A Cooking Lesson

I will not be deleting any of these photographs from a visit of Michael, Heidi and their children to my house in Sigoulès in The Dordogne in May 2009, three years before I began blogging.

Daughter-in-law, Heidi, an excellent photographer, would have produced these pictures of Alice, me, Elizabeth, Michael, Oliver, and Emily at the window and on the doorstep of the house on 25th May. The dog, we named Po, followed our grandchildren home from a walk.

On this same trip Oliver carefully helped me cook a curry.

Here, at home today, the storms that have once again beset us all night continued raging until late afternoon, when Elizabeth, and Jacqueline, who brought very apt presents for Flo, Dillon, and Ellie, visited, after which the rest of us dined on takeaway fare from Royal Spice. My choice was Tandoori King Prawn Jalfrezi and egg fried rice.

Here, at home today, the storms that have once again beset us all night continue raging.

Answering Neigh

Late on a dull, overcast, afternoon Jackie and I took an optimistic forest drive, finding nothing worth photographing until surprised at

seeing more ponies in the woodland of Bisterne Close than would normally have been expected on such a day.

The denizen featured in these last two pictures first pricked up its ears at a distant neigh to my right; answered it, then trotted off in response across the road.

This evening we all dined on tasty roast duck; crisp Yorkshire pudding; creamy cauliflower cheese; boiled and mashed potatoes; firm carrots and Brussels sprouts, with which I finished the pinotage and the others drank soft and fruity M & S rosé.

Retained During Deletion

Having added many more pictures to my iPhotos in the last month I am starting to get a move on in my culling process.

These are retained from https://derrickjknight.com/2015/02/06/fundraising/

Two days ago Becky, Flo, Dillon and Ian went on a shopping trip to Lymington, intending among other things to buy a coat at Mountain Warehouse, where they had been encouraging me to enquire about Nordic Walking Poles for myself. On their return I asked whether they had seen any of those aids in there. “No”, said our daughter, not exactly making eye contact. A few minutes later, after a parental disappearance, Ellie presented me with a lengthy wrapped parcel.

You know what was in it.

I tried them out walking around the garden this afternoon. They are very helpful.

This evening we all dined at the regenerated Royal Oak pub three doors away. The have been numerous ownerships and managers trying to make a go of the establishment in the ten years we have lived here. They only opened on the 6th of December, have settled in well, are friendly, efficient , and very reasonably priced. We all enjoyed our choices, mine being various types of game suet pudding, carrots, green beans, red cabbage, chips, and gravy, followed by a giant lemon curd Eton mess, and accompanied by a dark coloured draft bitter the name of which I have forgotten. We will visit again, at which time I will take a camera in preparation for featuring the establishment.

Waiting For Their Tea

On an overcast, cool, and dull, afternoon, Jackie and I took a drive into the forest.

The first three of these pictures of swans reflected in the still waters of Little Hatchet Pond with its misty horizon are mine; the rest by Jackie.

A new thatch on a house in Furzey Lane has a couple of canines confronting a pheasant.

A queue of ponies stretched in front of a house in East Boldre named Myrtle, clearly expecting their tea to be served;

one took time for a scratch.

The tree on the green at Portmore has again this year been draped with colourful baubles.

On our return home I posted

Cover Her Face

This evening we all dined on well cooked lean roast beef with horseradish, and bread sauce; crisp Yorkshire puddings; firm and tasty carrots, cauliflower, parsnips, and Brussels sprouts; tangy red cabbage; and meaty gravy with which I drank more of the pinotage.

Cover Her Face

In the very first sentences of her novel P.D. James engages her readership of this Inspector Dalgleish novel: “Exactly three months before the killing at Martingale Mrs Maxie gave a dinner-party. Years later, when the trial was a half-forgotten scandal and the headlines were yellowing on the newspaper lining of cupboard drawers, Eleanor Maxie looked back on that spring evenings the opening scene of a tragedy. Memory, selective and perverse, invested what had been a perfectly ordinary dinner-party with an aura of foreboding an unease……” Just a few well-chosen words convey the passing of time, a sense of history, and reflections on memory.

The precision of her carefully descriptive prose Is further exemplified by “…. The window gave a view of the main hospital entrance farther along the street. In the distance she could discern the shining curve of the river and the towers of Westminster. The ceaseless rumble of traffic was muted, an unobtrusive background to the occasional noises of the hospital, the clang of the lift gates, the ringing of telephone bell, the passing of brisk feet along the corridor….. “

It is in the reflection of this patient precision in the character of her sleuth that, for me, the story had begun to pall as we were presented with a series of interviews by the unflappable and unemotional Detective Chief Inspector’s gradual peeling away of the inconsistencies in the statements of the various members of the house party; indeed I was becoming bored. Perhaps that was Dalgleish’s essential skill. His technique is to calm rather than threaten.

Just in time we are presented with some surprise witnesses and faster moving action sequences which enliven the previously soporific pace.

The author has a deep knowledge of human nature with its ambivalences and contradictions which are often reflected in her well-presented dialogue with emphasis on tone and body language.

In the highly original perspective of his well drawn illustrations Jonathan Burton collaborates with the author in leaving misleading clues, some of which tricked me.

Here we have the front board and spine; the title page and frontispiece of my Folio Society edition.

Reading

I spent much of the day finishing my reading of ‘Cover Her Face’ by P.D. James which I will review tomorrow.

This evening we all dined on fillet steaks perfectly cooked to individual taste by Becky; oven chips, onion rings, fried tomatoes, and peas, with which I drank more of the pinotage.

A Festive Extension

This afternoon we were joined by Danni, Ella, Jack, Elizabeth, Helen and Bill when further exchange of presents took place.

Fairly slow for shyness to be overcome the children soon made up for that with plenty of noise and motion. As usual, clicking on any image will access the gallery with identification of participants.

Later we all helped ourselves to bowls of turkey and vegetable stewp in our own times.

Culling I Did Earlier

I felt like flopping today after four energetic days, so I returned to these posts I had prepared back in November.

I was disinclined to delete any of these photographs from https://derrickjknight.com/2012/11/29/orlaith/

nor this one from https://derrickjknight.com/2013/11/26/they-are-her-friends-now/

I have saved just these four images from https://derrickjknight.com/2013/09/22/afternoon-tea/ the first pair from the morning and

these two from the afternoon.

This evening we all dined on a succulent roast leg of lamb; boiled new potatoes; crisp Yorkshire pudding; crunchy carrots; tangy red cabbage; firm cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts, with meaty gravy. Various wines and beers were imbibed, my choice being more of the pinotage.



Advent Day 25

The star-shaped nativity scene was brought back from Jerusalem by Helen and Bill a few years ago.

We spent the morning opening Santa presents, and the afternoon enjoying each other’s company.

Here Ellie drapes herself in her Christmas fairy dress across Granny’s knee, making her carefully detailed drawings, and writing about them.

Later, we opened all the individual presents, mostly distributed by Ellie with some assistance from Flo,

before we enjoyed the Culinary Queen’s Christmas dinner of roast turkey and all the trimmings, some of which I managed to photograph as it was being served. Various wines and Blue Moon beer were consumed; mine was South African Coastal Region Pinotage 2022.

Advent Day 24

These two photographs produced by Jessica on Christmas Day 1974

in our Islington garden contain a bunch of roses picked then by me.

This evening we all dined on Britannia Thai’s excellent takeaway fare. No-one imbibed.