THE ROAST BEEF OF OLD ENGLAND

I was, recently lucky enough the purchase a whole brisket with the one in and complete with it'd full compliment of fat,today we all felt like a roast and so beef was decided upon.

Normally I would roast the meat slowly and serve it in the usual way with Yorkshire puddings roasted potatoes and mushy peas,but not today.

I have been feeling rather unwell of late and the amount of pain in my legs means that the less time I spend stamping about the better. With this,and with the preferences of my carnivores I decided to serve the meat in a way which would have been familiar to our medieval ancestors, tasty ,a trifle decadent and much less work.

With the main oven still out of action I heated up the halogen oven with half a pint of water and one it had reaches 185oC I added the beef rubbed with a little oil and with no foil cover at this point.

The wonderful thing about the halogen oven is that is cooks meat in a way very similar to the old method of spit roasting before an open fire,soon the smell of roasting meat was driving both the cats and ourselves to distraction.

An hour and a half later remover the meat and wrapped it in foil before replacing it in the oven along with some carrots and parsnips sliced thickly. In just over an hour the meat was cooked and was left to rest for fifteen minutes while the trenchers(inch thick slices of two day old bread) were cut and a salad of herbs added to the table.

Having poured off the most park of the dripping (fat) the remaining juices and the lovely brown goo was poured on to the trenchers and topped with thick slices of hot roast beef and a little salt.

We all enjoyed our feast and the added attraction of very few dishes to wash up after the meal added a welcome sauce to the dish.

Chocolate and cherry iced cream finished the meal which we all agreed was the best meal of the week.

On a much more serious note I should like to offer my heartfelt condolences to those caught up in last nights terrible events in Glasgow ,and to their relatives. That a group of happy people should be extinguished so suddenly make the event seem somehow even more terrible.

A COSY DAY INDOORS

While Pa was being marvelled at by the medical students at Kingston Hospital my son and I were obliged to wait indoors for the possible arrival of our new cooker,which needless to say did not turn up. It was however no punishment to be warm and snug indoors while a chilly wind blew the spiteful rain in all directions at once, until the lane was filled with dead umbrellas!

Still in the grip of some nasty side effects caused by my latest medication I rang the surgery to request a brief word with the Doctor as to weather or not I should discontinue any or all of the these troublesome pills,it is now seven in the evening, and I am still waiting.

My G.P is a dear old chap,kind and caring and hopelessly out of touch with the dragons who run his surgery.”Call me any time if you have problems with your medicines.” he said knowing that the large doses could well cause trouble,this is the third time I have had occasion to take him up on his offer and so far I have not managed to speak to him once!

My concern is that being a Friday things could get much worse before Monday when surgery opens again...no Saturday morning surgery here me old darlings...perish the thought!

On piece of terrific news is that my son's fourth novel in the “Alamo” series should be on sale by morning. Ill health,his own,mine and Pa's has held up the writing of this latest work and with Pa going into hospital next week the timing is perfect.

Sitting in the window the cat Moth has the benefit of a warm radiator, a good view of the lane and my self close enough to stroke her pretty fur now and then ,whereat upon she makes a noise similar to a tribble and closes her eyes in ecstasy,dear puss.

With so little time left before Christmas I confess to being a little concerned as my health is preventing me from carrying out many of the traditional tasks, my son,bless him tells me that as long as we have Christmas together nothing else matters at all...how right he is.

Just a nice day...

Avie had another nice day today, but is still rather worn out from her adventures yesterday - that and getting no sleep last night didn't help! She's retreated to bed early tonight, hopefully normal service to be resumed tomorrow...

A PERFECT DAY

Today was ,to me almost a dream come true and hours later I am still floating in a happy haze,and it's all thanks to my son.

He decided that we should go out for the day to put the new buggy through her paces, especially important is the accuracy of the mileage allowance and the batteries ability to deliver it. I confess that have been a little nervous about striking out on my own and possibly running out of power miles from home in cold weather.

After an early breakfast we set out for St Margaret's, a pretty suburb of Richmond on Thames,I measured my speed to my son's walking pace ans was surprised how little power had been used.

Felling more adventurous we set of for Richmond,a real treat for me as it must be at least ten years since I shopped there.

Richmond is blessed with several very good charity shops and these interesting emporium have always been popular with my son and I. Today I purchased a beautiful scarf with a silver butterfly clasp, a colourful fluffy scarf and a cast iron trivet for the wok, it was so exciting to be able to shop for bits and pieces again. I know it sounds a little pathetic but when you have been housebound for two years and then subsequently able only to get as far as the nearest supermarket,shopping in a lovely town like Richmond is a special treat.

We stopped for coffee halfway and then had a bit to eat on the way back so that I could safely take my medication. Thank heavens my son persisted in hos efforts to make me try a greater distance,because now other small and equally charming place are open to me,Twickenham,Whitton, Chiswick and Kew,my horizon is suddenly so much wider and although winter has set in all these lovely places will be there in the spring, I am so happy,so very ,very happy.

Pa treated us to a takeaway so that I| should not have to cook and so I chose pizza so that there would be no dishes to wash afterwards.

My perfect day ends with a cup of hot coffee and an early night, I am so lucky.

HAPPY DAYS

In spite of,or perhaps because of the warm fluffy floaty feeling my new medication induces,the past few days have been lovely. Yesterday I stayed awake long enough to decorate our Christmas tree,I still have the kitchen and my bedroom to do but my son's tree is done and as usual looks splendid.

Yesterday he helped me with the big tree, in fact he took over,ordering me about ,making decisions and all of them good ones. I took his instructions like a lamb,it was wonderful to have a tall fit young person to scramble about and position things on the tree too high for me to reach without climbing!

All the same I did feel a little wistful as I relinquished my crown,I have had charge of trimming the tree since I was eleven years old,back then I was a young fit person myself. Hey Ho!! Time marches on.

I managed to remain on my feet long enough to produce dinner and I did manage most of the washing up before my legs gave out and I was obliged to take the stair lift to bed.

Today I was better in the morning than I expected and I made Pikelets for breakfast shortly after which the groceries arrived. Not feeling like doing much I took the new buggy”Red Sonia”for a trip to TK MAXX. If I have any criticism of the place it is that the customer lift is too small ,I had a hair raising time getting in and out of what resembled slightly larger than average tea chest.....very dodgy indeed!

I love these quiet happy days and my only worry is that something will happen to disturb our hard won peace,with Pa's operation taking place in just under two weeks I expect things will soon be hectic again.

I still have a sore throat and it seems that this my be caused by my new medication...time will tell.

Tree Up!

Another busy day today in Avie's house, after we'd managed to get over the fun affair of the exploding oven – today was tree-up day, the day on which we put the Christmas trees up for the year – one downstairs, one upstairs. I handled the upstairs one, Avie the downstairs, and between us this joyous but strenous task took up most of the afternoon – which it why I am writing the blog tonight, as Avie wore herself out decorating a fantastic tree.

Every year seems to be better than the last; we're always adding to the decorations year on year, and some of them are decades old, lovingly brought out every Christmas, memories sparkling like jewels on the tree. It's always a pleasant task to complete, and it really feels as if Christmas is here. The day was topped off with home-made (of course) tomato soup and bread, served with a cheese platter. And so, to bed!

KA-BOOMMMMM!!!

Today the inner door on the oven exploded.

Yes, exploded.

The resulting clean-up operations took some hours, and left everyone shattered. As a result, Avie has retreated to bed...can't say I blame her!

Lots of crunchy under-feet to come in the coming days...

Son of Avie