Quite pleased to inform you that Shrove Tuesday, today, is historically a time for gluttony. The celebration of the end of winter and the coming of Spring. I know this because I accidentally find myself in the kitchen listening to Thought for the Day on the wireless.
This is normally the signal for me to switch off said electronic device and get up however this morning I am already up and full of the joys of the aforementioned spring and am not in the position to switch off the wireless. This is because THG is in charge of listening in the kitchen. Well she is in charge of listening everywhere but she gets up before me and it is only after she has left the room the baton is handed over.
Anyway back to the gluttony bit. As you know I am very fond of pancakes but usually only get to eat them on pancake day. In the past this has been very hit and miss because if I’ve been away doing a bit of business the pancakes served up in hotels and restaurants are rubbish and you only get one. I like to eat them until I’m full. Historically we have rarely made up for my absence on the actual day but repeating the experience when I get home.
Today, however, I am very definitely home and I will be mixing up a batch of pancake batter this morning in readiness for this evening’s feast. THG herself will be manning the frying pan and doing the tossing because after yesterday’s butter dish experience I have been shown to be unreliable in my current state of mobility.
Although I was up before TFTD I did catch the Shipping Forecast. I am pleased to say it was as repetitive and soporific as ever. No idea what the actual fore3cast was. Gales up North and sunny times down south probably. I suppose people do listen to the forecast because they really want to know. Trawlermen for example. Mind you having just watched a boxed set on Trawlermen I can report that some of them stay out whatever the weather. Fish landed when most boats have stayed safely in port attract a real premium. Up to 3 x what might be considered a normal going rate from what I can gather. Scarcity innit. Mind you I’d have stayed in port meself.
In tuning in to the SF I did catch the fact that there was a Farming Today programme at 5.45 which I did catch up with before THG brought the tea in. Farming Today in the week seems very different to the Sunday morning “On Your Farm” if that’s what it’s called. FT is more about the nitty gritty of farming. New milk yield improvement techniques and the effect of avian flu on business. Still good stuff but defo more industrial.
OYF is more of an easy listener. People talking about their spin-off cheese business or how “pick your own” has transformed profits.
Finally I have just taken some paracetamol as part of the soreness mitigation routine prescribed by my physician. How many times do you open the box from the wrong end to find access to the tablets blocked by that piece of paper with dosage instructions and a possible list of side effects that we are meant to read before consuming the contents. Happens to me 50% of the time, probs. I’ve just gone to the effort to see how you decide which is the right end to open but no doubt I will forget, or forget to look.
Ciao bebes
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Excelled meself this morning as it is such a beeootiful day and very conducive to going for a long walk. Went left out of the drive and breezed past the bus stop to the tree between numbers 66 and 64. I may have done this once before when our Tom was staying and I wasn’t sticking to the 50% weight on the leg rule which I now am.
I would say it was a 240m round trip. To say I breezed past the bust stop does involve a small degree of artistic license. It would have barely reached number 1 on the Beaufort Scale – Light Air. One up from being becalmed and just enough to provide steerage. An old geezer on a mobility scooter shot by me without a sideways glance. Each to their own I thought.
Two young Polish guys also strode past. I assume they were Polish. It wasn’t English they were speaking though you never know these days. They were dressed in black from head to toe except one of them had beige trousers. The thing that most stuck in my mind was the fact that they both wore thin trainer liners. Not very warm I thought to meself. Hey…
On the other side of the road some guy was stood at the opposite bus stop. A bus did come along but I didn’t notice whether it picked up the passenger. Musta. Then thirty seconds later another bus with a “Driver under instruction” sign whizzed by.
Back on my side I noticed a Land Rover Defender parked in a drive. Not seen it before. You see more things when you walk innit. The Defender had the expedition roof rack and ladder on the side. I’d always fancied having these accessories but couldn’t figure out when I would use them. Didn’t think it was worth forking out a few grand extra just to make it look fancy and have the reduced mpg that would inevitably have come with it.
Home now and sat at the kitchen table. Ringing in the changes.
For reference the Morning Star is half a mile away. The bells will ring out when I get there 🙂
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Just walked to the telegraph pole and back. The one subject to the Openreach notice. It was observed that the bin mounted on the lamppost carrying the now somewhat forlorn looking notice was pretty much full. I wonder how often they get emptied.
As I was turning for the return leg of my trip a bloke strode quickly by heading in the direction of Tesco. He was carrying what looked like a rolled up M&S bag for life. Might have been Waitrose. He wore a burgundy coloured fleece top, grey trousers and a black beanie.
That’s two good ish walks today. Well one very good one and one ok one. All good stuff. Had a nice visit this morning from old Marconi pal @Richard and his lovely wife Di. Nice when people drop in like that. We had several cups of tea and some nice biscuity cakey things.
Having a sit down and a banana and then plan on cracking on with the pancake batter. Needs a bit of time to settle before the big eat. I’ve already measured out the flour and milk. I consider meself to be a dab hand at making pancakes. The only thing wrong, and this happens every year without fail, is that the first one is never as good as the others. I think the pan takes some conditioning. I believe we have a crepe pan of some sort that we can use. Big circular job. Bigger the better innit.