We had a productive day up here yesterday. The other day I rashly suggested I might make some spicy beef patties if Neil would make the pastry because he’s good at that and I’m not. So, yesterday, he reminded me of this and after the morning’s work was over, we took to the kitchen for a rare event: both of us cooking in the same room at the same time. It was a surprisingly successful adventure, the patties were perfect, and I then went on to make lentil soup while Neil baked a cake – well, the oven was on for the first and only time this month, so we made the most of it. I tried baking a cake in the new air fryer the other day and it was a disaster, I think, because it was set to ‘juicy’ and not ‘crisp.’ I don’t know, too many choices.
Meanwhile, outside…
Actually, that was from a few weeks ago now, one of the ‘over the Christmas period’ photos, I think. Can’t remember. Anyway, it’s typical of the winter skies we see, the brief, pink sunsets and the chill in the breeze. The typical winter sky might be this one…
Which was taken outside Scena when I went to get some money from the medical clinic. No, it wasn’t a holdup. It just happens to be where the first ATM in the village ever was situated towards the end of last year. I’ve used it a few times recently, and it’s not let me down. It’s not even charged me for the service, which is a rare thing from a vending machine these days.
And this one is a rare treat for anyone who likes to look at the inside of a village super market (sic). No trolleys, of course, but we do have two aisles and a deli counter manned by finches who go by the names of Tina and Jenine, and you’re always guaranteed a laugh when you go in for sugar and gossip.
As for today, I feel a writing morning followed by a lazy afternoon working on my ‘side quest’ as the godson calls such things. While not rebuilding the Titanic, which is a two-man job, I am building a locomotive out of wood. This is a Christmas present that failed to arrive on time, so Neil told me what it was to be, and I went and ordered myself a similar thing from Amazon, and then the present did arrive and so I’ve started on it before the second one comes along. I shall be privatised by Easter.
