Mistakes, I've made a few

Christmas dinner- no big mistakes here

Some of these mistakes I have made in my life have been whoppers and are probably not for public consumption. I am restricting my fessing up to what happened this Christmas. I will start by sharing my loss at "spoons". Yes, I played and I lost. Big Mistake. My reputation has tumbled and now needs some time to recover. The rest of the players clearly had it in for me. I lost. They cheered. The whole village heard it. I forgive them as it is Christmas,

Chateau Dop- the finest that Cosgrove can produce!

On the Canasta front, Sammi was over 2000 points up on me at one point. Again, I was onto a monumental loss that was a total embarrassment. Strangely, bit by bit I clawed it back to 4980 to me and 4915 to Sammi. We called it a draw. It is Christmas and that for me is games time. I haven't played as much as I would have liked but it has been fun despite the knocks to my reputation. 

Other bits have gone wrong along the way. I made a panettone bread and butter pudding to take to a friend's house on Boxing Day. It came out of the oven looking lovely. It slipped out of my silcone oven gloves and in a nanosecond it had splattered every surface of my little kitchen. The dish smashed on the floor. A massive disaster. Things were looking bad on the dessert front for Boxing Day dinner.

I also made a turkey pie with chopped turkey, veg and fresh cream, flavoured with Lee and Perrins.  I can tell you, it looked good, it tasted good; and I was proud of it. When we were ready to leave,  I put it in a carrier bag to carry through the village. Up to this point, there were no mistakes. At least I had something to take to my friends. 

I put the dish which was in the carrier bag on the floor by the door, Sammi emptied the washing machine downstairs, I popped upstairs to pick something else up and meanwhile Lucky had stuck his head in the bag and ate a fair chunk of the pie. Argh! I couldn't believe it. Lucky had slobbered over my special pie that only I knew tasted good. 

Sammi wanted to take a picture of it just to show that I really had made something. We ended up just taking a shop bought Christmas pudding which we then brought back to our place after the gathering as there was already one there. Another oops. We didn't take any drink as Peter - now an expert wine maker had given me loads of homemade wine for Christmas. I didn't want a coals to Newcastle moment. The Chateau Dop, BTW, made by Peter was our Christmas dinner tipple - every bit as good as a top class wine!

The worst of the mistakes happened before Christmas. Ezra-Mae came over for a sleepover with Uncle Sam and myself. She loves staying at my place. This is a real treat for her. Uncle Sam or as she says, Uncle Gammi shaved his beard and hair with her help and then we gave her a hair trim. I am not too sure how it happened but she wanted it to happen and we obliged. 

Sammi hoovered up the hair and I blow dried the new style. She thought she was a princess. The next morning Danielle came over. She didn't notice THE haircut until Ezra-Mae pointed it out. We didn't know it was her first ever cut or that it meant so much to Danielle. Danielle was so upset, words cannot describe the trauma. My grand daughter wanted to stay another night but this was not to be. I can't say how sorry both Sammi and I are. We can't stick the hair back on but Sammi has emptied the hoover, washed the hair and it awaits collection. 

Lucky before her shameful theft of pie!

So now Lucky is farting turkey pie farts and Shadow is in the dog house because she hid under my bed and we couldn't find her just when I needed to go to the station to catch a train. We called her name and ran through the house at least twice. I even thought she had escaped. It was a close call, I only just caught the train to Euston for the connection to Truro where I am currently writing this. Shadow's disappearance nearly made me miss the train. Argh! 

Beautiful skies in Cornwall

Christmas at 15c in Cosgrove

Mark and Syd in Falmouth

Meanwhile, Sammi has my house to himself where he is catching up on his writing and probably emptying the cupboards of food. I just hope he is taking good care of Sally! I am in Cornwall having a nice relaxing holiday. All I need to worry about is catching a train home in time to make it to the pub for New Year's Eve. What could go wrong?

Christmas Spirit

The compost bins at St. George's,  Wolverton

Well this is Christmas, and I send my greetings to the four corners of our round Earth. My Christmas spirit extends to a few egg nogs and a couple of Baileys – why not? Despite the uncertain weather, this is my favourite time of year. I just love the one BIG meal that is Christmas dinner with all its trimmings. Second to the cooking, it is the wall-to-wall games that I just love. This year I am planning on feeding 16. There are two babies and two small children included in this number so that makes my turkey size calculations down to 12 – no probs! That is the maximum size turkey I can fit in my oven.

I am cheating on the cooking as my kitchen is small so I have asked Amira and Danielle to add a couple of dishes to make my life a bit easier. The living room isn’t much bigger: I’ll be squeezing two temporary tables alongside my dining table. I’ve made a list and I’m checking it twice. There is so much to do between now and the BIG day – I want everything to be near perfect.

Sammi has organised a Secret Santa. He’s staying for a few days so I am presenting him with a long list of things that need fixing in and around my house. He can’t say I never give him anything!!! The toilet seat wobbles, a tap downstairs is skewiff and there are few heavy lifting jobs I know he’ll be up to. This is the one useful thing about having a strapping son.

On the lead up to Christmas there have been a few fun  gatherings to round off the year. There was the tennis club dinner, a village table tennis party and the end of year awards at the swimming pool. 

The Royal Albert Hall

Ill wind and all that – Diane is still a bit immobile, so Jeremy took me to see Sandy Toksvig’s Santa show at the Royal Albert Hall. The music by the BBC Symphony Orchestra was marvellous but the LGBTQ story thread that ran through the evening was tenuous. It was well worth an evening out though as it was THE Royal Albert Hall  We even had a meal in pub that had been the set of the 2004 film, Layer Cake with Daniel Craig.  

The Queen`s Arms

Christmas spirit inside the Royal Albert Hall

I even managed a couple of hours in the V&A before the show. I started off in the religious icons pre-Renaissance Rooms, then the Renaissance area followed by the Middle East - then on to British bits from the 1500- 1600s. How easy it is to wander around such a wonderful place! Just as I feel when I go into churches, temples and mosques; the museum made me wonder how dedicated those people must have been to create art for their gods. Man has had such talents for millennia.

Getting home was a trial and definitely a dampener on my trip. The train was packed. The rain was torrential. It was still pouring down when I got off the crowded train in Wolverton well past midnight. I walked from the station to Danielle’s to pick up my car avoiding deep puddles and the swollen streams running down the gutters. So this is Christmas – if only it would snow!

A very Big Dilemma

Syria has certainly hit the headlines this week and I have become obsessed with the twists and turns, comments and foibles of our commentators. So what we have heard so far is a rollercoaster of reactions to recent events. Firstly, shock! Aleppo fell very easily to Islamist extremists linked to Al Qaeda and the Taliban that are blacklisted by our government! Very negative news.

Naser

However, as the story has unfolded Al Jolani isn’t such a bad chap after all. He has been turned into almost an international hero for toppling the Assad dynasty and their ruthless reign over Syria. Syrians worldwide are dancing in celebration. They are talking freely without fear for the first time in their lives. They are sharing their thoughts on FB! America says it helped topple Assad. How? It was only in Syria to protect its oil interests. It certainly wasn’t worried about people dying.

Then the conversation on the news turned to when all the refugees will return home. Apparently, those in neighbouring countries; those in temporary camps are already flooding back – understandable. They have faith there will be a better life in their homeland. Then…It wasn’t such a big step to link Syria having a new leader to when will ALL those refugees in Europe go back – and as an extension – why haven’t any of them left yet?

This is where I started getting vocal and telling the newsreaders how stupid they are. As you know, Naser and his family are in this category. They live in MK and have established their lives here after 13 years of hell. Just think how difficult it is to move country. It took me a good 6 months to sort myself out to leave Singapore. That was just me. It wasn’t a whole family who needed to move, resign jobs, leave school… Masah, Naser’s daughter is at university here in the UK. She has been to 12 schools in 4 countries to get to where she is. Not easy.  

Besides logistics, Naser is on cloud nine. He never thought this day would come. He had a death sentence on his head so there was no way he could return. He was one of those in a hole in a stinking prison and now the whole world can see what Assad did to his people – thousands of them, not just Naser.

He is talking to fellow Syrians about the future. He wants to rebuild a better country. He and his fellow Syrians do not need Israel to interfere and make a land grab – currently they have destroyed the navy, driven tanks to Damascus and been typically Israeli… Don’t get me started about That country! Syria has suffered enough.  Naser needs to get back all that was confiscated. Syria is his homeland. Here’s the dilemma – Should he stay, or should he go?  

If he goes, I will lose almost the best tennis partner ever; but I might have cheap future holidays in sunny Syria! Meanwhile he is so happy he can’t stop crying. He is contact with an international network of movers and shakers about rebuilding his homeland. This is BIG decision that only he can make.

While he is here, we have another big Christmas to look forward to. First things first.

Wonderful Syrian food!

The family settled and happy in MK

BBQ in sunnier times

 

 

 

Heading for Christmas

I am writing this while outside the wind is howling. It looks thoroughly unpleasant and I am not actually living in the parts of the country that are being hit the hardest this time. Currently lots of homes are without power because of storm Darragh with winds of 95mph and heavy rain. So, I should be thankful that I am in a warm space - but I don’t fully appreciate it. There is a clear link between my mood and the colour of the sky; and I am sure that in ancient times the winter celebrations were to counter this misery.

Out in Storm Darragh

This week, Danielle, the girls and I popped round to Sophie’s for a “tree lighting” ceremony. The log fire was blasting and it looked so lovely and festive. Thank you, Sophie – a big highlight of my week. I picked Ezra-Mae up from school the next day. She knew there was one of Sophie’s cakes waiting for her in the fridge if she had been good. Added to this, she has four Advent calendars which are turning her into a chocaholic. At least my homemade one has stuff other than chocolate in it – today was a Christmas tree stamp.

While driving home from Diane and Jeremy’s in the dark this week, I saw that Willen Lake has massive swans lit up – I must go and see them before Christmas. These are definitely an “Ah” opportunity. I managed to get a good look from the car as the traffic was chokka. I’ll brave the elements another time…

I realise I am getting on with my preparations far too slowly. The tree went up on the first. Now that I am essentially retired, I can spend all day doing something that took me no time at all. As a result, I put off til tomorrow what I could easily fit into today. I’ll get sorted by Christmas Day - I have to. I am making dinner for twelve plus a baby!

I always think of Christmas as a time to look forward to a better world. Making New Year Resolutions happens across many cultures. This year there is a lot to resolve on the home front. In other parts of the world, war is still raging. I have some of the war zones represented at my Christmas table  - Syria, Lebanon, Ukraine – but am missing other notable conflicts. One of my favourite Christmas songs is John Lennon’s one – I think it sums up a hopeful future. Perhaps we could spread the message.  

We might have a more cheerful time...

An early present from Nataliia

Bert

 

The Meadows at Stony Stratford

Britain has been battered by Storm Bert and while Bert has sent driving rain, high winds and floods to my area; my little home has remained warm and dry. The same cannot be said for Stony Stratford. The High Street was under water this week. The river had burst its banks again and the park area, flood plain and sports ground were big lakes.

I bumped into someone in Stony that I see at the swimming pool. He said he had stayed home for two days and this was the first time he had got out with his dog. He said the water had stopped rising and he had started pumping. His home backs onto the flooded meadows. There must have been a lot of homes in the area affected. I often think of the dream home I didn’t choose to buy because it had been flooded twice before 2021. But for that decision not to buy, I too could have been paddling through my home like so many others.

For one day this week, I stayed in and didn’t even make it into my garden. Over this week, I binge-watched BBC adaptations of the classics. I watched Bleak House, War and Peace and then I just couldn’t resist watching Pride and Prejudice just one more time. What wonderful TV! Bleak House is full of eccentrics – even eccentric actors like Johnny Vegas (Mr. Krook) played themselves so brilliantly.

Then of course War and Peace isn’t a happy story. Most of the men get blown to bits along the way while the sensible women make good decisions in their absence. The really redeeming bit is Pierre finally marrying Natasha – Only God knows why he didn’t ask her right at the start of the story. It is obvious they both love each other. That alone could have saved me hours of waiting for him to pop the question.

As for Pride and Prejudice, I can actually quote the Andrew Davies script word for word. The big highlight is Elizabeth Bennet’s rebuke of Darcy at the end of Episode 3. Though it is nice to know she fell for him when she saw the size of his house!

None of these synopses would get me a GCSE literature. In a way it is odd that I have been watching stories that I know already. They are such good reads and great entertainment– that is why they are classics, I suppose. I could easily watch them again before too long.

I have been out on my bike. I made a bad decision to ride through a puddle that stretched across the whole road. I thought I would keep my feet dry that way. How wrong I was. I hit a massive pothole that was hidden under water, I wobbled and then got wet anyway. If that is the worst that Storm Bert did to me, I have been lucky! Storm Conall - hot on the tails of Bert - has chosen to hit other parts of the UK. Again, this is lucky for lucky for those here.

The weekend was filled with tree lighting ceremonies. Wolverton is an especially friendly place and despite trundling a stroller with a flat tyre  along, Mattaya stayed asleep through all the carol singing and merriment and Ezra-Mae met loads of her new school friends. It was a lovely evening as was the Cosgrove one. 

I even made it to Ashridge with an old friend this weekend. The weather at the end of November has smiled on us after all.

The dog that had it all!

Very occasionally I do a bit of pet sitting. So far this year I have done it twice. It is a nice way to have the joy of a dog or dogs and other pets - mostly in very large, well-appointed properties. And, so it was last week that I had a four-day break with two dogs and a long-suffering cat. I mention this because this pet sit was so different and I more than fell in love with a naughty pup!

The house I did the sit in has potential and when the extension is finished it will be palatial. Unfortunately, between agreeing to the sit and doing it there had been a number of delays in the building work. It meant I had to take the dishes to be washed in another room and the floor of the extension was freezing cold. There were workers popping in doing bits while I was there so I knew it was a work in progress.

Add to the mix an 8-month-old golden retriever. He is gorgeous but like retrievers in general he ate everything. He managed to get the big bag of dog food off the table while I was out of the room and tuck into it. He ate my bread from the table while I popped to the next room to get cutlery and he ate my slipper. This meant that I had to walk around the cold floor in stocking feet. Argh.

The poor cat was terrorised by this pup. I had to keep her food out of his way. He even tried to eat her plastic bowl. I put everything I could on top of the fridge. Nowhere was far enough out of this dog’s way. However, when I sat in the snug and watched TV, this pup wasn’t content to sit near me. He had to sit on top of me. He was a larger-than-life, loveable mutt.

Now I am back home and into my normal routine. A little highlight was having a small birthday party for Nasser who is getting very old! Danielle brought the girls over and Ezra-Mae showed how well she can behave at the table. She really was grown up. Danielle made a birthday cake which probably had about 1000 calories a slice so we ate off each other’s plate so the calories didn’t count.

I have also finished my swim challenge this week. I have swum 150 miles since March 20^th. I have been away for more than 6 of those weeks too. With all the swimming, eating calorie-packed cake shouldn’t be a problem but it is. Perhaps I should get a dog of my own and take it for long walks as well as swimming. Maybe that should be my New Year’s resolution – More exercise; less cake!

 

Winter is upon us

Black Friday

Dark morning skies - Olney

I know from my travels how things and happenings from other cultures creep into my life and sometimes I can’t even remember how they got there. There are some things that have more than crept into our British lives and because I have been away for so long, they have become established, and I have no idea how they took hold. 

Black Friday is a shopping opportunity. I think it sounds like something terrible that should be avoided as black usually signifies bad things. I know where it came from – America. It is the day after Thanksgiving which is the third Thursday in November. As a family we did Thanksgiving when we were living in the Bahamas. It was a good opportunity to have a special meal. Nothing wrong with celebrations of that kind. That celebration is no longer on my calendar. I don’t particularly want Black Friday to come around either, but my email has been full of ads with offers I just can’t help but turn down. Bah Humbug! 

I had a bit of a grump about Halloween too. For weeks this year, the shops had been decorated with orange and black. When I was young, I enjoyed making a “guy” out of my father’s old clothes so that it could be thrown on a bonfire. We bought our own fireworks too. November 5th was a big thing in back then and now it is just a municipal fireworks display – a damp squib compared to the fireworks in SG. Few people even remember that it was once a command to light bonfires on that night to celebrate the king not being blown up. 

The most memorable November 5th was actually in the Bahamas. We went to a beach party to celebrate. After the display, one of the dads threw the old shells of the spent fireworks on the bonfire built from driftwood. We were sieged by the leftover casings that had ignited in the fire. It was scary stuff. I threw myself on top of my girls. How could I forget that trauma? It was us that nearly got blown up.

Christmas stuff has now been advertised since the end of September. Retail has taken hold of every opportunity to encourage people to buy. I used to smile about the way Deepavali lights morphed into Christmas and then Santa Claus would morph into a fat Chinese Mandarin for CNY. Because there were no seasons, these events helped with the passing of time. Of course, these events and the beautiful decorations encouraged people to visit Serangoon Road and Orchard where there were shopping opportunities but looking back I romanticise. 

Of course I shall pop into Central MK and Stony to look at the lights. I also realise the joy that these celebrations bring to the young. They will not remember the bargains bought in a Black Friday deal. These times will be in their happy memories though. In my dotage I see my past through rose-tinted specs. After all, it is within us all to remember the happy times over the bad.

Making memories

At the park with Nana