Today I have been hauling logs about like some sort of serf. A serf with a wheelbarrow and a bad attitude. If I had had a mud-brown sackcloth tunic on, I would have looked like a woodcut from the Fourteenth Century. Terry Jones would have used my picture in one of his historical programmes, with some hilarious animations to make my head fall off.
Why? Well, I'll tell you.
A few weeks ago we had the apple tree in the back garden pruned. It has been reduced by about a third, maybe more, to try and encourage it to grow more healthily. I hope it works. The pruning meant that a huge heap of branches were left on the lawn, much to the interest of the birds. Today was the day we dealt with them. I loaded up the wheelbarrow and dragged the larger logs to the woodshed*, grumbling fluently the whole time.
Mr WithaY, meanwhile, was manning the chipper. This is not, as the name suggests, a machine for turning potatoes into delicious hot chips, to be sprinkled with salt and vinegar. No. It is a frankly terrifying machine that you feed with sticks and it spits the resultant woodchips into a suitable container. It's more of a monster that needs appeasement than a garden tool.
You feed it with sticks which the machine grabs, sucking them into the whirling Blade of Doom. It spits chunks back out of the top at high speed, aiming for your eyes. If it decides to keep all of the stick in the grinding, roaring innards, it jams bits of them in the workings, forcing the user to poke at them with other sticks until they too are minced up.
It's all very unsatisfactory and alarming. If the whirling, chopping blade grabs the branch while you're still holding onto it, it whips it about in your hand, which is painful and scary. I was harbouring fears of being sucked in and shredded. Not that I'd fit, of course, but it wasn't an entirely rational fear. It was like feeding the maelstrom. With sticks.
Also, given Mr WithaY's track record, I was yipping with alarm every time he poked the machinery with the Poking Stick. No wonder I was relegated to the lowly Serf With Wheelbarrow position.
Other news: Friday night we were in the pub, chatting to some mates about films we've watched recently. Mr WithaY and I were talking about "In Bruges", which we watched before Christmas and thoroughly enjoyed.
"Oh, I saw that!" said a friend. She went on to tell us that when she watched it she was struck by the incredible versatility of the lead actor, especially his convincing Irish accent. She said it was some considerable time before she realised that Colin Farrell was the man in question, not, as she had at first thought, Will Ferrell.
"I saw him in "Elf" the night before, and was amazed how different he looked!" she told us. Bless.
Also, we have bought some more fish. Ten little neon tetra, which just light up the tank beautifully. No more fatalities since the hideous outbreak of shrimp-eating, which is encouraging. The fish shop we go to also has a garden centre with lots of statuary on sale. I was most taken by a giant Chinese stylee stone lion. I have no idea how much it is** but I already know where I will put it if I do ever buy it.
Maybe later in the year, when things are more organised out there.
*Where I didn't see Something Nasty, thankfully
**I'm guessing A Lot
Showing posts with label fish. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fish. Show all posts
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Sunday, 31 January 2010
Upturn
I had a lovely, lovely day yesterday. Which, frankly, I feel like I deserved after more than 6 weeks of a chest infection with added norovirus* which was making me feel like I was 100 years old and well past my sell-by date. I still sound like I have a cold, apparently, and can't sing yet, which is a bugger, but otherwise I feel ok. Hurrah.
So. Birthday.
Mr WithaY woke me early as he was off out for the morning, and presented me with some lovely gifts. He got me a book of unpublished letters to the Telegraph, and a collection of Punch cartoons. I used to buy Punch regularly when I was a student, and made a scrapbook of my favourite cartoons. I wish I'd kept it. I found a postcard of one of them recently, a group of men and one woman sat round a conference table, with the chairman saying "That's an excellent suggestion, Miss Triggs. Perhaps one of the men would like to make it." I can remember going to meetings like that when I started working, hundreds of years ago in the 80s.
He also got me some very posh toiletries which I look forward to trying out. I shall smell all sophisticated and grown-up. Marvellous.
I spent much of the morning baking, as we had arranged to have some mates round for dinner in the evening.
I made:
A treacle tart with lemon pastry, which worked well. I just sieved a tablespoon of icing sugar into the flour/fat mixture and used fresh lemon juice instead of ice water to mix it up. I'd have taken a picture, but we ate it all last night. And jolly good it was too.
A quiche with all the leftover cheese lurking in the fridge. Well, it's more of a cheese tart, really, although I sliced a fresh tomato on the top to try and assuage the vegetable gods.
A cake. Last weekend's cake was so nice that I thought I'd try to do it again. Less celery, more sugar stars this time though.
Mr WithaY came home mid-afternoon and prepared the main course of fillet of venison with duchesse potatoes and veg, which was jolly fine. It was a very nice evening, and as the last dinner party we had ended for me at 9.30 when I went to bed feeling like death on a stick, it was particularly enjoyable.
I had three bouquets of flowers yesterday. THREE. I felt like a film star.
*The doctor diagnosed me over the phone. Clearly he didn't want me and my filthy vomit-making germs anywhere near him. A wise man.
**watching CSI. It looks pretty straighforward.
So. Birthday.
Mr WithaY woke me early as he was off out for the morning, and presented me with some lovely gifts. He got me a book of unpublished letters to the Telegraph, and a collection of Punch cartoons. I used to buy Punch regularly when I was a student, and made a scrapbook of my favourite cartoons. I wish I'd kept it. I found a postcard of one of them recently, a group of men and one woman sat round a conference table, with the chairman saying "That's an excellent suggestion, Miss Triggs. Perhaps one of the men would like to make it." I can remember going to meetings like that when I started working, hundreds of years ago in the 80s.
He also got me some very posh toiletries which I look forward to trying out. I shall smell all sophisticated and grown-up. Marvellous.
I spent much of the morning baking, as we had arranged to have some mates round for dinner in the evening.
I made:
A treacle tart with lemon pastry, which worked well. I just sieved a tablespoon of icing sugar into the flour/fat mixture and used fresh lemon juice instead of ice water to mix it up. I'd have taken a picture, but we ate it all last night. And jolly good it was too.
A quiche with all the leftover cheese lurking in the fridge. Well, it's more of a cheese tart, really, although I sliced a fresh tomato on the top to try and assuage the vegetable gods.
A cake. Last weekend's cake was so nice that I thought I'd try to do it again. Less celery, more sugar stars this time though.
It's slightly less tidy than the one I made last week, but as it's rather lovely home-made strawberry jam oozing out, I don't feel too bad about it.
I had three bouquets of flowers yesterday. THREE. I felt like a film star.
These are from my lovely Mum, and are on the sitting room table. Those tulips are magnificent.
These are from Mr WithaY and are on the kitchen table. The jonquils smell like Spring.
These are from some of our lovely mates and are on the little table next to the sofa in the sitting room. The photo doesn't do the dark purple flowers justice. I have no idea what they are. Anemones maybe?
I love having flowers in the house. I think I might have birthdays more often. But without getting older, of course.
Other news: While I was leaving father-in-law WithaY's nursing home the other evening, there was a truly splendid sunset going on. I took some pictures on my phone, as I didn't have my camera with me. I ought to keep it in my bag, really.
That dark shape to the lower right is the same urn I took a picture of the frosted cobweb on. In case you're not keeping track.
I completed my first "proper" week back at work for many weeks, and it was ok. The journey feels like a marathon, but I am sure I'll soon get back into the swing of it, and of course the days are getting longer so there'll be more daylight as the weeks go on. That helps. Leaving the house at 6.30am is much more bearable when the sun is up and the birds are singing. Birds that aren't bloody owls, I mean.
The walks between Waterloo and the office were not as exhausting as I had been anticipating, and the exercise is certainly good for me. Maybe all those supplements I'm taking are kicking in. I certainly feel much more like myself than I have done for a long time.
Oh, we have had some fish fatalities. One of the female gourami was floating upside-down and twitching last Sunday. We left her there for a little while, and she stopped twitching, but the upside-down floating continued. Flushed, I'm afraid.
There was an outbreak of fish-eat-fish yesterday too, nasty little buggers. Mr WithaY bought a few more shrimps, stripy blue and white ones this time, as the pink ones had all vanished. As soon as the new shrimp were put in the tank, the pink ones emerged from wherever they had been lurking. Bastards.
Anyhoo, I saw one of the new shrimp lying on one of the plant leaves, unmoving. As I watched, he fell off and drifted down to the bottom of the tank, upside-down. I'm no expert, but I was pretty sure he wasn't feeling well. I made a mental note to tell Mr WithaY when he got home, and thought no more of it. A couple of hours later, we went to check the situation. The shrimp had vanished, and the cory were looking suspiciously innocent.
Later that same day, I spotted a couple of the tetra fighting over a lump of Something Pink. It was a bit of one of the pink shrimp. We looked, and sure enough, there was a little corpse at the back of the tank. Mr WithaY fished it out and conducted an autopsy.
We can confirm that the cause of death was not a gunshot wound, other than that, no idea. We had no luck gathering epithelials. I understand from my extensive research** that they are useful in an investigation.
We're feeding them less, as the fish shop man advised, but I am a bit anxious that they'll just start eating each other. Gah.
Oh, and we still haven't had our oil delivery. Bloody useless Boilerjuice. We'll not be using them again. Over 2 weeks since we ordered it, and no sign. Fuckers. And we had snow again yesterday and this morning.
*The doctor diagnosed me over the phone. Clearly he didn't want me and my filthy vomit-making germs anywhere near him. A wise man.
**watching CSI. It looks pretty straighforward.
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Bonanza!
Today you get a photo bonanza*. It's a rather eclectic mixture, as I haven't uploaded stuff from my camera for a while. Lucky old you, eh?
In chronological order we have:
1) The festive decorations outside the garden supply and aquatic shop. The deer are there all year round, Santa is a seasonal addition. I think the red noses are also seasonal, but to be honest I am not sure now I look at it again.
The knife in question:
Cold turkey for supper, I think.
*Sorry, no cowboys though.
**I mean half the population also have cold turkey in their kitchen, not that half the population of the UK is IN our kitchen. That would be inconvenient. We'd run out of chairs after 8 of them arrived.
***No you won't.
****15 if you're a bloke.
In chronological order we have:
1) The festive decorations outside the garden supply and aquatic shop. The deer are there all year round, Santa is a seasonal addition. I think the red noses are also seasonal, but to be honest I am not sure now I look at it again.
2) A seemingly innocent diorama spotted in the window of a charming dolls house shop in Chichester. I did a double-take, then sneaked a photo. Whoever dressed the window is a genius.
Yes, she is wearing a basque and stockings. And, as Mr WithaY pointed out, her nipples are very realistically painted. Sorry about the flash bounce but you get the idea. I think everyone ought to go and buy miniature furniture and whatnot from the shop by way of applause.
3) Some rather impressive icebound cobwebs on a garden ornament at Father-in-law WithaY's nursing home. It was on the day of the Terrifying Ice. At least it was pretty.
I did a close-up as well, it was so beautiful.
Like Narnia. But in Wiltshire.
4) Fish! We have more fish in our tank. Today we went and got some freshwater shrimp, which move at the speed of light around the tank; all the other fish are shit scared of them, it seems. They will eat algae and help keep the tank clean. We got five of those, they are very pretty, and, despite being fish, very appealing.
We also got five Leopard Cory, which zip about like mad things, often crashing into the shrimp. They also eat algae, so we will have the cleanest tank in the world, with any luck.
Just in case we don't, though, we got a glass cleaner thingy which is powered by MAGNETS. I feel like a super-villain now.
I took more, but Mr WithaY has banned me from using the flash so they were all blurry and shite. Sorry.
5) Readers of a nervous disposition may wish to look away at this point.
As I have mentioned previously, we have the remains of a large roast turkey in our kitchen, along with half the population of the UK**, I imagine. Look:
Mmm, leftovers.
I decided to make a curry (using the Malasian curry mixes sent by Middle Sis), duly donned an apron, picked up the carving knife, and set to with gusto.
Too much gusto.
See that single slice through the leg joint at the top of the picture there? If you look closely you will see*** that there is a finger-shaped gap in the underside of it.
I literally made the first incision, the knife slipped and I made a huge deep cut in my left hand index finger. Fuck me it bled. There was blood on the floor, on the butchers block where the turkey sat, on the edge of the turkey plate, on the knife, on my slippers, in the sink. None on the turkey, though.
I ran to the sink, put my hand under the cold tap, and shrieked for Mr WithaY. He was cleaning the fishtank gravel so had to stop that, dry off and then run into the kitchen to see what was going on. His first question was "What have you done?" I thought it was fairly obvious, what with the huge fuck-off knife and all the blood, but no.
It's about 10 inches long**** and razor sharp. Given my track record, I am lucky I didn't manage to stab myself in the head with it, I suppose.
Mr WithaY was initially very sympathetic, but has more recently taken to waggling his stump at me and making "But did I tell you about this?" noises at me if I whinge that my finger hurts.
So. No curry making. I sat on the sofa and watched the original version of "Miracle on 34th Street" instead. Much nicer.
Cold turkey for supper, I think.
*Sorry, no cowboys though.
**I mean half the population also have cold turkey in their kitchen, not that half the population of the UK is IN our kitchen. That would be inconvenient. We'd run out of chairs after 8 of them arrived.
***No you won't.
****15 if you're a bloke.
Saturday, 26 December 2009
Compliments of the season
Hello! Season's Greetings and all that jazz. Hope everyone is having a pleasant time.
We've been having a very quiet Christmas here, which has been (and continues to be) lovely. My hideous racking cough has diminished, although every now and again it creeps up on me, leaving me wheezing, teary-eyed and panicky. Mr WithaY has gone down with a merry festive head cold and has spent much of the Christmas period so far on the sofa with a box of tissues and the remote control to hand.
No relenting on the Christmas tree thing, and to be honest, I've not missed having one. When we were getting all the boxes of decorations out of the loft it felt like only a few weeks since we put the things up there, so maybe a year off will make us appreciate them more next time.
The fabulous free-range turkey was cooked to perfection, along with half a pig's worth of chipolatas, stuffing and bacon. We managed to get through about 1/50th of it at lunch yesterday, so I can see a few curries in our future. Fortuitously, Middle Sis and family have sent us some very interesting looking Malasian curry mixes, so we can try them out.
This is the first Christmas I think I can remember where neither of us got books as gifts. In years gone by, I would get the new Terry Pratchett, and then spend Boxing Day reading it, but over the last couple of years I have been very impatient and bought them when they come out, rather than waiting a couple of months till Christmas.
We did, however, get lots of DVDs, so we have spent the last few days sitting on the comfy sofas watching them. Oh, and chocolate, which was handy whilst watching the DVDs. The new Star Trek is still excellent, and I still want to run away and join Starfleet.
It's thawed out now. Tuesday and Wednesday were terrifying. Coming back from a neighbour's house at about 11.30 at night, everything was covered in thick sheets of ice. It looked as though a hose had been turned on over everything, and then allowed to freeze solid.
Walking home was the most scary thing I have done for many years. I walked along on the grass where I could, clinging to fences and gates all the way, but I had to strike out across the roads a couple of times, and it was really just luck that I didn't end up face down on the ice. One of our friends was less fortunate and took a slip and tumble on the way to the party, giving herself some very nasty bruises in the process.
Anyhoo, Mr WithaY was helpful, offering me his arm (which I refused on the grounds that if I was going down I would only take him with me. Such a hero, me) and some sage advice on how to walk on ice. You have to "straddle, and walk crabwise" apparently. At one point I was in the middle of the road, feet slipping wildly, not making any forward progress, when a car turned the corner and headed towards me. I stayed where I was, unable to get out of the way, convinced I was either about to break my nose/head/arms on the ice, that or get run over. The car slid to a stop, and the driver very kindly waited till I had got myself off the road before continuing slowly on his way.
We went to see Father-in-law WithaY and the roads were like ice rinks, even in the Landrover we were sliding about. But everything is thawed out now, thankfully.
Other news: We have fish in the aquarium! Some little glowlight tetras, which are small and pretty, and very entertaining to watch. We started off with eight, but one of them didn't make it, and had to be scooped. The remaining seven are settling in, chasing each other all over the tank, sometimes swimming in a shoal, sometimes all off in different directions. They seem to like the pipe where the water comes out of the pump/filter thingy, and queue up to take turns at being pushed away by the flow.
I like it when they all gather in the corner of the tank and watch the TV. You can almost hear them: "Ooh, CSI! I haven't seen this one."
Tomorrow we are going to get some more fish, which hopefully will survive the trip home. I think barbs are next on the list, but we will take advice from the nice young man at the aquarium supply shop. Mr WithaY did the science stuff today, testing the pH and so on, and everything was ok for a new tank. The plants are doing well, so we are taking that as a good sign.
It's all very pleasing, watching the fish. And good for the blood pressure, apparently. Just as well after three days of TV-watching and chocolate-eating, really. Aaah Christmas.
We've been having a very quiet Christmas here, which has been (and continues to be) lovely. My hideous racking cough has diminished, although every now and again it creeps up on me, leaving me wheezing, teary-eyed and panicky. Mr WithaY has gone down with a merry festive head cold and has spent much of the Christmas period so far on the sofa with a box of tissues and the remote control to hand.
No relenting on the Christmas tree thing, and to be honest, I've not missed having one. When we were getting all the boxes of decorations out of the loft it felt like only a few weeks since we put the things up there, so maybe a year off will make us appreciate them more next time.
The fabulous free-range turkey was cooked to perfection, along with half a pig's worth of chipolatas, stuffing and bacon. We managed to get through about 1/50th of it at lunch yesterday, so I can see a few curries in our future. Fortuitously, Middle Sis and family have sent us some very interesting looking Malasian curry mixes, so we can try them out.
This is the first Christmas I think I can remember where neither of us got books as gifts. In years gone by, I would get the new Terry Pratchett, and then spend Boxing Day reading it, but over the last couple of years I have been very impatient and bought them when they come out, rather than waiting a couple of months till Christmas.
We did, however, get lots of DVDs, so we have spent the last few days sitting on the comfy sofas watching them. Oh, and chocolate, which was handy whilst watching the DVDs. The new Star Trek is still excellent, and I still want to run away and join Starfleet.
It's thawed out now. Tuesday and Wednesday were terrifying. Coming back from a neighbour's house at about 11.30 at night, everything was covered in thick sheets of ice. It looked as though a hose had been turned on over everything, and then allowed to freeze solid.
Walking home was the most scary thing I have done for many years. I walked along on the grass where I could, clinging to fences and gates all the way, but I had to strike out across the roads a couple of times, and it was really just luck that I didn't end up face down on the ice. One of our friends was less fortunate and took a slip and tumble on the way to the party, giving herself some very nasty bruises in the process.
Anyhoo, Mr WithaY was helpful, offering me his arm (which I refused on the grounds that if I was going down I would only take him with me. Such a hero, me) and some sage advice on how to walk on ice. You have to "straddle, and walk crabwise" apparently. At one point I was in the middle of the road, feet slipping wildly, not making any forward progress, when a car turned the corner and headed towards me. I stayed where I was, unable to get out of the way, convinced I was either about to break my nose/head/arms on the ice, that or get run over. The car slid to a stop, and the driver very kindly waited till I had got myself off the road before continuing slowly on his way.
We went to see Father-in-law WithaY and the roads were like ice rinks, even in the Landrover we were sliding about. But everything is thawed out now, thankfully.
Other news: We have fish in the aquarium! Some little glowlight tetras, which are small and pretty, and very entertaining to watch. We started off with eight, but one of them didn't make it, and had to be scooped. The remaining seven are settling in, chasing each other all over the tank, sometimes swimming in a shoal, sometimes all off in different directions. They seem to like the pipe where the water comes out of the pump/filter thingy, and queue up to take turns at being pushed away by the flow.
I like it when they all gather in the corner of the tank and watch the TV. You can almost hear them: "Ooh, CSI! I haven't seen this one."
Tomorrow we are going to get some more fish, which hopefully will survive the trip home. I think barbs are next on the list, but we will take advice from the nice young man at the aquarium supply shop. Mr WithaY did the science stuff today, testing the pH and so on, and everything was ok for a new tank. The plants are doing well, so we are taking that as a good sign.
It's all very pleasing, watching the fish. And good for the blood pressure, apparently. Just as well after three days of TV-watching and chocolate-eating, really. Aaah Christmas.
Saturday, 19 December 2009
Fish!
It's been a busy day today. I am feeling much better, despite coughing till my eyes fall out several times an hour, and to celebrate we shifted furniture about for a while. Well, I say "we". In fact, Mr WithaY did it and I flapped about behind him with a duster.
Oh, reader, the filth! The FILTH. We live in disgusting slatternly surroundings, despite the best efforts of the Staff.
Why are we moving furniture? You may well ask.
Is it because we are playing some large-scale Chinese puzzle game with the entire house?
Is it so we can get into those really tricky corners for a good hard clean?
Is it so we can finally measure the exact internal dimensions of the sitting room?
No.
We are getting an aquarium.
It is our Christmas present to ourselves, and we are very excited about it. It will be a tropical freshwater tank; we plan to get lots of small shoaling fish, hopefully ones which will flit about appealingly and not try to kill each other. We had a place for it all planned out, till Mr WithaY read one of his new "How Not To Kill All Your Tropical Freshwater Fish Instantly" books, and we learned that the place we had planned to put the tank was almost exactly wrong.
We readjusted our thinking and decided on the diametrically opposite corner of the room, hence the need to move furniture. Oh, and now there's nowhere to put the Christmas tree*. Bugger.
We collect the tank on Sunday, get it set up, and a week after that we can introduce the fish.
"Fish, tank. Tank, fish."
Other news: We listened to the last hour or so of the last ever Terry Wogan breakfast show this morning, and I had a little tear in my eye at the end of it. Yes, I know. But he has been a part of my life as long as I can remember, usually in the background to the early morning getting ready for school/college/work panic, and I will miss that. Not that I listened much of late, either being on the train and unable to, or in my office at home with Planet Rock on, but hey, it's the thought that counts.
Oh, also: I saw this, and I agree. It is a tricky ethical area.
*We're really late with everything this year. If we carry on at this rate, it will be about February before we get the tree up, and August before the mulled wine and sausage rolls make an appearance.
Oh, reader, the filth! The FILTH. We live in disgusting slatternly surroundings, despite the best efforts of the Staff.
Why are we moving furniture? You may well ask.
Is it because we are playing some large-scale Chinese puzzle game with the entire house?
Is it so we can get into those really tricky corners for a good hard clean?
Is it so we can finally measure the exact internal dimensions of the sitting room?
No.
We are getting an aquarium.
It is our Christmas present to ourselves, and we are very excited about it. It will be a tropical freshwater tank; we plan to get lots of small shoaling fish, hopefully ones which will flit about appealingly and not try to kill each other. We had a place for it all planned out, till Mr WithaY read one of his new "How Not To Kill All Your Tropical Freshwater Fish Instantly" books, and we learned that the place we had planned to put the tank was almost exactly wrong.
We readjusted our thinking and decided on the diametrically opposite corner of the room, hence the need to move furniture. Oh, and now there's nowhere to put the Christmas tree*. Bugger.
We collect the tank on Sunday, get it set up, and a week after that we can introduce the fish.
"Fish, tank. Tank, fish."
Other news: We listened to the last hour or so of the last ever Terry Wogan breakfast show this morning, and I had a little tear in my eye at the end of it. Yes, I know. But he has been a part of my life as long as I can remember, usually in the background to the early morning getting ready for school/college/work panic, and I will miss that. Not that I listened much of late, either being on the train and unable to, or in my office at home with Planet Rock on, but hey, it's the thought that counts.
Oh, also: I saw this, and I agree. It is a tricky ethical area.
*We're really late with everything this year. If we carry on at this rate, it will be about February before we get the tree up, and August before the mulled wine and sausage rolls make an appearance.
Sunday, 30 September 2007
Bones
So, apart from the horrors of the rugby, what else is new? Not a lot really. Cooked a damn fine roast dinner today, without burning myself, the food or the house down, which is encouraging.
Still got a cough, and have decided that I will go and see the doc if I still have it by the end of the week. It feels like there's something stuck in my throat, and I recollected that we had some superb mackerel* the other night. Maybe I have a little fish bone lodged in there somewhere.
Just like the Queen Mum, me.
Maybe the doc will deploy a flunky with a long pair of golden tongs to hoik it out.
The week ahead is looming menacingly. Sunday nights still feel like "back to school" nights, even though it's about 25 years since I was at school. Still, thanks to the mammoth ironing session yesterday (whilst watching the rugby, gah, fucking hell what a disaster) I have lots to wear.
So. Dull post, sorry. Still, on the bright side, it was short.
*line caught by Mr WithaY, no dolphins were harmed in the making of this meal
Still got a cough, and have decided that I will go and see the doc if I still have it by the end of the week. It feels like there's something stuck in my throat, and I recollected that we had some superb mackerel* the other night. Maybe I have a little fish bone lodged in there somewhere.
Just like the Queen Mum, me.
Maybe the doc will deploy a flunky with a long pair of golden tongs to hoik it out.
The week ahead is looming menacingly. Sunday nights still feel like "back to school" nights, even though it's about 25 years since I was at school. Still, thanks to the mammoth ironing session yesterday (whilst watching the rugby, gah, fucking hell what a disaster) I have lots to wear.
So. Dull post, sorry. Still, on the bright side, it was short.
*line caught by Mr WithaY, no dolphins were harmed in the making of this meal
Sunday, 17 June 2007
Greed
Have had a quiet day today, as am a bit tired and fragile after last night. We had a very pleasant evening with some lovely mates from the village coming over for supper. It wasn't an especially late night but I didn't sleep well, so feel a bit hungover today.
Nothing to do with all the booze, obviously.
I made profiteroles. And, though I say so myself, they were bloody marvellous. In fact, the whole meal was pretty great. Mr WithaY utilised the stinky gift fish to make a superb chowder as a starter, then we had sea bass with salad, then the glorious profiteroles, then a ton of cheese with port.
What greedy pigs we are.
Other than that, I have been catching up on domestic stuff. The spare room is now back to habitability, and looks marvellous.
It was deeply satisfying, if a bit sad, restocking the book case, and ordering all the books by author, ranking them by size and genre as well.
Yes, I know.
But if anyone asks me now where to find one of my PJ O'Rourke books I can tell them precisely. On the "modern" shelf, in the "amusing" section. Between Tony Hawks and Bill Bryson.
We watched "Minority Report" on DVD this evening. I'd forgotten what a good film it is. It even made me forget how annoying Tom Cruise is.
I found a bit of a bargain at the supermarket - a triple DVD for six quid, containing "Minority Report", I Robot" and "Independence Day". All amusing enough for Sunday afternoons in, I think.
Other news: Am a bit stressed about a big presentation I have to give tomorrow...found out on Friday that my boss' boss will be there as well. No pressure.
Ah well. If they sack me for being shite I have more time to read other peoples' blogs.
Nothing to do with all the booze, obviously.
I made profiteroles. And, though I say so myself, they were bloody marvellous. In fact, the whole meal was pretty great. Mr WithaY utilised the stinky gift fish to make a superb chowder as a starter, then we had sea bass with salad, then the glorious profiteroles, then a ton of cheese with port.
What greedy pigs we are.
Other than that, I have been catching up on domestic stuff. The spare room is now back to habitability, and looks marvellous.
It was deeply satisfying, if a bit sad, restocking the book case, and ordering all the books by author, ranking them by size and genre as well.
Yes, I know.
But if anyone asks me now where to find one of my PJ O'Rourke books I can tell them precisely. On the "modern" shelf, in the "amusing" section. Between Tony Hawks and Bill Bryson.
We watched "Minority Report" on DVD this evening. I'd forgotten what a good film it is. It even made me forget how annoying Tom Cruise is.
I found a bit of a bargain at the supermarket - a triple DVD for six quid, containing "Minority Report", I Robot" and "Independence Day". All amusing enough for Sunday afternoons in, I think.
Other news: Am a bit stressed about a big presentation I have to give tomorrow...found out on Friday that my boss' boss will be there as well. No pressure.
Ah well. If they sack me for being shite I have more time to read other peoples' blogs.
Saturday, 16 June 2007
Pub night
Went over to the village pub last night after feeding Mr WithaY a truly delicious supper (I AM a domestic goddess after all, I just need a muse). It was a truly hilarious evening.
Billy the squaddie was in, who is always huge value for money. He and his mate were discussing whether or not to go into "town" (and I use the term reluctantly) or to bin it and stay in. They were trying to decide whether it might be worth going out on the pull or just having a "blokes night in".
The definition of a blokes night in is apparently "Pot Noodle and wanking". I almost snorted gin out of my nose at that one.
There were some unseemly challenges being made around closing time. One of them involved Billy the squaddie giving a kiss to one of the local lads. He is a nice enough lad but not doing too well with the ladies, it seems. Billy obviously thought he'd found a way to help him "get to know" girls a it better.
He then challenged one of the gorgeous bar birds to then kiss said local lad as well, once Billy had finished with him.
"If I can do it, you can do it" he claimed.
She watched the whole "bloke on bloke" scene in horror, realising she was going to have to kiss the poor guy as well.
She stood by her word and kissed him, but then rather ruined the effect by rushing over to the fireplace and spitting in it (classy pub, our local). Billy told her that the kiss had not been nearly enthusiastic enough, so she came back and gave the poor lad another one. She fled the scene afterwards, coming back sucking greedily on a fag (cigarette, panicking American readers).
Mr WithaY kept his word and brought me back some Arbroath Smokies. Fish. Not just any fish, but stinky fish. Tied up with string. I imagine his luggage filled the hold of the aircraft with an unholy stink. Heh. Let's hope so anyway.
I wish I had been less insistent as a young woman that he was NOT to buy me jewellery (I had huge scruples about being bought stuff - what a fool!). All that has happened is his gift-giving urges have been transferred into the "odd foodstuff" arena rather than the "expensive bauble" arena.
Damn.
Billy the squaddie was in, who is always huge value for money. He and his mate were discussing whether or not to go into "town" (and I use the term reluctantly) or to bin it and stay in. They were trying to decide whether it might be worth going out on the pull or just having a "blokes night in".
The definition of a blokes night in is apparently "Pot Noodle and wanking". I almost snorted gin out of my nose at that one.
There were some unseemly challenges being made around closing time. One of them involved Billy the squaddie giving a kiss to one of the local lads. He is a nice enough lad but not doing too well with the ladies, it seems. Billy obviously thought he'd found a way to help him "get to know" girls a it better.
He then challenged one of the gorgeous bar birds to then kiss said local lad as well, once Billy had finished with him.
"If I can do it, you can do it" he claimed.
She watched the whole "bloke on bloke" scene in horror, realising she was going to have to kiss the poor guy as well.
She stood by her word and kissed him, but then rather ruined the effect by rushing over to the fireplace and spitting in it (classy pub, our local). Billy told her that the kiss had not been nearly enthusiastic enough, so she came back and gave the poor lad another one. She fled the scene afterwards, coming back sucking greedily on a fag (cigarette, panicking American readers).
Mr WithaY kept his word and brought me back some Arbroath Smokies. Fish. Not just any fish, but stinky fish. Tied up with string. I imagine his luggage filled the hold of the aircraft with an unholy stink. Heh. Let's hope so anyway.
I wish I had been less insistent as a young woman that he was NOT to buy me jewellery (I had huge scruples about being bought stuff - what a fool!). All that has happened is his gift-giving urges have been transferred into the "odd foodstuff" arena rather than the "expensive bauble" arena.
Damn.
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
Tagged! How exciting!
Ooh - never been tagged before. I feel special now.
Right. I'll do the "5 places to eat" one first, I think. In Bath, because it's the one of the very few places around here with a wide range of foody choices. So, places I like:
(In no particular order)
1) The Fishworks. It's a fishmonger. WIth a restaurant attached. If you don't like fish, you really won't like it here. It's next to the sausage shop, so a bit of a bonus there. IF you like sausages, of course.
Mr WithaY and I have been there a few times and it's always bloody great. Had the best starter EVER - some hand picked (dived? harvested?) scallops seared and served with lemon oil. Very simple. Amazing. And then a HUUUUUGE bowl of fat prawns cooked in lord knows what. I ended up with bits of prawn shell all over my faace, in my hair, up the walls. Superb.
We went there for lunch for our wedding anniversary a few years ago, not long after after we'd had our beloved dog put to sleep and it made us both feel better than we had done for ages. I can't think of a higher recommendation, really.
2) The Moon and Sixpence. In a courtyard behind the Podium, not obvious from the street. Lovely fairly posh food. I've been there a couple of times (and once I wasn't paying - is there anything better than a free meal?) and it was lovely. Beautiful place, gorgeous presentation, nice staff, and a bar upstairs so it was lively, rather than being a "hushed" eating place.
3) The Firehouse. I think it's part of a very tiny chain, as there's another one in Bristol somewhere. They do a pretty small range of food but the half a chicken and mesquite fries is fab.
4) Mai Thai. Down Manvers Street, not far from the police station. Top notch Thai food, very small restaurant, beautiful Thai ladies bring you glorious food, and you can stagger a few hundred yards to the railway station to get home. Marvellous.
5) Sally Lunn's. Go there for tea and Sally Lunn buns. It's like being in someone's house, but you have to pay for a cup of tea. Mmmmm. Buns.
Right. I'll do the "5 places to eat" one first, I think. In Bath, because it's the one of the very few places around here with a wide range of foody choices. So, places I like:
(In no particular order)
1) The Fishworks. It's a fishmonger. WIth a restaurant attached. If you don't like fish, you really won't like it here. It's next to the sausage shop, so a bit of a bonus there. IF you like sausages, of course.
Mr WithaY and I have been there a few times and it's always bloody great. Had the best starter EVER - some hand picked (dived? harvested?) scallops seared and served with lemon oil. Very simple. Amazing. And then a HUUUUUGE bowl of fat prawns cooked in lord knows what. I ended up with bits of prawn shell all over my faace, in my hair, up the walls. Superb.
We went there for lunch for our wedding anniversary a few years ago, not long after after we'd had our beloved dog put to sleep and it made us both feel better than we had done for ages. I can't think of a higher recommendation, really.
2) The Moon and Sixpence. In a courtyard behind the Podium, not obvious from the street. Lovely fairly posh food. I've been there a couple of times (and once I wasn't paying - is there anything better than a free meal?) and it was lovely. Beautiful place, gorgeous presentation, nice staff, and a bar upstairs so it was lively, rather than being a "hushed" eating place.
3) The Firehouse. I think it's part of a very tiny chain, as there's another one in Bristol somewhere. They do a pretty small range of food but the half a chicken and mesquite fries is fab.
4) Mai Thai. Down Manvers Street, not far from the police station. Top notch Thai food, very small restaurant, beautiful Thai ladies bring you glorious food, and you can stagger a few hundred yards to the railway station to get home. Marvellous.
5) Sally Lunn's. Go there for tea and Sally Lunn buns. It's like being in someone's house, but you have to pay for a cup of tea. Mmmmm. Buns.
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