For all cat lovers … this is Sally trying to blend into the carpet while doing her Miss Cute act last evening!

Considering she’s a fairly lazy pudding of a cat who could do with losing a pound or two of kibble (who couldn’t?!) she’s doing well for 13+. You’d not know she’s had her thyroids removed. She’s still a pretty (not so) small cat with semi-long hair (nice light fluffy striped fur that floats everywhere) an apricot evening gown and black gloves. And yes, she still does cute all too well.

Experiment, week 19. This week’s five things which have made me happy or for which I’m grateful.

1. Orchids. Yesterday I got my first ever orchid flower! About a year ago my mother gave me an orchid plant which had finished flowering to see if I could get it to flower again. It’s been sitting on our bedroom windowsill, receiving no special attention, all that time and has just come back into flower. This is the first flower and there are another 7 or 8 buds on this one flower spike. I never thought I would have my very own flowering orchid.

   

2. Friends who give you a lift home at 11PM. Last evening we went to a performance of Bach’s St John Passion at Ealing Abbey with our friends Sue & Ziggy. Sam (S&Z’s eldest; just a teenager) was singing in the choir. Afterwards we went back to S&Z’s for a drink. And Ziggy volunteered to run us home at something gone 11PM. He didn’t have to; we were quite happy to get a taxi. But he insisted. Thanks, Ziggy! Much appreciated.
3. Local Auctions. Last Thursday our local auction house, Bainbridge’s at West Ruislip, had their roughly monthly sale. We keep saying we must go to a viewing and this week we managed it. As I’ve blogged so often before, their sales contain some gloriously incongruous toot as well as some very nice pieces. Sadly not a lot of silver this time. But there were two decorative halberds. We nearly went to the sale to bid on them. But common sense got the better of us. I mean where do you put two 10 feet (3 metre) long halberds in a 1930 terraced house? The viewing was a fun hour or so though.



4. Sunshine. I know! I know! I keep saying “sunshine”. But we’ve had such a lovely sunny week; all the buds are beginning to break; the Spring flowers are out; the birds are singing and it is definitely warmer. It really does feel like Spring. And the forecast for the next week is more of the same. We do need some rain though!
5. Thetford Forest. On Friday we went to Norwich to see my agéd mother, as we do every few weeks. I always love driving through Thetford Forest and Elveden. I love the pine forest; there’s always something interesting to see. As usual there were plenty of muntjac grazing just off the main road; and a couple of hares loping across a field. As well as the ubiquitous pheasants and rabbits. In the afternoon we sat with my mother in the garden of the care home where there were loads of primroses in the lawn and the only sound was of birdsong!

This week’s Listography is a pretty open-ended “challenge” as we’re invited to complete the sentence “five reasons I know I’m a …”. So how to finish that statement? I know, with the word “intellectual”.

That sounds conceited but it isn’t. We all have different skills. Mine happen to involve brain power. But I’m absolutely crap at anything manual: I have 10 left thumbs. I cannot even saw a piece of wood straight!

So here are five reasons I know I’m an intellectual:

1. I have a science doctorate (on the boundaries of physics and chemistry) but I also run a literary society. Although I have a broad understanding of science, medicine, history, language etc. I’m not a polymath: for a start I’m useless at foreign languages!

2. I see three sides of every argument before you even tell me one. And I see through management and marketing bullshit like a knife through butter.

3. I can sit in a health education session and realise my brain is bigger than the sum of all the others in the room, including the trainer. Not necessarily an advantage as it means I struggle to suffer people who don’t use what they’ve got, especially when they then also don’t believe what you tell them. I’m useless at manual things, but I do have to try sometimes. I expect other people to do the same with their brains.

4. I don’t need mental crutches like religion. I can think, and read, and argue. I can do morality without having it imposed from outside. I know there is no such beast as “natural justice” and that life isn’t fair. I can deal with it.

5. My hypnotherapist struggles to get stuff into, or out of, my subconscious. My conscious brain is so fast and so analytical that whatever he does it goes “Oh, he’s doing X. That’s interesting. I wonder if he’ll do Y now? Or does it mean Z? And I wonder how that fits with A?” rather than just going “La-la-la, isn’t that pretty”!

Which doesn’t make for an easy ride; in fact it can be downright depressing and demoralising. But then who said it was supposed to be easy?

Experiment, week 18. This week’s five things which have made me happy or for which I’m grateful.

1. Long-Tailed Tits. I’m seeing these delightful little birds — one of the smallest in the UK — more and more in our garden. They seem to especially like the Silver Birch tree (below). Until a couple of years ago I would see a small group maybe a handful of times a year. This winter they’ve been regular visitors and have got on the bird watch list almost every week. And now I am seeing a pair most days. Hopefully they’re going to nest somewhere nearby.



2. Smoked Chicken. This has become a staple in our house. Waitrose do individual smoked chicken breasts which are less expensive than buying carved cooked chicken and much tastier. So we now keep a couple in the fridge as a stand-by. They make a great salad.
3. Daffodils. Yes, I have to say daffodils again. I think they’re my favourite flowers and I love being able to have inexpensive bunches of daffs in the house.
4. Robins Singing. It is definitely Spring. The robin is singing almost continually. I woke up at 4.30 this morning and got up because I was uncomfortable. It was still dark, but the robin was singing away in the trees in our garden.



5. Dawn. One of the nice things about getting up early is seeing the dawn, which is so often just as lovely as sunset. And one of the few pleasures of winter is that you can get up at a sensible time and still see dawn. This morning dawn was beginning to break about 5.30 with some very subtle lemony hues, grey clouds and a crescent moon in the east. Having taken a few photos (both of the above) through the study window, I retired back to bed for a few more hours sleep.

Experiment, week 17. This week’s five things which have made me happy or for which I’m grateful.

1. Early Cherry Blossom. I noticed at the beginning of the week that many of the early-flowering cherries were out. Lots of trees covered in gorgeous white and pale pink flowers.
2. No Dental Treatment. I actually quite enjoy going to the dentist — but then I have a superb dentist with whom I often have scientific/medical conversations. I do not like being abused by the hygienists. But I do like it when my check-up shows that I don’t need anything doing. Thanks, Jonathan!
3. Butter Beans in Cheese Sauce. One evening this week we had vegetables in cheese sause for dinner. The vegetables included butter beans. I love butter beans, which is just as wel because I ate a lot of them as a kid. I especially love them in cheese sauce.



4. Daffodils. Friday I saw the first daffodils out locally.
5. Early Leaves. Also on Friday I spotted that some of the hawthorns were just beginning to open their leaves. Lovely bright fresh green buds and small leaves. And today it is warm and sunny! Spring really must be on the way.

Experiment, week 16. This week’s five things which have made me happy or for which I’m grateful.

This week has been full of food and family history!

1. Fish Display. I just love the displays of fish at our local Waitrose. These are just a couple of photos I took earlier in the week.

   

2. Joan’s Cherry Cake. Our neighbour across the road is in her late 80s and is beginning to lose her sight. So several of the neighbours keep half an eye on her, help her with errands and do bits of shopping for her — as much as she’ll let us because like all “old ‘uns” she’s fiercely independent. Every so often she insists on making us a cake. It’s very sweet of her and entirely unnecessary, but she enjoys doing it. This week she made a very nice cherry cake which was much appreciated for afternoon tea.
3. Trout. At the same time as taking the fishy photos above we bought a couple of gorgeous large trout for dinner yesterday. Very simply baked in foil parcels in the oven with a bulb of fennel and lemon juice; served with plain steamed new potatoes and mushroom sauce. Yummy!
4. Naval Family History. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve continued to investigate the naval connections of my family (for the start of the story see here). It’s proving immensely interesting to see what ships the guys served on and where they went. I’ll probably write more details about it when I’ve done more research and (hopefully) tied up some of the loose ends.
5. Prawns & Pasta. Another simple but satisfying meal tonight which took minutes to prepare and cook. Here’s how (you can do the quantities!). While preparing everything else, cook the pasta; when done drain it and keep it warm. Sauté some finely chopped onion and garlic in olive oil until going translucent. Add a quantity of thawed, uncooked king prawns; sauté for a minute then add some sliced mushrooms, tomato paste, half a glass of white wine and the juice of a lemon; plus a dash of chilli and/or chopped herbs if you wish. Mix together and cook for 5-6 minutes with the lid on to ensure the prawns are done. Near the end season to taste and add a bit more tomato paste if desired: the sauce should be thick and almost non-existent. Add the pasta and toss together for a minute or two. Serve with Parmesan (optional) and devour greedily!

Experiment, week 15. This week’s five things which have made me happy or for which I’m grateful.

1. Coleslaw. I’ve always liked coleslaw; good commercially made coleslaw. Home-made somehow just doesn’t work as well for me.
2. Bacon & Avocado. They’re nice individually but also make a great combination in salad. I wonder why we’ve eaten this twice in the last week?



3. Confit of Duck. On Tuesday we had lunch with our friend Patric (see below) at Café Rouge near St Paul’s Cathedral. The confit of duck was most excellent, although I wasn’t struck on the plum sauce that came with it which was sweet rather than sharp.
4. Solving Family History Problems. I’ve had a couple of breakthroughs this week on my family history. One was courtesy of …



5. Clarenceux King of Arms. I’m lucky to know Patric Dickinson who is Clarenceux King of Arms, England’s second most senior Herald (and not to be confused with the deceased poet of the same name). Now that sounds grand and as a title and position it is. Although he spends a significant part of his time involved with royalty (as a herald he has various ceremonial roles in the Royal Household), Patric isn’t at all grand. Like me he’s a grammar school boy and a normal human being. And as a professional genealogist he is fascinated by families. Consequently some while ago he wrested from me a copy of my family tree and quite unexpectedly and unbidden went about solving a conundrum about one set of my very ordinary, working class great-great-grandparents. He explained all this to me on Tuesday, prior to lunch together. It is a tale of non-marriages, second families and unexpected connections from the 1840s and 1850s. A fascinating piece of detective work which had defeated me. Many thanks, Patric!

[Both pictures culled from the internet. The top one is Patric being his normal self, albeit at a formal function. The lower is of Patric, enrobed, in procession at Windsor in his role as Secretary to the Order of the Garter. Sadly I don’t have a picture of him in his herald’s tabard.]