Towards bed time last night Pa announced that he thought that he had the same flue which has been making my life difficult for the past week or so. He was feeling he said to grotty to take a bath and so I dosed him up with hot lemon and tucked him up in to a warm bed. Later I took him a cup of hot chocolate and he seemed about the same
I was yo early this morning as I had a huge ham to deal with, when I completed with some difficulty the metric conversion it actually turned out to weight 23.76 Lb in weight.
Cooking would be a long slow process and after a quick cup of coffee I began the marathon.
Pa looked very seedy and did his dying duck in a thunderstorm routine so that I was convinced that he did not have the flue. He did look tire though and so I told him to stay in bed and I would bring him some breakfast as soon as I had dealt with the ham.
Ye Gods it weighed so much that I could not lift it and had to ask my son to assist, we soon had it well foiled and in the oven,pheeeeeeeeeeeeew!
Scots crumpets were decoded upon for breakfast served with butter and hot strawberry jam and while I made the mixture my son laid the table for us and a tray for Pa . Pa ate four large crumpets and while he ate his breakfast in state my son and I discussed the novel he is currently writing and I must say that if it is as good as the his last which I have almost finished I cannot wait to get my hands of the proofs.
Quite prepared for Pa to spend the day in bed I was astonished when he announced that he had a hospital appointment and he better get up and make ready. Now I must admit that at this point I was just a trifle peeved! All that old soldier routine is one thing but on a busy day and for no good reason, Yes was not to put too fine a point on things pissed off!
With a special meal planned it did not seem worth the effort of giving the old so and so a piece of my mind and so I carried on as if all was well while he dressed in chirpy mood and set out for his appointment. When he had gone my son expressed the same feelings as my own and we held an indignation meeting in the kitchen over a hot drink. There are times when we all could do with a lie in but to do it in such a way and on such a day is just not on.
Getting our annoyance out of the way before Pa returned was a good idea as we did not want anything to spoil the feast.
How wonderfully the kitchen smelled all through the afternoon and as I prepared the peas, carrots potatoes and onion sauce which was to accompany the feast my mood lightened and I felt so happy to be in my lovely warm kitchen cooking such a gorgeous dinner. Testing the ham with a meat thermometer is the only way of telling accurately if such a large joint is done , it took a very long time indeed!
While we were waiting for the meat to cook we had some special callers, the young couple who married last year and the young ladies father who is a good friend too. We have not seen them for a while as they now live some distance away and as the young lady is very Ill travelling in winter causes problems. The kettle was on and the cakes were on the table in not time and I watched a slide show of my young friends first attempts at cake making. Cup cakes had been chose as the first thing to bake and the result was impressive, she had iced them to look exactly like roses and was intending to bake some for her husband on Valentines day.
She said it was a pity that they did not smell of roses and I was able to help by giving er some of the rose cordial I bought last week.,it can be difficult to find and when one is confined to a wheelchair every thing is that much more difficult.
By the time they left the meat was ready to be skinned and the sugar sprinkled on before being returned the the oven to brown and crisp
During this time I made the onion sauce,and the gravy and set the vegetables to cook.
Inner was wonderful and we all did justice to the ham, even Pa did his part and we drank pear cider with the meal for a treat.
Nothing was to be allowed to spoil our special day and nothing did, our visitors came as a lovely surprise and made the day even more special. We had nothing special to celebrate except being together and that is all the excuse we need. Tomorrow I shall deal with the rest of the ham, tonight we are all sleepy and well fed and ready for a good nights sleep.
The frost can sprinkle the ground with stars and wind blow, thank God we are safe and warm, I wish only that everyone could be as fortunate .
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