One of you (no names, no pack-drill) commented to John (over lunch at some pub, I must mention, just for the two of them) that, according to this Blog, all we seem to do is eat out and / or drink cocktails. I therefore give you my typical diet from Monday to Thursday: breakfast is porridge (made by pouring boiling water over oats) with chopped apple and a spoonful of yogurt and of turmeric. Lunch is more yoghurt, mixed fruits (whatever we have) and nuts and seeds. Dinner is salad with smoked mackerel or salmon. If I detailed this every time you’d be pretty bored pretty quickly.
Using ‘no names no pack-drill’ made me think about the saying we use so I looked it up. Essentially, no-one gets into trouble. Just as well, the way this Post is going to go.
Anyone else watching the Olympics in Milano-Cortina? The opening ceremony was as spectacular (odd) as usual. Here you can see three famous Italian composers disco-dancing: Verdi on the right, Rossini on the left and Puccini in the middle (I think). A much better atmosphere than four years ago, when Beijing hosted and crowds were not allowed. Remember those times?
I just love the sheer otherness of the Winter Olympics. It’s as though, in a former life, we were birds and are trying to get back there. Throwing yourself off a 40-foot icy slope and seeing how far you can fly. And, in some cases, whilst performing circus tricks. Sliding on a tea tray headfirst (skeleton) or toes first (luge) down a specially made ice slide of roughly 500 feet at up to 90 miles an hour. Balletic or gymnastic moves while gliding backwards over the ice. Throwing stones along the ice to hit a target. I love it all. The most amazing thing is how Team GB seem to specialise in coming fourth. I cannot decide if it’s just the British way of ‘don’t like to brag, old chap’ or the jitters when facing the final challenge. I must see if there are any statistics, I bet someone out there has crunched the numbers. I would like to say nothing dangerous happens here, but here’s an old shot of JD trimming the apple tree in 2023.
On the subject of self-sufficiency, here are two melons we grew in my greenhouse last year. You can’t tell how big they are from the photo: just a tad bigger than golf balls, but an amazing aroma spread through the house and the taste was exquisite.
As it was probably going to be our last Christmas in Farncombe (more on that another time), a number of the family decided that they had to come and celebrate. All well and good. I ordered some Christmas crackers and other presents from the internet in mid-November. As we were in London that week, I ordered next day delivery, only to receive an email the next day saying that service was not available in that area. Not a major problem, we were planning to be in London the following week so plenty of time before Christmas. Two weeks later, now into December, they email me to say that they notice I’ve ordered ‘an age restricted item’ and need to provide proof of age. Not, as you might initially think, alcohol or cigarettes or similar, but the Christmas crackers. I send a copy of my driving licence and sit back. Five days later they say it has left the warehouse and will be delivered: I note that, for unknown reasons, they have changed the address to my Somerset home. That’s OK, I’m no longer planning to be in London. The delivery company say they could not deliver (no reason given) on Friday then Saturday. The same happens the following week, now only one week before Christmas, with the added excitement of a photograph of some random hill, not a building in sight, which is where they ‘tried’ to deliver. I lose patience and call the company I ordered from (being unable to contact the delivery company, who are very busy). The very cheerful chap I spoke with told me the hill is actually three miles from my address and we agreed (as it was now 19th December) to cancel my order. Do we really need Christmas crackers? Yes was the answer from JD, so I arranged a ‘click and collect’: I clicked and a pal collected for me, without being asked for proof of age. I’m not doing that again.
I do enjoy advent calendars and was thrilled to receive a ‘bibliophile’ one from G and Y and one with chocolates from JD, to go with the two I’d ordered (not from the above company: I thoroughly recommend Sous Chef for efficiency and choice). JD bought and decorated the tree and cake so we were ready to go. I really must get back into making Christmas cakes again; it’s in the diary this year so I can’t forget. I did make some crab-apple liqueur, mainly because I was given some crab-apples. If anyone gives me dried fruit and suet as a hint for making Christmas cakes and puddings, it might be appreciated.
The contingent arrived late on 23rd so we didn’t eat until after nine and had a late night. On Christmas Eve, we all woke late as a consequence. During breakfast, at about eleven, we decided to go to Wincanton Races on Boxing Day, something we’ve not done for many years. Despite the late decision, we managed to buy tickets, although not in the seated area. The gates opened at 1030 with the first race at 1253 (very precise).
The family then decided to go to Glastonbury, meeting JD afterwards to go round Stourhead for a Christmas Eve Walk. Having looked up closing times (1500) that obviously wasn’t going to work so they arranged to meet at Glastonbury Abbey. That closed at 1515 and they made it by the skin of their teeth (1514!). I prepared all the vegetables in the hope that it might speed up Christmas Day cooking. All were home by seven pm so then we could start cooking supper. I also insisted we watch the best Christmas film ever, IMHO. I couldn’t find the DVD player so decided I must have donated it to a charity shop when I was doing one of my periodic whirlwind clearances. This week, I found it! Anyone want a slightly-used DVD player?
Another late night, made later by not all presents being wrapped. On Christmas Day itself the decision had been breakfast at 1000 then Presents then Lunch. Goose as always. By ten, no one had surfaced in the kitchen, despite the smoke alarm going off when someone had a long shower (why a smoke alarm was put into a bathroom we do not know). Breakfast once again about eleven, then we discovered that more presents needed wrapping. Those who were a bit more organised (or hadn’t bought so much) cleared the table, washed the dishes, checked the cooking, etc etc.
Finally, all the presents were wrapped and labelled, shortly after one o’clock, so we proceeded to unwrap them. We stopped opening, once for some to take a walk in the sunshine to admire the view, and periodically for cooking. Unwrapping took about four hours in total. (When everyone had left we discovered a cache of presents for us that had been overlooked).
One of the presents was a book on Wimborne Minster (the building not the town), a big hint of things to come. Others included a mystery object: shiny silver thread with a long strap but no base so not a phone holder. Any ideas? The photo below gives it away.
A holder for a glass when I’m out and about with my Rollator. I’ve not yet used it in action but I’ll try to get a shot when I do.
Did we make it to the races in time to actually see any action? Read on to find out. We left late (needless to say) and joined a slow-moving queue quite a distance from the entrance. Definitely missed the first race.
We didn’t have many cocktails over the festive period but one day I did make the tongue-tying Christmopolitan, based on the classic Cosmo with the addition of amaretto. We all decided we prefer the classic version.
And yes, we not only got to the races in time, but as a team, came home with a little money in our pockets!
George and John's boating trip no longer 