The Saturday Thai.

Oliver arranged a family get together this evening at The Coconut Garden in Dunstable. We hadn't been there for years so it was a real treat. Olly kindly drove us and Gary & Ellie there & we had a couple of beers in the Mulberry Bush first, Doombar, when I eventually noticed it anyway!
Met Tim, Ella, Julian and Laura there than then went across to the restaurant.
A veritable feast was partaken! Wheat free & veggie for Tara, if alittle heavy on the tofu. Our meal ( a set menu for parties over 8) covered just about all the meats,, from prawn to duck and lamb pancakes, chicken and beef curries , all washed down with a Changi beer or two.
A grand evening of chat and laughs as always when we get together. Still odd getting together without Alec & Laura who are apple & pear picking in Australia at the moment. Cab back home about 11.30 I think, Gary, Ellie, Olly & Laura hitting the town. A great night!

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Another long run.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Another long run.: Another long run to Norfolk covering Burnham Market, Norwich, Lowestoft, Sheringham, Holt and Fakenham ended at The George Hotel near Norwic...

Another long run.

Another long run to Norfolk covering Burnham Market, Norwich, Lowestoft, Sheringham, Holt and Fakenham ended at The George Hotel near Norwich. Tired once I'd stopped but it was a productive day with a few things to follow up.
Pint of Adnams bitter was very well received then dinner of Gravalax starter then liver and bacon with bubble and squeak as a main. Liver was alittle over cooked for my liking, having had it cooked by a French chef at a very good restaurant in Dunstable called Chez Jerome (follow this link to find out more http://chezjerome.co.uk/)   all else pales in comparison to be honest. However a good feed it was, went for a stroll and then bed by 10.30pm. A very nice full English at breakfast set me up for another day full of fun.
Tara has been working exceedingly hard to make her Avon business work for her, with  managing a team as well she rightly won  the Number One spot for achievement & was awarded a nice crystal thing to put stuff in ( crystal bowl!)  and the certificate photo'd here.  I am very proud of Tara, she is and always had drive and determination in the face of adversity  with all the crap that Fibromyalgia flings at her. I am very  proud. ( follow this link at Stores.ebay.co.uk/Grannas-Crafty-Attic  to find out more)

Gravalax starter. 

Liver, bacon with bubble and squeak. 

Taras certificate.

Crystal bowl award.

The National Archive.

The National Archive at Kew is a fascinating place. You can view such records as the passenger list from the Titanic to the muster roll for Nelson's Victory to cabinet papers and released  official documents.
I've mentioned some of the records I've viewed in other blogs, war diaries from World War One, operational records from World War Two, also the divorce papers of my Grandmother from 1921 and some of my Uncle's Merchant Navy documents one of my Grandad's Royal Navy records and the other Grandad's army records and also the passenger list noting one of my Great Aunt's when she sailed from Liverpool as a 'Military dependant third class' in 1919 after she'd married a Canadian soldier.
There's a process, a slow process of gradually digitising all the records. This will take years and years. Emphasis was put on digitising the regimental war diaries from WW1 to coincide with the centenary of the war for easy access for researchers. I'd already looked at some of these before this was started. You request the record using it's record number and eventually a bod puts the item in a  sort of cubby hole with your seat number on. It's from here that you collect the records  and take them back to your place. Open the box and there you have the original  documents probably written out just a few yards from the front line, if not in the front line. Another case of what I call touching history.
You'll lose all this of course as records do become digitised but it must be better to protect the original documents. If you go to Kew you can view any record free of charge, you can photo them, without flash again for free. Printed copies you have to pay for. You can go on line and download, for a charge  records already digitised, though it's interesting to note when I was researching one of Tara's family who served in the Australian army. As his records were all in Oz I had no alternative but to view and download on line but the Australians do not charge anything at all!  British government please note!
If you want to visit to see records  you must apply for a readers ticket. You need to take along two items identifying yourself with your address as well, then you answer some bone headed questions on their site, questions like: 'Would you write on the records?'  Put yes to that & I don't think you'd get a readers ticket! Security is taken seriously as it should be. You can only take in pencils to write with and all in a clear plastic bag that they supply, there's also staff who check you in and out of the reading rooms who look through anything you are taking with you to make sure there is no pilfering of the records. They also run talks and guided tours behind the scenes and have regular exhibitions. it's a very interesting place to visit.

Crufts.

Well here's the thing. I've watched Crufts for years with Tara and been along twice but always while we 've had dogs. We haven't any more. It's a different gig now, in some strange  way I didn't realise how much I loved our dogs until we didn't have them any more. I completely understand how people can become obsessed with dogs.  They are good buddies. It  doesn't matter how you feel or what you think, a dog is always welcoming and friendly. They see the good in people even the b"**!:-'s  that abuse them. Dogs are great. Dogs Rule!
They do take over your life but in a good way, we always had to think after a few hours, is anyone available to let them in the garden etc and of course they are a tie, not having to watch the clock now is great  but not having that great greeting when you return home is terrible, tragic. It reminds you of what you have lost.
So sad was I when we lost Leo and Ralph that I said I didn't want another dog. Not because I didn't want another dog but because I didn't want the heart ache of losing another dog even though I realise it's a short sharp grief compared to the years of fun and good stuff you have had. We'll get another dog, another addition to our family because that's what it is, but I'll always remember with love and fondness  dear old Leo and Ralph. The first dogs I  really had anything to do with.  They were great lads.

The joy of..........cutting both your thumbs at the same time

You may find this one difficult to believe. I was at a trade show this week and was demonstrating a kitchen gadget called the 4 in 1 grater. The graters are acid etched steel and incredibly sharp. I knew this. I was demo-ing it to a customer & before I knew it I'd pushed the blade the wrong way & cut my thumb, bleeding thus began. The product is mainly white the demo station was white, you can imagine the rest, anyway, trying to laugh that off and continue talking at the same time I did it again to the other thumb!
Luckily the customer had a couple of plasters & no, they didn't buy it! I now have to have a note from my wife, counter signed by my boss to allow me to go near anything sharp or pointy.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Bomber. 5th March 1945.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Bomber. 5th March 1945.: Seventy two years ago tonight at 17.35hrs my Dad, then a 19 year old Sergeant in the Royal Air Force took off in Lancaster LM211 (code Z-Zeb...

Bomber. 5th March 1945.

Seventy two years ago tonight at 17.35hrs my Dad, then a 19 year old Sergeant in the Royal Air Force took off in Lancaster LM211 (code Z-Zebra) of 106 Squadron to attack the synthetic oil plant at Bohlen near Leipzig.
It was his third sortie, his job was  Mid Upper Gunner. I remember him telling me that this was very near the Russian front at that time, in case they had to bail out they were given a silk Union Jack to wear round their necks, hopefully this would stop the Russians shooting them!
106 Squadron sent 14 Lancasters to join the other 235 Lancasters and 10 Mosquitoes from 5 Group Bomber Command to flatten these factories.
The National Archive at Kew holds the detailed reports from individual aircraft, squadron and group on these & other actions all still marked 'secret' at the top of the page. I can tell you that Lancaster LM211 bombed at a height of 12900 feet at 21.56hrs carrying 1x 4000lb bomb ( known as a 'cookie') and 9x 500lb bombs. The pilots comments state they were bombing on complete cloud cover so the target was marked by the Path Finder Force with 'Wanganui' sky marking flares, flak was described as 'moderate.'  After bombs were dropped the pilot had to keep the aircraft steady for another 30 seconds (I think) for a photo flash to go off detailing where their bombs were dropped. At the National Archive there are many such photos including one taken from my Dad's Lancaster on tonights attack though as they bombed on cloud cover, that's all it is, a photo looking down on clouds!  But the important thing is these records will be there for generations to come to see what their ancestors did.
They returned to base, Metheringham in Lincolnshire landing at 03.05hrs having been airborne for nine and a half hours, my Dad's longest trip. All from 106 Squadron returned but four other Lancasters did not. I don't know the fate of those four but with seven to a crew it's a potential 28 to include with the 56000 Bomber Command aircrew killed during the war. Their life expectancy was as short as an officer in the trenches of the previous war. 
So there you are,a moment in history seventy two years ago tonight.

Sgt George Henry Morgan. 106 Squadron RAF.

Crew standing by a Stirling bomber at 1660 Heavy Conversation Unit, Swinderby, December 1944.
George Morgan second from right.



Remains of Bolen synthetic oil plant March 1945.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Musical interlude.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Musical interlude.: End of the week, at last, been a busy one as usual. Though I listen to music in the car there's nothing like relaxing with a glass of so...

Musical interlude.

End of the week, at last, been a busy one as usual. Though I listen to music in the car there's nothing like relaxing with a glass of something & both listening at home.
The old CD player has a new lease of life, it was pretty well on its last legs and the sound quality in particular wasn't that good, then one of Gary's friends was getting rid of a couple of speakers, nothing wrong with them but they were heading for the dump so Gary tried them & eventually we got them. With Tara's help we got them fixed up to the main CD player and the sound is brilliant! The machine itself does play up abit sometimes. The CD compartment doesn't always open first time & it has a mind of its own when you try to play the CD's on a random mix, but having said that when its working  properly it sounds great!
This evening I'd put on 'Cautionary Tales' by TRADarrr. This is a folk group made up of Marion Fleetwood, Greg Cave, Guy Fletcher, PJ Wright (both formerly of 'Little Johnny England')  & Mark Stevens with guest appearances by Chris Leslie, Dave Pegg & Ric Sanders no less, of Fairport Convention fame. They are a great mix of traditional folk tunes from the like of Ralph Vaughan Williams & Morris tunes in the shape of the 'Upton Stick Dance.'
Tara said we saw their first public performance as TRADarrr at the Cropredy Festival, all accomplished musicians in their own right put them together and it sounds brilliant.
From one extreme to the other as we followed this with Judas Priest's 'Defenders of the Faith.' Originally recorded in 1984 in the days when Rob Halford, the singer, could hit all those high notes the title track is a fave of mine. JP are not top of Tara's list I have to say  though she'll always give different bands a try, more so than I do!
Third CD was one by WASP that is 25 years old this year called 'The Crimson Idol.' We are going to see WASP in October & to celebrate this album they are going to play it in its entirety for the first half of their set so its an album we need to get into. It's a very good album, the singer Blackie Lawless has a great  gravelly voice it should be a great gig!
After this we watched the last part of the adaption of Alex Hayley's 'Roots.'  Talking about this we both decided as brilliant as it was, it was kind of wrong to say that you really enjoyed it. The violence was so vicious and so random 'enjoyment' just isn't right. It made for compelling viewing & incomprehension as to how nasty humans can be to their fellow humans.

CD player and Tara's Bacardi and Coke, plus crafting stuff.

My glass of red and assorted CD's waiting to be played.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Shropshire again.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Shropshire again.: Two nights away this time instead of my usual one. I got more appointments booked so really needed another day in that neck of the woods. St...

Shropshire again.

Two nights away this time instead of my usual one. I got more appointments booked so really needed another day in that neck of the woods. Stopover on the first night was the Lion Hotel in central Shrewsbury. It's very nice, the food is usually good and so is the beer. It's also quite near a pub I've found that has rock bands on a Tuesday night, I fully intended to look in but to be honest after driving 320 miles and after eating I was too knackered to be bothered!
The bar at the hotel serves the excellent Butty Bach by the Wye Valley Brewery, its 4.2% in strength so not exactly a quaffing beer, it's a mid coloured brew and has a sweetness I like. For starters I had garlic prawns. They were nice, if abit boring, it should have been served with bread I think to mop up the garlic liquor but it wasn't. Couldn't decide on a main. I regularly go for a steak but wanted something different tonight so I went for the 6oz burger with bacon. This was very good, served with chips and salad A good tasty burger in a proper bread roll, not an airy white thing. That consumed with another pint of Butty Bach I retired to my room & was in bed and asleep by 10.30!
I've had the continental breakfast here which is fine. Thought I'd treat myself to the Full English which was bit of a disappointment. I generally have a poached egg (its healthier you see, never mind the heart attack on a plate that the rest of a Full English is!!) and it was abit watery & their sausage was obviously a cheapo make so I rather wish I hadn't bothered, I won't in future.

Welsh hills with snow atop on my drive through to Shropshire.

A pint of Butty Bach in there somewhere!

Burger for dinner.

 

To the next day then which was all in Shropshire. It's a lovely county very hilly and picturesque with some interesting towns and villages though working there I never get a proper chance to look round. It's all going from one place to another for the next appointment, really need to go back when I'm not working to explore places like Ludlow and Oswestry and Bridgenorth when I have the time. Anyway, having said that & having called on all my appointments for that day my stopover was The Fox at Much Wenlock. We have been here before & looked around the ruined priory dating back to 680 when King Merewalh of Mercia built an Anglo-Saxon monastery. The Fox is a 16th century building and to say the floors in the bedroom were uneven is an understatement! You walked more or less uphill to get to the far side of the bathroom & the bed needed propping up by two quite thick books under the legs one side to make it horizontal! It was great!
They had two real ales on today, Wychwood  Hobgoblin Gold was one. A very light coloured beer, 4.2% in strength and quite nice, their other offering I preferred which was Wainwrights Golden Beer.4.1% in strength and beautifully refreshing, a really good beer though quite light in colour to my usual preference for a mid coloured brew. 
Dinner! Jack Sprats was my starter. Small fillets of sprats fried in a light batter and served with home made tartar sauce & salad. Tasted very much like Whitebait  which was fine by me! My main was pork belly served with black pudding, mash and veg. Again really good and very filling, interested to find out that they have gluten free bread available and will adapt recipes where possible to accommodate wheat intolerance. Not only is this very good to hear but it also means  they have a proper cook who doesn't just get things out of packets. Dinner was excellent! I will bring the Memsahib here at some stage.
Retired replete, had a nose on FaceBook & emails etc and called it a day. A proper Full English was served next morning that stood me well for the day. All very well cooked and delicious.  If I have the 'works' for brekky I tend not to have lunch, I don't really need it! Anyway that's it, a couple of places I will stay at again. 
   

Jack Sprats for starters.

Mmm. Looks good doesn't it. A pint of Wainwrights.

Pork Belly, black pud, creamy mash and veg. Fit for a king!

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of......vinyl.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The joy of......vinyl.: I could wax lyrical (no pun intended) about vinyl and have done in other blog things but today is different. We had the boiler engineer cal...

The joy of......vinyl.

I could wax lyrical (no pun intended) about vinyl and have done in other blog things but today is different.
We had the boiler engineer call on Friday. The boiler is in the loft. So is my vinyl. Need I say more? Well, probably yes, I do need to say more.
As I've mentioned before I have intended to find my vinyl and maybe even play the odd album but as usual just thought about it and did nothing. With the bit between my teeth so to speak, with the loft hatch open & me needing to go up there to make some space for the boiler engineer. 'Seek & yea shall find' as the supreme being says, so I did and found all 6 album boxes. In total around 120 LP's I think.
I have replaced alot of these with CD's, but not all & what memories these albums brought back! Not even listening to them, just seeing them again.
One album, Rainbows 'Long Live Rock n Roll' I bought at the gig when I saw Rainbow in 1978, I have already mentioned the gig in a previous blog but what I'd forgotten was on the album inner sleeve (it was a plain one) I had written an account of the gig. Some of it was plain laughable but some things I could have been written yesterday! I still appear to write in the same style ( though I use the term loosely!) One day, when I'm feeling brave I'll put the verbatim account on the blog.
I'd forgotten I'd got six Abba albums, blimey that's not doing my rock credentials any good is it! I've also got an REO Speedwagon album that I'd forgotten about, I knew I had some thing somewhere but wasn't sure whether it was  album or tape!
Even got a couple of more collectable items I think. A couple of ELO albums on coloured vinyl & afew albums with posters & one Rory Gallagher with a limited addition single on clear vinyl in with the album. Most of these records would have been bought on excursions into London with my old buddies Alan & Mark. We would usually, but not always, get to Bond Street station & go in the HMV store there, though at that time  they seemed abit dearer than other places. Next stop the brilliant Virgin Megastore at the bottom of Oxford Street. At the time the biggest record shop in the UK, across the road from the Megastore in a basement was a store called Simons, if my memory serves. This place was great because it was cheaper than most, mainly because alot of what they had were imports, some had a little nick in the corner, not the record itself but the cover. For the amount we saved this was of little consequence. Mark introduced us to a little record shop in Soho that sold all sorts of bootleg albums and some more rarities, I seldom brought from here though, I was always a cheap date!
On the rare occasion we'd have a beer somewhere though not often (how times change!) and from there we'd be back on the tube heading home, talking of course music. There was a real excitement about our purchases & more often than not we'd probably meet up at one or other of our houses later to play the albums, though I remember Alan was always slow to play them, he'd have quite a backlog waiting to be heard!   Buying the latest album from a particular band was always an extra thrill. I well remember getting hold of the first new album Quo had brought out since I'd become a fan. It was 'Whatever you want' & is still a fave of mine & I have to say I still  to this very day, I get that frisson of excitement when getting a bands album 'hot off the press.'
Oh, the boiler engineer? Oh yes, the boiler is fine but we have a leak somewhere in the system. Bugger, lets put another record on!

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Fish Pie,Storm Doris & hols booked!

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Fish Pie,Storm Doris & hols booked!: The fag end of Storm Doris has hit us, just very windy and cold here, I understand other parts of the country have had it much worse. Anyway...

Fish Pie,Storm Doris & hols booked!

The fag end of Storm Doris has hit us, just very windy and cold here, I understand other parts of the country have had it much worse. Anyway what better dinner could there be on such a day as a nice fish pie.
The Memsahib had a fish pie mix of Smoked Haddock, Cod & Salmon. I mixed this in with some softened onions and garlic, plenty of parsley and made a white sauce with rye flour. This made it a little dark but we didn't have any white wheat free flour. Mixed these two in & cooked the spuds.
Eventually put through a ricer, though I hate to say it I broke one of the ricer filter things you push the potatoes through. There was just one piece of not quite cooked spud that bent the disc out of shape. I couldn't believe how Olly managed to break one not long after I brought it home........I do now! Sorry Oliver! Once mashed I spread the spuds on the fish & used a spoon to make sort of fish scale shapes, brushed with melted butter & baked for 40 minutes or so. Though I say so myself it was very nice & as you can see I got the seal of approval of empty plates!

Fish and sauce waiting for potato topping.

Potatoes added.

The finished result. Yum!

Plates loaded and ready to go.



The seal of approval.

At last we've booked a holiday! Tara saw a very good deal on the 'Secret Escapes' website of a boutique hotel in Ca'n Picafort in Majorca, going the end of September. Look like a nice place, not too touristy , we're going B&B so can explore the local restaurants etc. Can't wait!!

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Limehouse Lizzy

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Limehouse Lizzy: Thin Lizzy were a tremendous band sadly of course no more with the death of Phil Lynott an unbelievable 31 years ago! Scott Gorham plays wit...

Limehouse Lizzy

Thin Lizzy were a tremendous band sadly of course no more with the death of Phil Lynott an unbelievable 31 years ago! Scott Gorham plays with Black Star Riders, Gary Moore alas no longer around & not sure about the other former members so someone, somewhere  needs to uphold the Thin Lizzy banner. Step up to the microphones 'Limehouse Lizzy.' I don't know about you, but when I initially think 'tribute band' I think second rate & just plays pubs. That's very unfair. The tributes I've seen have all been second to none, other than the original artists of course, I've seen both the 'Illegal Eagles' & 'The Australian Pink Floyd Experience' both of whom were very good indeed.
In a way I guess seeing a tribute band is better than seeing the original. They want to sound like the band they are taking off & tracks sound like they are straight off the album whereas the original could add a few 'twiddly bits,' a tribute band won't do that.
So that's what I think of tribute bands anyway, always well worth seeing.
 'Limehouse Lizzy' played at The Stables in Wavendon on Wednesday, its a great little venue, full capacity is 398 seated and another 50 standing, whilst all the seats were taken there wasn't the full amount standing. Those who were included a couple of dyed in the wool Thin Lizzy fans well into their 50's happy to headbang & join in the riffs with their air guitars,& who am I to knock them?  They had a good night & so did we. 'We' being Self, Tara, Julian & Kevin & met a customer from MK there, Dave & Clare.
Got there much too early but on the positive side it meant we were parked near the auditorium, also no crush at the bar were a very pleasant pint of Doombar was partaken.
Timing at most gigs these days are pretty good, with curfews and fines for going over them has made venues are better time keepers so Limehouse Lizzy came on at 8pm. There was an interval which was bit of a surprise, helped swell the Stables bar coffers I reckon,it finished about 11pm I think.
They played all the barn stormers you'd expect and want to here: Waitin'  for an alibi, Jonny the Fox, Bad Reputation, Whiskey in the jar, Rosalie, The Boys are back in town, Jailbreak, The Rocker & a nod to Gary Moore with Parisienne Walkways plus all the tracks I've forgotten, there's more than one Thin Lizzy tribute band as Limehouse had 'borrowed' a guitarist from a band form Liverpool I think to stand in for their guitarist who has had a op, you wouldn't have known it, they really seemed a very tight band with some amusing banter from  the main man, Wayne Ellis who did a very Impersonation of PL. All in all it was a great  gig, I'd see them again!    

An idiots guide to an Idiot: College Lake walk.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: College Lake walk.: I popped over to College Lake this morning, hadn't been there is ages. It's changed considerably since we used to go there with the ...

College Lake walk.

I popped over to College Lake this morning, hadn't been there is ages. It's changed considerably since we used to go there with the boys  as 'Friends of College Lake.' Once we got the dogs it didn't seem right going for a walk without them as you can't take dogs in so our membership lapsed. Now its owned by the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). It has lost some of it's charm and everything is a bit more official, guided walks for instance have a set number that they will not exceed due to health & safety! The cakes used to be made by a couple of old ladies and were proper home made cakes that stick your ribs together, now it's Mr Kipling's airy fairy cakes, it's still an interesting place to visit for all that.
 I had a wonder round and went into a couple of hides, there's alot of Canada Geese there at present, I'm no expert but I do enjoy just gazing over the lakes, my old binoculars at the ready, I also took a few photos with varying degrees of success that I have attached here. You'll see the photo of the shepherds hut built at the John Farris foundry in Shaftesbury, Dorset, this is a real coincidence as we've had ancestors from Shaftesbury who have worked there, the foundry is long gone now of course the houses built on the site are on Farris Close as I recall.
A very pleasant couple of hours, off to the NEC in Birmingham tomorrow for a trade show until Thursday.....I can hardly wait!

General view from near the visitors centre & café.

The Octagonal Hide I'd just been in. 

Display of old farm machinery and wagons.

The Shepherds hut mentioned.

The details of where it came from, how it ended up here  don't know.

Snowdrops out already.

A few Wigeon.

Wigeon.



Arty shot of some Coot & Mallard gliding across the water.

 
 

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Dinners.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Dinners.: Kathy came over to dinner this evening which was nice. haven't seen her in ages so it was good to catch up and all that. Just the three...

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Dinners.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Dinners.: Kathy came over to dinner this evening which was nice. haven't seen her in ages so it was good to catch up and all that. Just the three...

Dinners.

Kathy came over to dinner this evening which was nice. haven't seen her in ages so it was good to catch up and all that.
Just the three of us so what to cook? We've enjoyed the Rick Stein series on weekend breaks & with our minds still on wanting to go to Cadiz I chose a recipe he did from there, its called Baked Sea Bream Rota style.
It called for 3 Sea Bream, got the already gutted but with the heads left on for extra flavour whilst cooking. As usual the best recipes are usually pretty easy to make, just thickly slice some waxy potatoes & bake for 20 minutes or so, in the meantime fry onions, garlic, green peppers ,bayleaf & then some chopped & skinned tomatoes. The tomatoes ended up being one of the biggest faffs as one lot of boiling water didn't seem to split the skins so a second dowsing was needed.
While this is cooking away you need to make the Picada. In a pestle & mortar you beat the living daylights out of some fresh parsley, garlic cloves and sea salt to make a kind of paste, this is spread on and in the fish. Add to the part cooked spuds, pour the peppers, tomatoes etc over them and bake for half an hour or so. Though I say so myself it was delicious. I took the heads off prior to serving & left a plate out for the bones, there seemed to be quite a few little ones in my fish.
The good thing about this recipe was it was all in one, you didn't need anything else with it. Unfortunately in my enthusiasm in cooking and eating I forgot to take a photo so the attached is from Rick Steins recipe website, though mine looked pretty similar!
Poached pears for pud, just six small pears peeled and poached in red wine, vanilla pods, cinnamon sticks an strangely some thyme. Cooked the pears for about 35 minutes then reduced the liquor to form a syrup, all topped with cream. Another simple but effective recipe.
A very pleasant evening had by all, Kathy is very easy to talk to & we talked about all sorts though of course quite alot about Alec & Laura who we all miss greatly, sounds like they are having a great time & off pear picking shortly to top up their savings.

Similar to how my version looked but in a different bowl!

  You'll notice the title of this blog thing is 'Dinners,' the plural, that's because today I cooked a spag bol. Nothing out of the ordinary there but its another good hearty winter meal and also a meal that benefits from cooking slowly. I always add a few bits and pieces so I suppose its not  just a spag bol. Purists may be outraged! It's got peppers and carrots in & smoked paprika  a genuinely awesome find thanks to our good buddy Stanley PS! 
Basically once you've softened the onions & garlic bung everything in and cook slowly. Don't forget to add some chocolate.....Yes you read that right, chocolate it does bring out the flavour though I didn't put it in the Memsahibs version which is of course meat free, oh yes, sling in s slung of red wine as well, you know it makes sense. Cook for at least an hour, longer if you can , just on a low heat, it's no problem just give it the occasional stir. Cook up some pasta mix both together, grate some cheese over the top, a good Cheddar of course & enjoy.

Spag Bol bubbling away nicely.

Veggie spag bol  also simmering away.

Nice piece of Cheddar.

Our dinners all ready. Meat on the left veggie on the right.

All washed down with a nice glass or two of red.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The Sunday Indian

An idiots guide to an Idiot: The Sunday Indian: We had dinner with Paul & Kate today originally to be at their house but after all the problems they've had since a dickhead plumber...

The Sunday Indian

We had dinner with Paul & Kate today originally to be at their house but after all the problems they've had since a dickhead plumber cocked up a simple job and managed to flood most of their downstairs their kitchen has now been taken out and they have industrial fans and extractor units installed today to dry it all out. Its all in the hands of their insurers  & will be sorted out, but they have to get there first! Both are in very good spirits and are not downhearted much to their credit! They will of course look back and laugh once its all back in place, the plus side is the redecoration will be done to their specifications.
Away plan B was called upon so we went to Paul & Kates local Indian called the Nabab and very good it was. They have a Sunday Buffet style offering, one price and you help yourself, must admit I was pretty hungry so tucked in and forgot to photograph anything, so the attached piccy is thanks to Tara! She had a good selection to choose from as well, all washed down with a pint of Cobra. A very good meal, we'll go there again!
Back to Paul & Kates for a cuppa & general chitchat. Paul did the big Garden Birdwatch as well as already mentioned in yesterdays blog, it was interesting seeing all the Greylag geese over in the field they back onto. I must admit Paul & Kate haven't sold us the idea of staying in a bothy! They stayed in one on Exmoor over New Year. No heating, no electric but they enjoyed it. I get the idea of enjoying the solitude but not the cold, they've already booked similar for Xmas & Boxing Days this year.
Paul has suggested I go down again in May to see the dawn chorus at his local nature reserve which sounds good, discuss nearer the time, we also spoke about my ongoing pipedream of walking The Ridgeway from Ivinghoe Beacon to near Avebury (about 80 miles) and also of walking Hadrian's Wall (60 miles). Might get a few takers interested in doing it as well, or it might be like Last of the Summer Wine! Logistics is the problem, I don't want to carry a tent so would want to B&B, hostel & pub it so what sounds like a cheap outing probably isn't. Also I don't want a route march, I want to be able to enjoy what we see, maybe linger awhile, particularly on Hadrian's Wall I think,

anyway we'll see what happens.

A good day and it was great  seeing Paul & Kate.

Taras dinner of Onion bhaji, rice, veg curry, salad.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Big Garden Birdwatch

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Big Garden Birdwatch: This annual event I do in memory of my Mum really. She loved birds & I think would probably taken part in this mass bird observation ove...

Big Garden Birdwatch

This annual event I do in memory of my Mum really. She loved birds & I think would probably taken part in this mass bird observation over a weekend in January. Basically you spend an hour and see how many species and how many of that species you get in your garden. The RSPB want all sorts to take part both urban and rural, small garden to big garden the whole mix of places where birds might be.  Ours is a small garden but not very far from countryside. Results were 11x House Sparrow,1x Starling,1x Blackbird,1x Robin,1x Woodpigeon, 1xDunnock and very last minute 2x Blackcap. These were a surprise as I have never seen them in our garden before, I'm pretty sure I identified them correctly with the help of the RSPB website bird-finder. Having trouble emailing results though as  the site keeps saying there's an error, could be alot of people using it. Texted Paul & his results  were of course different , they back directly onto fields. He saw: 2x Blackbird,1x Blue Tit, 8x House Sparrow, 1x Dunnock,1x Collared Dove,1x Woodpigeon, 1x Starling. 
I've done this for the past few years & it brings back nice memories of my Mum.
Stayed away in Norfolk again this week, I stayed near Norwich, nice hotel but the Real Ale was off though I was recommended an American Pale Ale called Shed Head. It was really nice, a good fruitiness to it that I like along with a bitter after taste. An amber coloured beer and 4.6% in strength.
Dinner took the form of a very posh looking prawn cocktail with king prawns and then belly pork, cider gravy with bubble and squeak made with broccoli. Abit full for a pud so left it there, just in time to get back to my room to watch 'Winterwatch' a programme I find fascinating and very relaxing to view all about British wildlife and how they get on in winter.

Pint of Shed Head.

Prawn cocktail.

Belly pork.

 

 

An idiots guide to an Idiot: More food.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: More food.: Popped out for a bite to eat on Thursday evening to celebrate that it was nearly the end of the week, just to The Chequers, cheap & chee...

More food.

Popped out for a bite to eat on Thursday evening to celebrate that it was nearly the end of the week, just to The Chequers, cheap & cheerful and fine for all that.
No Halloumi which was a real pain as it's one of the two menu choices the Memsahib usually has so Salmon fillet it was with a sweet potato and kale salad with it , I had a Beef Yorkie Burrito, basically  roast beef wrapped in a Yorkshire pud with chips. It was nice though the Yorkshire was a little tough, how they do that I cannot imagine. Puds were a Mint Sundae for Tara and a cherry bread and butter pudding which was nice washed down with a very acceptable pint of IPA & a Bacardi & coke for T.
Always nice to get out & have some time together, it was a  good evening.

Taras dinner.

Me with both puddings.

My dinner.

   

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Turning history on it's head.

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Turning history on it's head.: I went to a fascinating lecture on Wednesday evening held at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield & run by a group called 'He...

Turning history on it's head.

I went to a fascinating lecture on Wednesday evening held at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield & run by a group called 'Herts at War.' They promote history and research into Hertfordshire's part in the Great War. Tonight historian Peter Barton was to talk about the Somme. I blogged awhile ago about his brilliant BBC documentary series called 'The Somme from both sides of the wire' this talk  went into more depth than he was allowed to in the documentary and was really interesting.
For a hundred years the only accounts of the Battle of the Somme indeed most of the war have been from the allied side but there was German records, these records have never seen the light of day before now & what an account they give!
Did they know we were coming? Yes they bloody did! They listened into the many phone conversation's from the front line back to brigade & division HQ's. The Germans couldn't believe how many unencrypted  phone conversation's there were. The only fact the Germans didn't know was exactly when the attack would take place........then there's the interrogation of prisoners, though to be honest 'interrogation' is the wrong word.It sounds aggressive, in the Great War the German form of interrogation was anything but brutal, it was  making prisoners feel at ease and having a chat. British officer prisoners were walked through a section of Germans employed in drawing up to date trench maps, accidently on propose letting the officers see what they were doing. These maps were very accurate, so making the officers think-well they know everything! what difference would it make telling them the little I know?  
There are published accounts of being POW's in the Great War written by officers after the war who more or less start their account with- well of course I only told them my name ,rank and number...........a hundred years later the verbatim German accounts of their interrogations tell a different story.
I was quite shocked to see one German record of the battle order of the British for the Somme, noted on it was my own grandfathers division, brigade and battalion of the Middlesex Regiment he served in!
Barton told us these records have hardly, if at all been touched since the day they were placed in the record repositories across Germany after the Great War, in his fifteen years of researching these records he has only come across one other person interested in WW1,most historians are still fixated with the Germans of WW2.
Perhaps the most shocking facts he has come across is the British treatment of German prisoners accounts taken from Germans  who had escaped back to their own lines. Accounts of robbing German prisoners of their personal belongings & a dreadful account of a British soldier lining up five German prisoners, putting a bullet into the first & seeing it kill all five. The only other account of such barbarity I have read is of a Nazi officer doing similar to Jewish prisoners. Surely the British don't do this?  We 'play the game' don't we?  These meticulous German records seem to tell otherwise. This does make it sound like Barton was taking an anti  British stance, far from it, he was the first to recognise & salute the bravery of British & Commonwealth troops alike but there are always two sides to war, at least!
The part of the agust BBC is interesting. They commissioned Peter Barton to make this series, first called 'The Somme from the other side of the wire' not 'both sides,' to be screened around the centenary of the battle. He told them the kind of records he'd uncovered & to begin with they were very gung ho about bringing these fact to light but as the anniversary got nearer they started back peddling. First the name change then you can't say this, or that, he told us it got to the point of single words being edited out. The word 'traitor'  was not allowed even though it appeared in a British order about what to say if captured and to give information would make that soldier a traitor. There was supposed to be a book to go with the series but Barton refused to write it as the account therein would be too different to what he was allowed to say on TV. The BBC weren't best pleased with him but good for him to sticking to his guns! The BBC allowed quite a sanitised account of these incredible records, Peter Barton's lecture was warts and all. The Germans didn't think much of the leadership and soldiering qualities of the Australians for instance, Barton tells us this didn't go down too well in his lectures in Australia!
The things he has unearthed have challenged our view of not just the Battle of the Somme as these records cover the whole war but before we can really understand the full picture we need both sides accounts don't we? To get a balanced view, after all it has always been the victors who write the history books, Barton predicts it will be many many years before much of the German archive is properly understood and even longer before it is digitised, there is just no funding for any such project. He says himself that after all his research he is only slightly less ignorant now than before he started.
This lecture was a real eye opener & has I believe turned history on its head. 

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Vinyl or CD's?

An idiots guide to an Idiot: Vinyl or CD's?: My first music was brought on vinyl of course, cassette tapes alittle later then CD's. With the so called renaissance in vinyl I thought...