BUSTED FLUSH

Another night such as the one I described yesterday,with the added drama which occurred at two thirty a m,when the dodgy lavatory seat finally gave up the ghost and collapsed in to several pieces.

This sudden ,but not unexpected catastrophe,for such it was caused much consternation,not only to the person seated thereon at the time,namely myself, but my poor son who was still in the grip of the gallops!

The remainder of the night was a nightmare such as I wish never to live through again. Even the poor cat was affected by the disaster for when she jumped on to the seat the reach the window the thing lurched to the right and catapulted the poor creature in to the air so that she almost ended up in the back garden and was fortunate not to have had the still worse fate of ending up in the loo!

Morning found my son groggy,myself exhausted and for once Pa was the fittest of us all as we crawled in to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

There was one pleasant thing on the horizon,the arrival of a new buggy for me ,the existing one being too small and thus very hard on my long legs. I was speechless when it arrived, it was immaculate,and so exactly right for me that it might have been made for me instead of being a second-hand one found for my by the lovely man from" Additional Aids" in Whitton, (he deserves a plug).

Knowing we could have every confidence in the salesman made all the difference, this is our third buggy from him and all have been excellent. I could not wait to try our my lovely new transport, can you guess where I went on my first trip? That’s right I went to the hardware shop and purchased a new lavatory seat.

The new buggy is marvellous, much faster than Pa's and even faster than my old one which died last August! It is a gorgeous shade of red and is very smart, M y ride cheered me up and I returned home a little reluctantly to mend the loo. Then another miracle.

My son was up and dressed and insisted upon fitting the new seat, a task I had been dreading as my hands are very painful today. It was so easy to fit ,compared to others that within minutes it was fitted...but not quite ready to go! You see,it is one of those soft close ones ans the instructions explained that in order to ensure a smooth close that tops seat should be opened and closed twenty times, followed by the same performance for the bottom seat! My son looked so funny standing there opening and closing it ,I wish I'd had the presence of mind to take some photographs.

Dinner was a very quick meal of fish and chips with mushy peas and a nice lemon dip, salad and some of the crusty bread I baked this morning the iced cream which followed cooled my poor sore throat nicely.

Now the work is done and another day is past, all that remains is for me to take a nice hot shower, clean my teeth and then sink thankfully in to my soft snug bed, and if I am lucky, I might just stay snug for more than the hour or some I managed last night!

BLACK THURSDAY

Today has been without a doubt one of the worst I can remember,it began last night and has continued unabated throughout the day. My son, exhausted from a night of chain flushing, spent the day I bed. Pa ,who was supposed to collect for me an urgently needed and long overdue prescription,faffed about so much that although he managed,eventually to collect the prescription from the surgery it was too late to have it made up at the only pharmacy in the area who carries the required drug. He compounded the felony by seeming surprised that I was upset about this. He can be such a twerp!

This means another night of agony for me!

Left alone to cope with the days chores I managed to complete the work of three people, make bread and cooked dinner during which time I only fell over twice and dropped a heavy maslin pan on my head once, so as you see I did quite well.

As I dried the last dinner plate a knock at the door cause my heart to sink, sure enough a friend, who under normal circumstances I would be glad to see ,stood smiling cheerily in the door way,I could have wept. Luckily on observing the dire state of the occupants health he curtailed his visit and practically fled off down the garden path.

What I really need is rest,my doctor says so, my consultants repeat the litany....it would be something if these geniuses could tell me how, given the circumstances I can find even a couple of hours a week to sit with my feet up.....the chance would be a fine thing.

PLAGUE!!!

The house has been infected with the dreaded 'Death Fever', and we're all laid up right now. Avie has retreated to bed, and I will be myself in a minute...hope to feel better tomorrow!

TWO DUCKS,AND WHAT I DID WITH THEM

Some time ago I was given a brace of Mallard, I tucked them in to the freezer and forgot about them,until yesterday. Needing to make room for the incoming beef I rearranged the freezer ( we have three, one of which holds the fruit and veg crop) and there they were in among the chickens, leaving them out to defrost overnight I considered,during a sleepless night what to do with them.

By morning my plans were laid and I set about dealing with the birds by first removing the breasts and then the legs. The carcasses went straight into the stock pot for five hours,by which time a wonderfully rich stock ,well reduced was ready to use.

The four legs were a little more difficult as the amount of meat is not great. Eventually I decided to make a confit by cooking them very slowly,about five hours to be exact, in fat kept a a temperature of no more than 150 oC . The pan is then removed from the heat and left to cool ,refrigerated the confit will keep for a month.

Some recipes suggest salting the duck for 24 hours and rubbing in a dry marinade, perhaps for a dinner party I might put myself to the trouble but as I will be using the meat as part of a family dinner the easy way is just fine.

The four breasts gave me quite a nice amount of meat and so I rubbed them with with Chinese five spice and roasted them for thirty minutes then sliced them and popped then in to the wok with a bag of stir fry vegetables, fresh of course and some fresh egg noodles and sugar snap peas from the freezer. Parsnip and pumpkin crisps finished the dish which was well received by the boys.

Of course I could have served then roasted with the usual trimmings but this way has given not only three meals for us but a nice big dish of cooked duck flesh, for the cats, gleaned from the bones left in the stock pot.

After that lot I am ,I confess, shattered and my throat is still very sore,yet I think I am on the mend, fingers crossed.

STILL FEELING CROOK !

What a miserable affliction a sore throat is,whenever I swallow(and I try not to) it feels as if a red hot cinder has lodged in my throat,even cold drinks hurt so although I crave a lovely hot cup of tea it is out of the question just now.

Eating is pure torment unless it is either iced cream of cold jelly, the hot steak sandwich my soul craves is a definite no-no! Coming at this time of year this nasty ailment would be trouble but with the extra worry of Pa's operation which could literally be at any time,should there be a cancellation.

Tomorrow Pa is to have an MRI scan,since none of the usual prosthetics is suitable for him a special one will have to be made,we have been told that the bad state of the bone has made this necessary.

I how I want to be in my kitchen doing the Christmas baking...............the spirit is raring to go,the flesh however is not and so I must cool my heels and wait,not a thing I do well!”

One thing which pleases me very much is thanks to the recommendation of a friend we have discovered a butcher,not too far away Chiswick to be precise, who can and will supply us with a whole brisket on the bone,a rare delicacy these days I assure you.

This piece of meat weighs over eight kilos and will have to be cut in to joints, this will,in my absence be supervised by my son. You see modern butchers,particularly those in the South of England have become used, at the insistence of their customers ,to removing all the fat from the meat and then boning it out. Rolled into neat joints it is fit only for pot roasting and while this will provide a good meal it does not have the amazing flavour of old English roast beef that it has if left unmolested.

The fat,or dripping at it is called is wonderful for frying and for roasting potatoes it knows no peer,duck and goose fat is just a cheffy craze,as I said,just try getting your hands on decent beef fat these days!

The identical moment that I am released from the grip of this pestiferous plague I shall roast a large piece of this beef,very,very slowly and then I shall make for myself a hot beef sandwich,lightly salted.....................wonderful. This cut of meat is,if cooked with respect the tastiest cut you can buy,and think of this I recently purchased a 1 kilo joint of fore rib of beef for Pa' birthday dinner at a cost of £42.00, my 8 kilo joint will cost around £60.00 and will taste so much better.

Now there's a reason to be cheerful.

The Plague Is Upon Us!

I fear that Mum has managed to catch a dose of the flu, and after much arguing has finally agreed to turn in early and get some rest. Hopefully, normal service to be resumed tomorrow....

THE FIRST OF THE FLU

Just a couple of days after having my flu vaccination I seem to have contracted some form of the dreaded virus. Symptoms include a blazing sore throat and a feeling of being intensely cold. I have spent the day feeling thoroughly miserable and disinclined for any kind of labour,writing is now virtually impossible as I keep falling asleep at the keyboard!

I can only hope that Pa, who had his flu jab a couple of weeks before I had mine avoids this nasty affliction,he could be called to hospital at any time, they have said that if there is a cancellation the place will be his; we must keep him fit at all hazard.

The boys are washing up for me and I have been told to take a shower, they are such good boys.

It may be a few days before I write again,so that will be a nice rest for you poor sufferers of my constant waffling. I wish you a happy healthy week end, but should you too be afflicted with ill health I wish you a warm bed and a kind nurse. Bye for now.