelation . His writing style ,always good has matured immeasurably in just the few weeks since his last novel was published. Had I not know that my son was the authour I would never have guessed in a hundred years.
Add to this the fact that this is exploring a completely new genre his grasp of which seems faultless and it is easy to understand why his proof readers are so impressed.

I was surprised that I was not given a copy at once, especially as crime fiction is my field of expertise but by the time the lesbian lover of the first victim showed up and then turned out to be AC/DC I began to understand his reticence. Why is it that our children feel that we need to be sheltered from such things I can not imagine. Well before I was twenty I had been forced to deliver a swift kick in the groin to one of my lecturers who I knew to be gay and who turned out to be a double agent as it were!

His work is accomplished,mature,humorous and imaginative and have not enjoyed a book so much for a long time. We have a bet running that I will not be able to guess who done it by the middle of the book. If I fail it will be the first time for ages as I usually work it out within the first few pages unless of course the author cheats and does not introduce the killer until almost the end of the book, a common and very cheap trick which is played by some surprisingly famous authors....they know who they are!

With a little Christmas gift money to spend I set off for the garden centre where there is a sale on at present. I was lucky enough to purchase a huge sheet of fleece for £4 , a wrought iron out door clock for £5, a pair of secateurs in a holster for £4 and a brilliant bubble gun for 50p. Pleased with my bargains I returned to the kitchen much refreshed after the mornings bread making and set about baking a batch of cookies.

ROSIE SHORTIES

4oz butter
4oz plain flour
2oz caster sugar
1 teaspoon of rose syrup or rose water
2oz pistachio nuts chopped
4 oz dried cranberries

Beat the sugar and butter together and add all the other ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Roll in to small balls and place on a greased baking sheet then using a fork dipped in hot water press down gently
Bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes then cool on a wire rack. The flavour of rose is faint but overall they have a good flavour.

The boys treated me to a night with no cooking and we had fish and chips, which made a lovely change for me and of course it meant that there was next to no washing up.................bliss!

The weekend is almost here again, how quickly it has come around again and it is well for us all that it has, my sons working weeks become more fraught for us all as each month passes and I for one will breath a huge sigh of relief when he finally tells them to “Take their job and shove it” as the song says It will be their loss believe me!

BACK TO EVERY DAY MATTERS

The militant ravings of yesterday might have left you wondering if you had logged on to the right blog ,on reading it again this morning so did I. In my defence I will say that I was good and mad and needed to get it out of my system, if I watched fewer current affairs programmes it would be well.

Returning to the humdrum, workaday world I am happy to inhabit.........most of the time....it has been a pleasant but rather dull day and you cannot imagine how very glad I am to be able t say so. Last year there was,at time a good deal too much variety and I crave the quiet life these days.

I spent ages tatting about in my room this morning before breakfast, I am contemplating the rearranging of some pieces of furniture and I prefer to think it through thoroughly before actually moving any thing. After all who wants to move a wardrobe twice in one day?

From this sudden desire to move, heavy furniture about and to clean in places usually unreachable I conclude that my internal clock is telling me that spring is on the way and the if I need to get any major cleaning, shifting or decorating done I had better do it now before I find that I am spending all my time either in the garden of in the kitchen dealing with mountains of produce.

I have not yet broken the news to the boys as I am well aware that I shall not be popular when I do. I shall spring the news on them suddenly, as if I had just thought of it and that will limit the amount of moaning and complaining I hall have to listen to when they do find out! Cunning eh!

Pie was on the menu for tonight and I casseroled a pound of lovely skirt beef with onions and mushrooms to make a pie for Pa and I, chicken and bacon was the filling for my sons pie and both pies were topped with puff pastry and served with sweet potato mash. I know it seems crazy O make two different pie but neither Pa or I can face another chicken dish for a while. Why we are not all sprouting feathers I cannot tell!

I have acquired some rose syrup and I intend to make a cake containing rose water and iced with the syrup, This is in the nature of an experiment as I would like to cook some thing special for Valentines Day, I would also like to make some heart shaped cookies filled with rose cream. If they do not workout I am sure the squirrels will eat them up as they adore sweet things.

Much to my annoyance I am still feeling very tired indeed,, and from day to day this seems to be getting worse. I think it is caused by the unusual amount of pain I am experiencing ,staying on my feet is certainly a struggle these days . All will be well when I get back into my beloved garden again I am sure,that is by far the best cure for any trouble, you wait and see.

I believe that house work is far more tiring to me than gardening, not just because I dislike housework but because gardening involves more moving about. When ironing I stand still, when baking and cooking I stand more or less still and it is this which I feel cause the trouble. With an injured right knee and a worn left hip standing still really is more painful than moving about. Of course that does not explain the back pain or the painful shoulder joints. My doctor says that I am too hard on myself but that is rubbish. I am convinced that the less I do the less I will be ale to do and so I mean to keep going no matter what.

Hot baths help and a comfy bed,and I am very much looking forward to both in the very near future. Good night.x

WHO HAS THE MOST CLOUT ?

It was almost worth the rotten G.D.P figures announced this morning to see the glum expression upon the face of what passes these days for the Chancellor of the Exchequer!
I can not abide the smug smirk which is his daily look, it is redolent of the school snitch who once grassed me up to the Teacher by telling him that I had been “peeping during prayers!”
I suspect too that he has a similar level of intelligence.

We have during the past week been informed by Nick “the dishonourable member” Clegg that in spite of the fact that The Royal Bank Of Scotland is owned by you and me that the Government, such as it is, is unable to curb the massive pay bonuses of the banks bosses.
Was that can't or won't .

They seem very able to lay down the law about any increases and bonuses for just about every one else so what is the problem I wonder. Perhaps because they lack the will to do it? May be they are worried that such action would alienate the top dogs in the big corporations leading to a withdrawal of their financial support. Speaking of which I had a good giggle at the twerpy cabinet minster who bemoaned at length last week the fact that the Labour Party was funded by the Trade Unions who' s vested interest made such donations inappropriate .
It was enough to make a cat laugh.

So who has the most clout, A few rich big wigs or every man woman and child who is at the moment being well and truly shafted by the unholy alliance who are presiding over this debatable? The answer is simple we do, you and I and millions like us, the power is ours and it is time we flexed our muscles and showed these self satisfied oiks what we are made of!

But it will take all of us to do it, it is no use waiting for someone else to take the risks everyone needs to shout at once or we shall not be heard. Neither is it any use to be partisan since it is abundantly clear that all political parties are corrupt. We need top do what all political parties have been doing since the dawn of Politics, we should be looking out for our own interests.

We put these people in office, we pay them to do their jobs, why they do they feel able to speak to us like backward school children? Why too do they believe they have the right to hold us responsible for their mistakes? We are paying the piper and we should be calling the tune. If some high powered individual or huge corporation can get away with paying little or no tax why is it that poor souls who take a bit of cash in hand payment for a few hours work while on benefits hounded as cheats, frauds, and liars., it is disproportionate.

Those who have least should not be expected to pay more than those who have far too much. Let those who made the mess clear it up. To those who feel that people of benefits are getting a good deal and are leeches on the hard workers I say this, there but for the grace of God go any one of us . If you were to lose your job and your home would you not like to think that there is a safely net to help you through the bad times? And what if the bad times go on and on?

North Staffordshire was a thriving area when I was growing up. The Potteries employed Tens of thousands of people, Shelton |Steel works ,a huge enterprise was a major employer add to this the many coal mines and the result was a ward working labour force and although pay was never brilliant in the Pottery Industry the jobs were safe.

First they closed the steel works, then the Pits and the the potteries one by one until there are only a handful left. This happened in the late seventies and early eighties and the area has never recovered. Yes there are a lot of people who have been on benefits for a long time and yes that is wrong. Where the difficulty lies is that there are no longer any r jobs in the area which can pay a man with a family a living wage.

In Leek and Uttoxeter the closed all the Mills , even J.C.B laid of hundreds of men and the result was exactly the same. Politicians call these men and women scroungers, not true they are honest, proud and if given half a chance hard working and reliable. What has happened in there towns is no fault of theirs, it has been caused by bad management by successive Governments and our Captains of Industry who can only understand the theory of the fast buck in modern times. Believe me if we allow things to continue as they are we shall all end up paying for the privilege of being allowed to work at all.

Next time you have the chance to have your say, next time you are asked to join a protest or a delegation to protect your rights remember, if you don't look after your interests who will?
Until we make our leaders, our employers and the large corporations that they are our servants and not vice versa none of us is safe, none of our jobs is safe. Our whole way of life is threatened by those who seek to divide us by making us believe that those who are out of work are some how a lower order of life than those with jobs.

After all how sure of your job are you?


Avie will be back to normal by tomorrow, unless some idiot politico makes some crackpot statement and she gets cross again.

A LITTLE SPARKLE ON A DRAB DAY

The view was singularly uninspiring this morning, a heavy settled rain was clattering against the glass and in the lane large puddles of dirty water were collecting in the potholes, of which there are a great multitude.
My son bough a ray of sunshine and a cup of hot coffee and seemed remarkably cheerful all things considered. We chatted over our toast and I pondered afresh the vagaries of his employers.

I expect it was the dim light which made me feel like going back to bed
and for half an hour that is exactly what I did before I could be asked to start the day. By mid morning Pa was up and dressed and I made a batch of pancakes for his breakfast, still feeling lazy I cleared the kitchen and prepared some twice baked cheese soufflé for dinner before going out.

You must know that I had no wish at all to brave the rain but as we had no cream I had no choice as I needed some to finish the soufflé on their second baking. Well wrapped up against the rain I set off and wouldn't you know pit the first shop had only that dreadful Elmlea rubbish which is as much like fresh cream as I am like Marilyn Munroe! Onwards to the next store and my luck was in,job done I headed for home.

Stopping at the garden centre I picked up some more Christmas goods in the sale. Lots of beautiful decorations which had been five ,six and seven pounds each were on sale for fifty pence and I could not resist. They will spend almost a year in a dark cupboard before bursting forth to amaze the boys. The rain had by now turned to a fine drenching drizzle and as what little light there was began to fade I was glad for once to draw the curtains on the dismal scene.

My son awoke refreshed for a good sleep and we enjoyed our soufflé which Was served with salad Serrano ham and a tomato sauce for my son with lots of fresh crusty bread.
I really should have done some ironing today but I just could not be bothered,of course it will have to be done before long but I shall worry about that some another time.

For the umpteenth time I thought that I had lost my mobile phone, which is a pesky small one and is easy to overlook or misplace in a handbag. I scrabbled around cursing and muttering,I searched in the most unlikely places....not luck ….and was just about to call the garden centre to see if I had left it there when the blessed thing rang. Now at least I knew that it was in the house but the question was where?

More searching and more cursing followed until I decided to ask my neighbour to call me so that I could listen for the ringing sound. Stuffing my feet in to my furry boots I discovered the wretched thing stuck at the toe end of my boot,how it came to be there is a mystery. Pa arrived home to find me looking hot cross and dishevelled and asking why I had not answered my phone. History shall not record my reply!

Evening brought no noticeable change in the weather and poor Twiggy, who had sat disconsolately in the window all day continued to stare out in to the dark garden with the air of a prisoner. Let us hope for better weather tomorrow before poor old puss goes in to a decline and we run out of cat litter!

There is one bright spot in an otherwise dismal day. Black Dog ,may still be pottering about but thank the Gods the Hispaniola has sailed away, we hope for good!

SILENCING THE SQUEAK

Ever since we heard that Pa had and appointment with at the department which deals with his calliper my son and I have been impatiently awaiting the day. Until recently Pa had a leg brace and a walking stick and the sound of his stick upon the wooden floor boards of the tiled kitchen was our constant companion.

Often I felt like poor old Billy Bones when Black Dog came to get him,he listened always for the sound of Black Dogs wooden leg tapping up the pathway. Since Pa got his brace we have set sail on the Hispaniola, or perhaps I should say that if sounds as if we have,

Pa,s calliper is held together be leather straps and it is these same straps which creak and groan like the rigging of a ship in dire straights. Pa had breakfasted before he left for hospital and so it was just my son and myself who sat down for a late breakfast of cheese on toast . We were discussing what might be done to alleviate the squeaking when Pa returned and it became clear at once that the squeak remained.

With Black dog back aboard the Hispaniola we were keen to know why we were keen to know why nothing had been done. Pa it seems had been advised by the conultant to “Put some Vaseline on the metal parts.” Since it is the leather straps which are causing the problem I can not see that this expedient will make any difference what-so-ever. Of course this doubtful remedy will be tried but I suspect that the only out come will be blobs of petroleum jelly on the furniture!

I do not know what is amiss with everyone today, I did not notice that the news this morning was any more dire than usual and yet as I said something is very much amiss. Having a loaf to deliver I went out on the buggy after breakfast and as usual met quite few people along the way. Now it has always been my custom the give a cheery good morning to any one I happen to meet on my travels and although not everyone replies I usually receive a smile , a wave of a salutation of some sort even if it is a rude one,this morning was different.

First I met a lady walking a dog and wished her good morning and as she stoically marched by without returning my greeting I wondered what trouble was on her mind ,poor soul. Next I met a lady pushing a pram in which sat the most beautiful child. I complimented her upon the child’s looks and she studiously turned her face and almost ran down the lane.

Taking a moment I stopped and looked in the wing mirror of the buggy to make sure that I had not suddenly sprouted horns a=or grown an extra nose,no, everything seemed fine and I pressed on. Soon after two ladies passed me and again my cheery greeting fell upon deaf ears,and I began to wonder what was going on. Finally I passed an old chap sitting on a bench and as I approached I waved and gave him good morning........nothing.........! Now by this time I was becoming a trifle peeved and so in a fit of irritation I remarked, “P lease yourself you miserable old bugger”. He heard that all right and told he off for my rudeness. I was quite relieved to be spoken to at all as I had begun to wonder if I had died suddenly and was unaware of the fact as in the film “Sixth Sense.

Luckily he had a sense of humour and we had a laugh about it. The rider to this story is that on the way home I decided not to speak to anyone and as I passed a lady on the road she said. “Don,t speak then.” and turning I saw it was a friend I had not seen for ages, some days you just can not take a trick!!

Dinner was early this evening as my son is back at work tonight. I made a dish of pasta with bacon and a garlic cheese sauce much favoured by the boys and very quick to make .
Today has been an odd one in many ways, even the air seemed very still and the birds were quieter than usual. What this presages I can not tell, nothing I hope, or perhaps a change in the weather, snow she said hopefully?

APPOLOGIES TO HERMAN!

I take back everything I said that was of a derogatory nature about “Herman” the sour dough cake starter from Germany. Today was day ten of the starters life and having divided up the mixture in to four yesterday and foisting one off upon my neighbour,I set one aside to start over again and with the remaining two portions I made the sour dough cake which was on the list of instructions which came with the beast.

Being a contrary madam however I made a few alterations and added cherries instead of raisins ans blue berries instead of apples and then threw ion a handful of walnuts and some Slivered almonds for good measure. After only a few minutes in the oven the cakes, for the mixture was enough to make a pair smelled glorious and when after forty minutes I took from the oven two golden brown and cert delectable trays bakes.

Pa and I waited only long enough for the cakes to cool slightly before sampling them and I have to report that the generous slices we cut were delicious, sticky and altogether wonderful.
When we tried the cold later in the day they were still really good and I shall of course be making them again. The actual making was very easy and the variations many so we m=need not have the same cake next time. However I am willing to bet that the boys will ask for cherries again. Wow!

I shall send a box in to work with my son tomorrow for his friends to try along with some treacle oaties, if they like them perhaps I shall find a home for some of Herman,s offspring in the future.

My son was out with his friends today so Pa and I had a quiet afternoon feeding the birds and so forth. I prepared a cottage pie for dinner. I love a nice cottage pie but I do not cook them often as my son prefers lasagne, which is really nothing more than an Italian cottage pie.
Today I was aloed to indulge myself as I have cooked everyone,s favourites this week, I enjoyed it too with a jug of rich dark gravy, carrots and peas comfort food with bells on!

The cat Twiggy enjoyed the sunshine this morning and spent a merry hour or two tearing around the orchard, up and down the trees and blast and damn it sitting on my tunnel cloches which does them no good at all. On a similar subject we were obliged last not to order another buggy shelter as due to the attentions of a family of foxes, Twiggy and Diamonds the small tear in the roof turned over night into a gaping hole. It was evident that something, a fox we suspect jumped off the fence and on to the shelter and went straight through!

Early in the afternoon it became quite suddenly very cold and Twiggy returned to her roost in my bedroom widow to warm her pretty pink paws on the radiator, I have had many cats in my life time but this one is so darned cute, she gets away with murder!

Our holiday week is over once again and tomorrow the coach turns back into a pumpkin and we all get back on the tread mill. For my son it has been a productive week, and for Pa and I a happy one. Now we await whatever next week brings...................some snow would be nice!

ALL IN A DAYS WORK!

If I felt sore when I got in to bed last night I felt much worse when I got out of it this morning. My whole body ached,muscle and bone and if it were not for the fact that there are no other symptoms I would swear that I had the flue. Just getting out of bed left me quite exhausted but I finally managed to drag myself down stair to make the breakfast porridge.

I may have mentioned earlier in the week that I had been given a sour dough cake starter all the way from Germany and that its name was Helmut. At the top of the recipe sheet is the legend”A Friendship Cake”. I have to report that by day nine I am swearing a vengeance upon the (friend )who gave me this ...this... “Tamagotchi” in a mixing bowl. Forget to feed it and it dies! Forget to stir it and it dies! Let it get cold and it dies! Then at the end of ten days you divide it in to four lots, make a cake with one, give two away to unsuspecting friend and start the whole damned business again with the forth. A sort of culinary chain letter if you like and I am now wondering who to foist the spare portions upon.....any volunteers?

Tomorrow Helmut will be made in to a cake and it had better be worth the trouble!
Today I made a large batch of Treacle Oaties, a biscuit of which Pa is inordinately fond and which he tells me I have not made for an age. I must say I had forgotten just how nice they are, I predict that by Wednesday there will be none left.

My sons friends arrived on time this morning and having assembled here they headed of to the public house which plays host to their weekend games of D and D. The group were amazed to discover that my son has finished his first novel, I however am not, his typing speed is legendary and he has a mind like quicksilver, a first rate combination for any kind of creative writing. This will not be published until he had written a few more in the same vane, there is a jolly good reason for this but I cannot remember what it is!

Still aching all over I produced a meal of cheese stuffed jacket potatoes with a variety of char-grilled sausages which took almost no effort, the Gods be thanked! I was obliged to resort to a couple of large G,s and T to dull the pain, well that my story and I shall stick to it!

I have purchased a large, correction huge bag of Epsom Salts and it is my intention to run a very hot bath, add a large cup of theses same salts and to sit there for as long as possible. Our next door neighbour swears by this remedy for aches and pains. The catch is that having sat for about half an hour in water that is almost unbearably hot you must then sit for five minutes in freezing cold water, If I miss out the later part you won't tell, will you?

RESULTS DAY

It was hey-ho for an early start this morning as I had and early medical appointment and as usual on such occasions I barely slept last night. My problem is that I worry in case I over sleep and as a consequence I do not sleep at all.

My son, who has been writing early and late this week was up already and we had coffee together before I got ready to go. Looking out of the window the weather looked rather bleak and I dressed accordingly. I was quite right, the wind was raw and the air freezing as I set off.

Having arrived early I parked the buggy and sat down to wait, before long I had fallen asleep and had to be awakened by the Doctor who came out to see why I had not arrived when my name was called. Knowing that I would receive my test results today I was prepared for the worst and it was not good. There seems to be considerable damage to the kidneys caused by a severe infection and there are also stones in various parts of both kidneys.

The stones are thankfully too small to cause much trouble at the moment but of course in time they will need attention. Above all I must avoid any further infection in this area as further damage could be very troublesome indeed. On the up side my blood pressure was normal and considering the nature of the news I had just received I consider that remarkable and so did my Doctor!

When the boys discovered that I was going in to town this morning it was “Can you go to the bank for me?” from my son and “You may as well pick up a bit of shopping.” from Pa.
There is nothing like being made a convenience of and I had left the house muttering darkly about being late back for breakfast and all the chores that would have to wait until my return.

By the time I had done all the errands and was on my way home it was twelve noon and I was starving. Imagine how lovely it was to arrive home to find the table laid for breakfast , the kettle boiling ready to make the tea and even more amazing all the hoovering done by my son and Pa's room dusted by the man himself. I was so relieved that I almost burst in to tears.
This week has been difficult for me as I have been in quite a lot of pain which slows me down rather. Thank the Gods for my boys.

Nor shall I be cooking this evening as tonight we are having cooked meats, cheeses and salad, whit a nice pork pie and some pate and toast and not to have to cook for once will be wonderful.

My sons writing is coming along well and the new book is amazing, it is a crime novel set in the future with some remarkable twists and turns. I have read literally hundreds of crime novels so I consider myself an expert and I say that his new book is as better than most. He has managed to keep all the atmosphere of an old fashioned who done it while fast forwarding a few centuries, it is cleverly done as normally I hate that sort of thing.

Our cat Twiggy has been very playful these last couple of days and we all have the marks to prove it. Last night she spent the better part of an hour throwing a catnip stuffed mouse toy all around the room. Later while upstairs she hid under my bed and kept on pouncing on my feet as I sat on the edge of the bed taking my night time tablets. Next she jumped on to the T.V. Table and scuffted of the remote controls on to the floor in order to sit down right in front of the screen. In short, madam made a perfect pest of herself for several hours until at last exhausted by her mischievous play time she fell fast asleep on Pa's fur hat!

And now it is bath time for me and I have some new bubbles purchased by my son to try, they purport to have the scent of grapefruit, but earlier when I took a sniff at the contents they smelled more like cat's pee on a gooseberry bush, not very encouraging but hey-ho, caution be blowed!

Top Gear Answers Avie's Call

You may remember a few months ago I sent an e mail to Top Gear to issue a challenge. This involved the team in a mobility scooter race which was to consist of the guys taking the buggies on a shopping trip in a major supermarket, loading the scooters on a train to Wales and then doing a cross country race. I am not sure how much of the challenge they are going to do, all I do know is that they were filming yesterday in Abbergavenny and all three were on mobility scooters!

I was stunned when my son told me about this last night, I really did not think that they would have the bottle to take up the gauntlet, well hats off to the lads because they did.
In my time I have scrambled motor bikes, driven tractors and rolled a few motor cars, the woman driver that every comic jokes about....I am she! Yet I still say that driving a mobility scooter takes more guts than driving a sports car or a 4x4. When one sits on a mobility scooter one becomes invisible, well judging from the number of people who attempt to walk right through one.

Motorists hate us, pedestrians hate us, we get mugged and abused because people think that we are a quite literally a sitting target. I have to tell you that there are at least two young men hobbling about town who now know better!

Back to Top Gear, there are already a few well meaning twerps whinging on about what an insult it is for the guys to race mobility scooters, this is ,not to put to finer point upon it a load of bollocks! The silly so and so's are just a bunch of pious twerps, after all the team make fun of every the vehicle and the people who drive them so why should the disabled be discriminated against. We may not be able to walk but we still have our sense of humour and think of this. If a high profile show like Top Gear highlights these vehicles in what ever way they choose to do it people may with luck begin to notice us sufficiently that they will stop walking in to us and then blaming us for running them over.

I have to tell you that Jeremy Clarkson and \James May both look thoroughly fed up Richard Hammond seems to be enjoying it rather more. Perhaps they should look upon this as a penance for the awful India Special of which I bitterly complained a couple of weeks ago.
I need not tell you that we shall be watching with interest to see how the chaps got on.

Incidentally the scooters have been modified considerably and the look great....maybe that gives me an idea?

Back to mundane matters, this morning I was obliged to de-frost a large chest freeze. In order to speed things up I used to steamer to blast boiling steam over the ice and it worked, the freezer was defrosted in record time. If I should catch the idiot who left the freezer lid jammed slightly open I shall stick the steamer hose somewhere very personal to ensure that he does not make the same mistake again!

We feasted tonight on roasted belly pork served on trenchers of bread with roasted vegetables, jacket wedges, tarragon dip and roast garlic sauce.........lovely, and of course Twiggy had her share of the meal.

Pa returned this afternoon from a trip to town with several bega of fruit pastiles, he has got hold of the idea that I am partial to them when in fact I detest the blessed things, I added them to the collection and I now have five large bags stuffed in a drawer...such is life.

A STORY FOR A RAINY AFTERNOON

My childhood was enriched by the presence in our home of two of my Grandparents and the fact that I had numerous great aunts who being widowed and at a loose end would stay with us often for a month or two at a time. Some of the aunts were kind some were not so kind. My Grandfather was a treasure while my Grandmother was an irascible impatient old lady who thought that children should be neither seen nor heard yet even she was full of stories to absorb a childs mind.

Throughout my childhood my health was poor and I spent a great deal of time away from school. Apart from the occasional visit from(The School Board Man) to check up on things no one seemed to mind very much. My mother was absorbed with the longed for boy child who arrive when I was five and it was thanks to my Grandfather that I was entertained ,taught and comforted while I was unwell.

He had the gift of understanding children and could play without any condescension with children of all ages, and he loved to teach. In spite of my poor health I was a restless spirited child and on my first school report my teacher had written in exasperation that I was wild and uncontrollable. Neither of my parents were concerned about this for as my father said it showed that I had spirit and would not allow myself to be pushed around. These days I would have been classed as maladjusted.

I had one saving grace, I was exceptionally clever and in spite of the bad behaviour was invariably top of my class with no real effort at all. This of course is not good for a child and my enlightened head master transferred me at once to the top call with much older children, to “Give me something to kick against” and for a time it worked.

Frequent bouts of severe ill health did not seem to cause any trouble with my ability to learn and my Grandfather had a novel way of teaching a variety of subjects,with a deck of cards.
From this old deck I learned arithmetic, history, and religion among other things. He knew that this would be more likely to hold my attention.
Grandfather had been born in to a family with aristocratic origins but very little money and he been amongst other things a soldier and a miner. He was a slender man with long tapering fingers and I used to wonder how he had managed down the pit. He was extremely intelligent ,kind and gentle .altogether a lovely man.

During the depression in the Thirties Grandpa became unemployed and so he became a professional card player,touring the large hotels in the Midlands he made a very good living by these means. While I was learning with him I too became an accomplished card player. Playing card games trains the memory which is the greatest tool of a good player and a great advantage in any walk of life.

I once ask Grandpa if he had ever cheated at cards and he told me that with so many poor players about he had never had the need to cheat, I believed him then and I have proved it since. Grandpa died when I was nineteen, a couple of months after my marriage, I miss him still.

His sister Cecilia Aunt Cissy as I called her was widowed in middle age and often stayed with us for the whole of the summer. She was small but with the same tapering fingers and delicate looks of her brother and such a sweet gentleness about her that I adored her completely. She had married a Welsh man and had lived-in Wales long enough to have acquired a Welsh accent which suited her somehow and she was full of stories of knights, fairies, battles and kings which she wove so cleverly that the characters were alive to me .

Never once did she fail to have the time to read with me of talk and I would often give her drawings I had done to illustrate her latest tale. Her son was an artist and each time he came to collect her her would bring for me a gift of paints or crayons, sketchbooks and once an easel.

There was great aunt Anne with whom my mother and grandmother would sit and reminisce by the hour and from them I learned my family history and about two dreadful wars, rationing and a Kings abdication. Much of their talk was strange pt a child but oh so interesting.

There were others who came and went and but for the attention of the elderly people my childhood might have bee pretty bleak.. I absorbed their knowledge and I thrived upon their care and I loved them with my whole heart . My parents were good people and my father did his best to spend time with me but he was working at a job as well as running the farm and he had little time for play. I was lucky to have Grandpa at home to teach me and to play with me, to mould my character and teach me courage.

Wish that every child could know my grandfather he was such fun to be with. Today is almost seems that children are afraid of the elderly,it does seem a shame for they miss so much. I

THE WARDROBE AND THE ROBIN

Each day the frost seems to be thicker than the day before, I know I have been banging on about it all week but really it is so beautiful. We had a late start to the day as we often do on my sons first proper day off and it was ten thirty before we had assembled for a breakfast of toasted cheese for the boys and two nicely poached eggs on toast for me.

We were expecting a grocery delivery between twelve and one and a twelve thirty the van arrived. The young driver looking very harassed came to the door and explained that his on board computer had stopped working and he had no idea which bags of groceries were ours. From his demeanour I suspected that he had been on the receiving end of some choice words at his previous stops. He had to call the office and ask them to do a manual check on which was which.

The poor souls looked frozen and so we asked him, in for coffee and cookies while the office sorted things out and the relief on his face spoke volumes. It did not take too long to sort out the problems and with all our groceries safely delivered we sent him of his way with a bag of cookies and a jar on home made jam. I imagine that he will be very glad when today is over , poor soul.

In my bedroom there is a small room which has been used in the past as a junk store, a walk in wardrobe and has been an eyesore which I have been desperate to sort out. A few days ago I reorganised things and managed to keep a good half of the space clear except for a blanket chest under the window. This window looks out over the orchard and I have always felt that it would be nice to be able to sit in the open widow and look put across the orchard, especially at not when the badgers visit the garden. Having another open window in the room would also mean that in the very hot weather I would have a breeze blowing through the room.

Today I decided to fix a curtain across the storage part leaving a tidy little space in which to sit. As I worked away our tame robin sat in the ash tree singing his lovely song. He could see me very well and had the window been open I should have been able to touch him. I took a fee photographs as I am writing an article about robins for the ISCAG web page . I could not help thinking how much fun it will be in the early summer mornings to fed him and his mate meal worms through the window, and of other pleasures to come.

I had decided to do a pot roast of beef for dinner and while I was preparing this repast in the early afternoon my neighbour appeared at the widow exhibiting a gory fore finger and a rather rusty saw. We cleaned him up and made a pot of tea which we all enjoyed, he had sold some of my sons books and had for him a handsome cheque, a pleasant surprise and of course very welcome.

I left the bots chatting over their tea and biscuits and headed out in to the cold to test out the new battery on one of the buggies. The man had been in the morning to fit test batteries as it seemed that the old ones were not holding a charge. Cold weather can play havoc with electric motors such as ours. The buggy was much faster and seemed to be fine although it wile be few days before we know for sure if the problem is solved.

Our roast dinner was perfect for today, we had roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and mushy peas, northern style with lashings of rich gravy made from the cooking liquid after which we were well stuffed.

There had been a small problem caused by our fox family and we were for a time unsure how to do a quick fix. You see the buggy's are kept under an Umbrella style motor bike shelter and somehow or other a fox had managed to rip its way in through the roof leaving the buggy’s exposed. “How do I know It was a fox?” I hear you ask, well you see he had been kind enough to leave his calling card on the buggy, so that we would know where to send the bill!

We patched it up temporarily with the tarpaulin we usually use to cover the garden furniture during the winter bit a new cover will have to be purchased P.D.Q!

All in all it has been quite an eventful day at Avis’s and now we are all ready for hot chocolate topped with fluffy pink and white marshmallows,and diets be damned!

FROST FREINDS AND FUN

We celebrated the beginning of our week with a breakfast feast of hot bacon rolls,a treat we all enjoy. Actually I always use panchetta rather than bacon as getting decent dry cured bacon in these parts can be tricky. Most of the bacon sold today is wet cured which means that it spits and makes the devil of a mess while cooking,refuses to crisp, is cut too hitch and tastes awful. What is not sold as panchetta is exactly like the old fashioned streak bacon we had for breakfast as a child. This was trade for by my father with a couple of rabbits or a brace of pheasant, our local pork butcher was always willing to barter and had a taste for game.

We enjoyed the meal very much and while we ate the days bread baked in the oven making the kitchen smell wonderfully. I delivered a loaf to a friend and picked up some food for the birds and while I was out I met with a series of friends and acquaintance and we found a warm spot in the garden centre to indulge in a good old natter. The morning was bright and cold, perfect for me but a number of my friends dislike cold weather, I cannot think why. Perhaps as I was born and raised in the North on England I am more used to the cold than these (nesh southerners) as my Granny would have called them.

I arrived home seconds before a very good friend arrived and I was so pleased to see her as I have been unable to get in touch for a while. Her husband has recently had the same operation as I had myself two years ago almost to the day and from what she had to tell us he fared no better than I. He was discharged on the same day when he should have had a three day stay due to an error, two days later a severe infection set in and then it was discovered that they had also neglected to give him the necessary antibiotics on his release from hospital.

What followed was a grim performance on the part of the NHS and now two weeks later he is still in pain and cannot walk. I encountered very much the same problems to years ago and I ended by being rushed back in as an emergency case the day after being discharged, it makes you wonder what the hell is going on.

I cheered her up with a big hug a slice of lemon drizzle cake and a bottle of orange brandy for the invalid, who will shortly be off to visit the children which will I hope give my friend a chance to rest while someone else looks after him for a time. It was lovely to see her, we are old acquaintance but have become very close during the past couple of years. We have similar problems as carers are both keen gardeners and we have the same sense of humour. She was very kind to me last year and helped me through some difficult times so I would do anything to return the favour.

In the late afternoon as the sun went down behind the trees in the churchyard making them appear to be alight with flames and it quite became quite suddenly bitterly cold, so cold that even I noticed the change. A thick rime of white frost was settling upon the grass and the bushes in the garden, Twiggy came running down the garden path and jumped into my arms the better to tuck her cold little paws inside my sweater, and how she did purr!
In the kitchen however all was cosy and snug as I prepared and early evening meal of melted Camembert served with hot apricot sauce and some fried Haloomi with salad. Pa came in from the garden where he had been filling the bird feeders just as darkness fell and just in time for our meal, which we all agreed was perfect for tonight.

Already my son is bathed and safely in bed, tired after being up all night, he will sleep late tomorrow I hope and then....let the fun begin!

A TASTY WINTER PIE

How lovely it is to awake to bright sunshine and frost after all the dull grey days when it never really got light. I decided to make an old winter favourite from my child hood, a good old fashioned bacon pie.
WINTER BACON PIE
FOR THE FILLING
1 ham hock
3 carrots
1 onion
1 small parsnip
1 bay leaf
12 peppercorns
8 dried apricots (optional)
2 large leeks
3 large potatoes cut in to chunks.

Place the hock with the rest of the ingredients in to a large pan and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil then cover and simmer until the meat falls from the bones. The time this will take depends upon the size of the hock but it will be at least two hours.

Strip the meat from the bone and set aside. Remove the vegetables from the stock and set aside with about a pint of the stock. The remaining stock may be frozen and makes a wonderful base for pea soup.
Cut the leeks in to rounds and fry in butter until softened. A little salt will prevent the leeks from burning. Cook the potato chunks in boiling water until almost cooked them drain ans=d set aside.

TO COMPLETE THE PIE
1 pack of ready rolled all butter puff pastry
1 dessert spoon of cornflour.

Grease a large pie dish and pile in the chunks of meat ,leek and potatoes. Mix about half the stock with the cornflour and pro over the filling. The liquid should come about half way up the dish and no more.
Cover with the pastry and glaze with beaten egg or milk then bake for twenty/ twenty five minutes at 400oC.

While the pie is cooking sieve the vegetables and the rest of the cooking liquid set aside to make the gravy, you may add more if you wish. The vegetables should thicken the gravy sufficiently but if you prefer a thicker sauce add some cornflour at this stage and cook for two minutes.


This pie was always served with steamed curly kale at our house but garden peas or Brussels sprouts are equally good. I hope you enjoy the pie.

We are all rather tired of fruit cake at the moment and so I made a pair of lemon drizzle cakes, one for us and one for our next door neighbours with who this cake is a great favourite. I have posted the recipe for this already so it will be somewhere in the archive,

We had a very lazy morning and a late breakfast which made a nice change from the usual flying start. Our pair of foxes are very chummy at the moment and and are repelling all comers to their territory. This is leading to a degree of disturbance during the not but it will be well worth it to see this years cubs playing in the orchard....even if they do damage the onions!

The lovely frosty weather has another benefit for me as my arthritis and rheumatism are much better , it is the damp drizzly weather that causes the trouble and it is good to be in less pain for a while. Twiggy dislikes the frost as it makes things difficult for her, the excavation of holes for toilet purposes is almost impossible at the moment which makes her rather cross.

We have placed a large tray of pellets outside the back-door for her especial use, unfortunately the cat Diamonds, an occasional visitor has once or twice availed himself of the facility much to Twiggy,s chagrin. She is a very particular little madam to be sure.

My sons working week is almost over and tomorrow will be the start of our home week. He is very busy during his off weeks and so far the results of his labours are encouraging. He has a great gift for writing and an amazing imagination. It will be good to be able to cosset him with hot chocolate and cups of coffee with cookies while he works.

Well there goes another week, how quickly time passes these days, I must be getting old.

LAZY SATURDAY

It was another glorious morning full of sparkles and pastel shades of blue and pink. Today the frost did not melt quickly in the morning sun , in hollows and parts of the garden where the sun arrives late in winter time it remained all day. The ivy on the old wall was a s pretty as a Christmas card and the dead leaves of blackberry, red and gold were edged with silver.

Last night the bathroom light gave up the ghost and Pa and I bathed by candle light, this in itself posed no problem but as the fan is linked to the same pull we did steam up rather. My son nobly essayed to remove the old bulb which was winking on and off quite alarmingly and after much changing of screwdrivers (you can never find the right one when it is needed) he managed to remove the cover.

Able at last to switch on the fan we soon cleared the steam and my son went off to bed flushed with success. I agreed to pick up a new bulb during the course of the day so that he could fit it before any more baths were taken. He is the only one who can reach the ceiling, it is a great thing to be tall.

We were joined by our next door neighbour for breakfast , I made a batch of hot piklets well stuffed with sultanas to be buttered and smothered in maple syrup. It is surprising hoe many of these one can eat and I was kept busy for quite a while making these delicious treats two at a time. We had a good deal to talk over as our neighbour is hopping to move in to the much larger house at the other end of our orchard. I am glad that he is not going far as theses two boys are the best neighbours we have ever had.

Of course we shall have new people to get to know and we all hope that we shall be lucky again, time will tell. One good thing which will come out of the move is that we will be able to use his garage to house our buggies as he has no car and the garage at the new house is a large one so he very kindly suggested that we use it ,he is a very kind and thoughtful young man. He laughs at me when I call him young man as he is actually forty five and his house mate if forty, my youngest brother is the same age and I always think of him as young.

Pa and I coasted through the rest of the day and the time seemed to go so quickly that before I knew it I was making our evening meal of bacon chops with eggs, hash browns corn on the cob and bred and butter with of course hot tomato sauce without which the boys would not eat this meal. My son fixed the bathroom light after dinner, it was rather tricky but he managed it very well. N.B.I am still obliged to grovel whenever he does any DIY since I once commented that he was less than skilled in thatdepartment, now he never lets me forget my hasty remark.

On Sunday my son does his last night shift for a week and we shall be able to return to normal life for a while,in the mean time Pa myself and the cat wile settle down to a quiet night after my son leaves for work. Hot chocolate and marshmallows and a home made biscuit for supper and some nice cod roes for the cat.

I cannot think why I am so tired tonight after all I have had such a lazy day,oh well goodnight folks,sleep tight....you know the rest.

A DAY OF SMALL DELIGHTS.

,

I awoke to as fair a morning as ever I have seen. A rising mist gave way to the sparkle of sunlight on a thick all covering frost reflecting the pearly shaded of pink and blue before it was melted away by the same sunshine that had given it such beauty.

My son arrived home in a happy mood which was astonishing given the circumstances. As a rule my son would be angered by work related clap trap but since he has already decided to leave in the not too far distant future he has become more philosophical about such shenanigans. We had toast and coffee together joking all the while and then Pa arrived, a lovely surprise as he is usually still asleep at such times.

More coffee and viands were provided and we all had a good long chat. I am pleased that my son is now resolved to take leave the slave drivers for whom he labours and could at last see the comical side of their antics. Once he had gone off to bed I made the days loaves and as we were to have chicken in the pot tonight I decided to make some kamut loaves which although they are white the flour from which they are made is whole grain. It is the flour used for baking bread in ancient Egypt and very good bred it is too.

The bread turned our beautifully and Pa and I had our breakfast of porridge in a kitchen fragrant with the wonderful smell of warm bread. The bird garden which is overlooked by the kitchen windows was full of small visitors and it was great fun to watch them squabbling over peanuts and flitting about. I washed the dishes, prepared the vegetables for dinner and them off I went to buy more peanuts for these same birds.

I was very lucky at the garden centre as a member of the staff saw né looking at a large container of meal worms and attached a half price sticker to the container was holding and then pointed out some wonderful wooden fat ball feeders also at a reduced price This was splendid luck as we spend rather a lot on b=wild bird food so every little helps. I picked up a big bag of nuts and headed for the checkout, the whole lot came to only twenty pounds and included the fat balls to fill the new feeder.

Pa was delighted with my purchases and went out at once to locate the new feeder in the old damson tree in the orchard. I was finishing the preparations for our dinner when the door bell rang and there was our friendly buggy man. He had ,earlier in the week bough us two tiller covers and two wing mirrors for the buggies. We had expected to pay thirty pounds just for the mirrors with the tiller covers at around ten pounds each, in fact he only charged us twenty pounds for the lot. I thought that I had heard incorrectly but no that was all he asked and I could not believe our run of luck.

Still amazed Pa and I had coffee and just as I was putting the chicken in the oven the doorbell went again. This time it was the father of one of my sons old school friends with whom we have kept in touch for years. He had a large bag of good jam jars, always welcome here as when ever you give away jars of jam you lose the jar and as we never buy jam I am always running out of jars during the preserving season. These were accepted with thanks and them he produced fro his bag a bowl containing, he told us a friendship cake all the way from Germany.

Apparently the mixture which resembles a batter is placed in a bowl and stirred regularly and feed every few days until finally the mixture is divided in to four, fruit is added to one portion and is baked, two portions are given to friends (hence the name )and the forth is kept to begin the cycle again. This came complete with instructions and I was really excited by such an unusual gift. I shall cetatinly have a go and if all goes well in about a couple of weeks I shall have some of the mixture to give away thus continuing the circle of friendship, it is a wonderful idea do don’t you think?

Some many small but lovely things have happened today and it has made us all very happy, even a long awaited parcel arrived and in the evening just as it had yesterday the sun set in a blaze of reds amd purples behind our cottage which looked for all the world like a cat curled up before the fire, and as I watched a tawny owl flew over the garden wall from the churchyard and perched in our apple tree, silently and patiently waiting for the mice to begin foraging.

Our meal was a merry one and was very much enjoyed, I had hidden a dozen grilled bacon rolls in with the chicken and vegetables and this pleased the boys very much. We continued the jokes form the morning right through the meal ad Pa and I told of our good fortune.

Such a day as this has been makes for the kind of happiness which lasts in the memory for a long time, a sunlit mile stone on the path of life and when at last I curl up in bed tonight I shall have only happy thoughts and remembrances of the kindness of others to warm my heart. That and the consciousness of being far more fortunate than I deserve.

SQUEAKY CLEAN ?

I always wonder why politicians and others in high office Set such high moral standards for the rest of us, it almost seems to be asking for trouble.

We are to be honest, truthful, thrifty and not indulge in any deviant behaviour, well that is fair enough, but how often do the very people who exhort us to behave in a particular fashion get caught out breaking the very rules they set for the rest of us.

Let us take for example the clergy and the recent scandal in the Catholic Church. Their priests prey upon the children in their flock while praying for the souls of their parents.They preach morality to the rest of us and profess abstinence themselves. This is the worst kind of hypocrisy.

Politicians exhort us to uphold family values and them we discover that these same people are either rogering their secretaries, keeping a couple of mistresses or importuning young men in public lavatories, it beggars belief.

It is demanded of us that we are honest with the Inland Revenue and the DHSS and then we discover that our political masters are cheating us all hand over fist. It is a damned disgrace.

When will these stupid people realise that before you begin laying down the law on any subject you had better be squeaky clean yourself. I am reminded of an incident at my school many years ago. During assembly we have received a lecture on the passing of notes in class, this had became a bit of a craze and the teachers wanted it stopped. Another member of staff brought up the subject of fighting in the playground and said that in future any boy caught fighting would be given a weeks detention and would be obliged to entertain their class mates with a boxing match between the protagonists.

“Well, what’s wrong with that?” I hear you ask. Nothing at all until I tell you that the very next day this same member of staff observed a male colleague passing a note to his wife, jumped to the right conclusion and began a full scale brawl with the fellow in the school dinning room, to the profound delight of every urchin in the place!

I think it shows a want of sense to issue orders which you yourself might at some time through no fault of your own be unable to comply with, after all we are only human. And if if you do break them you had better hope that you never, ever get caught in breach as it were of your own edict. Here endeth the lesson!

I changed my mind about working in the garden as there was a very chilly wind blowing through the kitchen garden. You had I had a fall a week or two ago had did some damage to my back which is still giving me a good deal of pain. In light of this I decided that discretion must be the better part ….and all that.....and stayed in my nice warm kitchen to do some baking.

Rummaging through the ingredients I set aside some crystallised apple, some dried pears and dried apricots. I chopped them finely and added them to a biscuit mixture of my own with the addition of a dash of Irish whisky and a pinch of spice. They turned out nicely but they have yet to pass the cookie test with those who will eat them and so I shall not post the recipe until I know if they are OK.

In between baking the batches of cookies I made some steak burgers for dinner, these are a favourite with my son and he seemed to need cheering up today. These were served with caramelised red onions toasted burger buns and jacket wedges and each burger was topped with a hitch slice of cheddar cheese. Just the thing for tonight and it certainly did the trick.
I am hopping to sleep a little better tonight as my new pain relief tablets have arrived, fingers crossed, goodnight all.x

"IT'S TOO DAMN QUIET CARRUTHERS."

I am willing to bet that just like “Play in again Sam.”no one actually ever said the above yet somehow it seems to sum up the atmosphere around here at the moment.
There is a feeling amongst those who live and work on the Estate that something is afoot, and I cannot help agreeing with them.

We had a visit from a friend for the Estate this afternoon who expressed a similar concern. He told me it felt like waiting for the axe to fall. I am convinced that the old jungle drums will be beating like mad before too long....we shall see.

Today has been quite and relaxed and so unlike the days before Christmas that I keep on wondering what I have forgotten to do. I baked the days loaves, did a little shopping and a little entertaining and the made a dinner of Pizza and salad. I had made the pizza base this morning while bread making so all I had to do was put on the topping and shove it in the oven, easy.

Pa says it is time I relaxed and I expect he is right and yet I always feel lost when I have nothing particular to do. On the other hand I am not the type who goes around looking for work so I suppose that makes me a bit contradictory. If tomorrow is fine I think I shall do a little work in the garden.

The raspberry canes need to be moved and the fig trees both need to be cut hard back as they make a great deal of growth each year. I have a couple of small damson trees to transplant and them there is the front garden which is in need of a bark mulch before the spring flowers begin to show through. There now I feel much better having decided that.

I used to think that I was the observant type but now I am not so sure. Yesterday Pa bough in some porridge oats ,nothing strange about that, except the legend on the box said Scott’s Porage Oats, I wonder when that happened. Perhaps it is the Scottish was of spelling porridge , it so perhaps they are getting ready for devolution! If anyone has any idea I wish they would enlighten me.

Twiggy has been enjoying the sunshine this afternoon and is now curled up on my bed fast asleep, that cat has the life of Riley, and there’s another thing, who the hell is Riley ?

BUSY NEST BOXES

Any one who believes that wild birds only use nest boxes during the breeding season would be very surprised to witness the goings on in our orchard bird boxes. Along the ivy wall we have a number of boxes ranging from robin ,wren and tit boxes to old teapots and woven nest pouches. One of the wren boxes is currently being used by a family of mice and is stuffed full of cherry stones,but both the tit boxes are used every night by so large a number of birds that it is hard to imagine just how they manage to pack themselves in. The roosting pouches likewise are occupied continuously and offer excellent shelter if suitably located.

Most surprising to me was the realisation that robins will roost in their boxes in bad weather which means that almost all of our boxes are in constant use throughout the year.
In this part of the world we have Rose Necked Parakeets living wild in quite large flocks , these birds have been the cause of controversy in recent years as there are some who consider them a pest . Speaking for myself I find them fascinating to watch as they go about their business.

They are entertaining and ours are very friendly with some birds almost tame. These birds seem to use their nest holes as winter roosts and they guard their property from interlopers with vigour. We have several nests in the orchard and quite enjoy the antics of these lovely birds. I have heard it said that they take the nest sites of both Green and Greater Spotted Woodpeckers, we have both types of bird nesting close by and my own observations suggest that this is not the case.

Both Woodpeckers and Parakeets use the feeders quite amicably and in the pecking order it is the woodpeckers who have first place. Certainly in our garden there is room for both to live without conflict. Others complain that they are noisy, for anyone who lives under the Heathrow flight path where most of the Parakeets live I would say that is nonsense. My son works night shifts and has never once complained about the noise made by these birds even though they are fed beneath his bedroom window and to have a dozen birds at a time is not unusual.

Perhaps a little live and let live is what is needed here, after all a Parakeet must live. I was once asked by an acquaintance what type of bird feeder she should purchase as she only wished to feed Blue tits, no sparrows, robins or starlings. I thought it strange that she should worry about the welfare of one species to the exclusion of all the rest, but this seems quite a common attitude.
We feed all comers here and are amazed at the diversity of species which visit us and their antics keep my disabled partner amused for hours. Squabbling Starlings are hilarious, Blackbirds stately, blue tits and other members of the Tit family are cheeky acrobats while wrens blow in and out like leaves in the wind. For us though our special bird is our Robin who has been with us for almost three years and follows us about whenever we go outside.

These amazing little creatures have a tough time surviving summer and winter alike and I am afraid that it is living in proximity with humans..us.. which can cause the trouble.
Putting up nest boxes and putting out food all the year round goes some way to redressing to balance but we have taken so much of their habitat that we came never truly compensate for the loss.

Take five minutes a day and just watch what is happening in your garden or in your local park, it is a great way to relax and it is great fun too. If you want to put bird boxes in your garden do it now so that the birds will have time to become accustomed to them before the breeding season begins. The same applies to bat boxes and bee houses, good luck.

OUT !

Today has been one of those days when there are a myriad of errands to run and all in different places. There were birthday cards to post prescriptions to collect from the chemist, repeat prescription forms to be posted to the GP, a loaf to deliver and some shopping to do.

I had been attempting to make and appointment to see my Doctor bad after several hours of getting the engaged signal both this morning and on Friday last week I decided to drop the repeat prescription forms in myself and make the appointment in person., since my Doctors practice is over a mile and a half away I was not exactly delighted at this turn of events, however needs must.

After a lovely breakfast of fresh baked blueberry muffins I wrapped up warmly, I even put a woollen rug over my knees and set off for what turned out to be an epic journey.
I decided to drop of the loaf first as the garden centre was on my way to town and almost as soon as I arrived I met a friend, and while I am very fond of her it must be said that she could talk the hind legs off a donkey. My heart sank while my face registered delight at the meeting and almost an hour later she had filled me in on every thing that had occurred to all our mutual acquaintance since I last saw her....................I still had the loaf to deliver.

I sped off as soon as I could to find the loafs recipient, I found her, she was chatting to yet another gossip of high renown and by now my heart was in my boots. She proceeded to regal us with the same parcel of gossip to which I had so recently been obliged to listen and eventually it transpired that she to had met with the first gossipy lady and was simply spreading what she had heard, with a few notable additions as is always the way with gossip!

Having at last disengaged myself from these encumbrances I set out once more determined that nothing more would divert me from my purpose, a foolish notion as less than a hundred yards further on I found a lost child in floods of tears and no sign at all of an owner. The poor little lad was sobbing his heart out, his face was streaked with dirt and tears and he was very cold. I find lost children difficult these days. I once tried to help a child who was lost in a supermarket by taking it to customer services when its irate mama snatched her away and accused my loudly of attempting to abduct her offspring. Fortunately one of the assistants had seen the whole thing and was able to vouch for my good intentions.

With no one in sight I decided to take the child to the garden centre where there were lots of people who would be able to help and perhaps even the child's parents. I sat the little chap on my knee and wrapped the rug around him to warm him a little and returned from whence I came .Outside the store entrance the boys distraught parents were arguing with a member of staff and when they saw their son they were speechless with relief, so speechless that they grabbed the child, and marched off without a word ,taking my rug with them.

The member of staff with whom they had been arguing ran after them and retrieved my rug. It seemed he told me that the couple had been choosing plants for there garden and had disagreed about which of the sale plants to purchase. The child had simply became bored and had wandered off, out of the garden centre and had almost reached the main road by the time I found him. I was glad to get my rug back as without it my knees were becoming cold and I set off once again.

This time I reached the surgery without further incident, made my appointment ( the Doctor would not be able to see me until a week on Friday, perhaps if I had rung earlier!!!!!!!!) I handed in the forms and left without losing my temper,God knoweth how!

Thence to the supermarket at which point I realised that I had c=left home without picking up and money from the communal purse. After a moment of combined panic and fury I discovered that I had just enough in my own purse to by the goods I needed. There were only a few checkouts open and the queues were enormous, it was the last straw. Because the queues were so long it made things difficult for people who simply wished to pass to another aisle and I got used to shunting the buggy backwards and forwards to accommodate such people. One couple pushed at the back of the buggy and of course IO moved out of their way whereupon they coolly pushed into the queue in front of me and that was that.

I was so angry and was about to give the pair a piece of my mind when one of the assistants arrived and opened up another till exactly where I happened to be waiting. I confined myself to a rude gesture at the queue jumpers who would, if they had not pushed in front on me been the first at the newly opened check out. Lots of people had seen the incident and chortled away in a manner which must have annoyed the couple enormously!

I arrived home very late indeed and spent the next hour playing catch up , I did not even have time to share my news and adventures with the boys until we sat down to a dunner of ham and cheese omelettes with salad, there had not been time to prepare anything else.
There was plenty of new bread and butter and so no one minded at all.

The incidents which took place today ave left me wondering what happened to good manners however I shall say no more for fear of sounding like my own mother!