where art collides philosoperontap

click here for part 4

I wonder what the birds think at dawn when no man is around. Contempt I would imagine for why would anyone want to miss the best part of the day? The early worm will have gone!

I look out of the window and see the slightest of movement of leaves in the small plant pots on the doorstep. The air in the conservatory is still. The remains of yesterday lie scattered on the lawn. A table tennis bat, dismantled hammock frame, a blue plastic hoop and toys spilling out of a shed door that these days never closes. Can’t close.

That shed’s days are numbered. It is going to be a barbecue area with a grapevine growing round the side. I don’t do many diy jobs these days but we have a week at home booked in the summer holidays and that is the project. That and the occasional trip to the seaside and a couple of pints early doors in the Morning Star.

It’s not that I can’t do jobs around the house. It’s that I don’t have the time or the inclination. Weeks are so busy that the time at weekends is precious and not to be spent drilling, sawing or waving paintbrushes around indiscriminately.

Painting is a specialised job anyway. I know anyone can rub a surface down and slap on a bit of colour but in my view it is a specialist job that needs doing properly by an expert. Same as joinery, plumbing and for that matter making curries:) I’m not allowed to contract out the curry making too often which is a shame but doesn’t do me any harm I suppose.

I remember the first time I ever had a curry. It was in an Indian restaurant in Upper Bangor. I forget the name, something like the Taj Mahal. I just Googled it but no joy. I’m sure it is still there though the last time I went it had changed completely inside. It looked as if it had been stripped down in order to cope with and survive raucous drunken student Saturday nights. A far cry from the early days of sophistication and the discerning palate! Chicken biryani if anyone is interested though by the time my Bangor days were up I had moved on to meat vindaloo.

Before it was a curry house it was a burger joint called Capones. They did a terrific barbecue sauce there. When it changed food types I asked them for the recipe. All it was was tomato ketchup mixed with a bit of Worcester Sauce! Simplicity itself. I still haven’t tried making it myself but now I am reminded of it perhaps I will.

Cooking is quite therapeutic I find though Anne rarely lets me cook these days. I either take too long or it costs too much. All the great chefs in history have bene men though, note. Not that I’m complaining about her food. She does a mean quesadilla. I usually add some heat into it but that is ok.

We would have barbecues more often if it was up to me. It is the natural role of a bloke to stand there in the garden with a bottle of beer or glass of red wine in hand supervising the steaks. They don’t take long anyway. Just tsss tsss on either side and they’re done. Disproportionately quick compared to the time taken to get the charcoal to the right stage for cooking.

That in itself is a bone of contention in our house. Anne would accept a BBQ more often if I could guarantee what time the food would arrive. It’s a bit hit an miss though. We did invest in an Australian Gas job one but it eventually rusted to death. Apparently it is due to all the salt that drips out of the meat.

A thrush has just hopped by on the patio outside, for what it is worth. Something in its mouth – I couldn’t quite see what.

We now have a posh stainless steel firepit – Danish I believe and for what it is worth. When we have finished cooking we take off the griddle and put logs on. It’s a great way to finish off an evening. The smoke from the fire keeps the insects away so you can sit out for as long as you like. You do end up being a bit smoky but what the heck.

Google tells me it is going to be 26 degrees Centigrade today so ideal for a Barbie. I’ll light it up after the England v Germany world cup match. It’s a big one hereabouts. The old nemesis. There is a mixture of “here we go a gain” and “we’re going to beat the buggers this time” in the air. I placed a bet yesterday – on my way out of Antonio’s barbers on Wragby Road. £5 on Germany to win after penalties.

Not very loyal I know but you must remember I am Welsh and I figured that it would be poetry in winning the bet under those circumstances. I got 9 – 1 so will get £50 back. Might spend it on a curry 🙂

The bane of our back garden are the wood pidgeons. Always very noisy with this repetitive and irritating whoop. I have considered borrowing an air rifle to remove the problem but that isn’t really me. I don’t know what is me really. A nice and friendly easy going bloke who wants to live and let live I suppose.

Coming back to the temperature I moved the potted lemon tree outside yesterday. It isn’t very big even though we have had it a few years now in the conservatory. It doesn’t get watered much that’s why although I have started doing it more often this year since I’ve been watering my chilli plants, a couple of which, by the way, have started to flower. Exciting stuff.

Anyway the lemon plant/bush/tree is outside now and in my mind if I give it regular soaks during this Mediterranean spell of weather it will thrive. It has had a few flowers this years so I will have to replenish the gin stocks soon, with a bit of luck.

I used to drink gin, normally on a Sunday afternoon whilst cooking the Sunday roast but I have fallen out of the habit. The only time the level in the bottle moves these days is when mam or a sister comes to stay. Then it seems to plummet, or maybe I keep leaving the top off and it is down to evaporation.

At one time we built up a pretty good cocktail cabinet actually though it has fallen into disrepair. In other words we have drunk most of it and not replenished the stocks. It isn’t a cheap hobby and since the kids came along we don’t entertain much anyway.

Talking of birds a few more people have started surfacing on twitter now. It’s as if the night shift is almost over and the day workers are starting. It will soon be time for me to take Anne up a cup of tea.

Link to next 3rd law post here.