Well the week started off OK but it has ended crappily as I awoke on Friday morning with a filthy head-cold. Friday was a struggle, Saturday was a no-go area and today I’m feeling about back to where I was on Friday; so hopefully I’ll be a lot better tomorrow after a decent night’s sleep.

So anyway, this is week 54 (so we should finish the first weekend of the new year) of the experiment documenting five things which have made me happy of for which I’m grateful this week.

1. Sausages. We’ve had two absolutely delicious sets of sausages this week. The first were Park and Black Pudding from Waitrose. The second are the stars, from our favourite butchers, Hiltons in Pinner: they make their own called Pinner Royal. These are award-winning sausages and maybe the best I’ve ever tasted. They’re succulent, densely meaty and very tasty — partly as they contain some pimento and partly because Hiltons use good meat. Hiltons are good because they specialise in organic, free-range and humanely reared meat, so you get something that looks, feels and tastes like proper meat rather than a piece of soggy pink plastic.
2. Sinex Nasal Spray. I dislike using nasal spray as I know they can wreck nasal membranes. But very occasionally it is necessary, as it was last night in order to be able to breathe and get a decent night’s sleep.
3. Wednesday’s Sunset. We were coming back from Pinner at sunset on Wednesday, and the sunset was absolutely stunning. Lots of dark peachy-orangey cloud above a bright azure blue sky. I did photograph it, but they really don’t do it justice; the blue just didn’t come through.

   

4. Osteopathy. Wednesday’s trip to Pinner was partly for hypnotherapy and osteopathy. On Tuesday I managed to hurt my right wrist (no, not like that!). I’ve done it before and it was hugely painful for a long time, so I knew I needed to get Chris to treat it ASAP. It seems that, as before, I had misaligned one of the small wrist bones — quite commonly done, apparently, pushing open doors. Chris gave it a waggley-twist and wrench. As he was doing the waggley-twist there was this grindy-grindy noise and feeling, followed by a snap putting it back. Now I know some people don’t like this and can’t stand cracking knuckles. But I don’t mind; indeed I quite like that connection with what my body’s doing.
5. Nice People. Noreen and I have spent two mornings this week at our doctor’s (guess where the head-cold came from?) talking to patients in the hope of getting some interested in joining the Patient Participation Group. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how nice people are. Very very few have said a flat “no, don’t want to know” and the vast majority have at least taken a flyer away and said I’ll read it and consider. What pleased me even more is that many of those most interested are the under-30s, both male and female, and of all ethnic backgrounds; also a good few young mums. We’ve met some interesting people and a few pretty girls; not many pretty boys though.

Week 53 and we get to the hardest part of the experiment: not just keeping focus and motivation for the last few weeks but also surviving winter. The greyness has really caught up with me in the last 2-3 weeks. Anyway here is this week’s pick of five things which have made me happy of for which I’m grateful this week.

1. Golden Leaves. Yes we still have lots of rich golden leaves on the trees — although fewer today after a very cold night — and they’ve looked just glorious in the winter …
   
2. Sunshine. Yes, sorry I have to repeat myself, especially at this time of year, as I really do appreciate every drop of sunshine we get. Not only do I suffer from SAD but I hate dull, grey, damp days. I’d much rather have bright, cold alpine weather.
3. Nice Scrabble Words. Scrabble, even played against oneself during sleepless nights, is pretty good at keeping the mind active. And being competitive I always want to beat my own best score. I enjoy being able to play unusual, fun or interesting words too. Like GNEISS or DJINN. Neither scored outrageously high but when I played DJINN a few days ago it resulted in a series of four very high scoring moves.
4. Wine Deliveries. The wine rack is overflowing. Because we thsi week we had three wine deliveris. What do you mean “Why?”? Because (a) the wine rack was almost empty, (b) it’s approaching Christmas and (c) because it’s time for …
5. Beaujolais Nouveau. No I’m not someone who is sniffy about Beaujoias Nouveau. Partly because we’ve found Nick Dobson Wines who ship wine from a couple of very small producers who create good wines, even in challenging years like this one.

   Vincent Lacondemine, Beaujolais Villages Nouveau. Light, bright, cool, refreshing berry fruits; ruby red, obviously young but oh so drinkable. If anything it’s even smoother than last year’s despite the awful summer. How did I manage to stop at just one bottle? If that’s what the nouveau is like the vintage should be excellent!

   Phillipe Deschamps, Beaujolais Nouveau. Initially much smoother on the palate than the Lacondemine, but not as characterful, thinner with more low molecular weight esters (amyl acetate comes through). Very drinkable, but so far I prefer the Vincent Lacondemine.

   I drink this stuff because I actually like it. We don’t all like to drink heavy, robust red wine all the time. And isn’t all part of enjoying the year’s rich cycle — along with the SAD.

Through the haze of whatever lurgy is trying its best to sink me at the moment here’s my contributions for week 52 of my experiment in documenting five things each week which have made me happy of for which I’m grateful.

1. Autumn Colours. Although the leaves are beginning to fall quite quickly now we’ve had a frost or two, there’s still some glorious autumn colour around (and a surprising amount of green too) — which looks wonderful on a nice sunny day like today. These photos were taken earlier today in our garden.



2. Baked Ham & Red Cabbage. Earlier in the week we had a baked gammon joint. And delightfully flavoursome, tender and succulent it was too! |To accompany it there was red cabbage: sliced and braised with some onion and cooking apple and then simmered slowly with a glass or two of red wine. Add pepper, caraway seeds, garlic to taste. A most excellent winter warmer veg.
3. Wasps. Yep we’ve still got our wasps around. Not so many now it is colder, but still the odd few in the house, with more in the attic. They’re mostly a mix of queens and workers, although I’ve seen at least one drone this week.
4. Rump Steak. Also earlier in the week we had a couple of really juicy and tender pieces of rump steak, courtesy of Waitrose. They have to have been some of the best pieces of steak I’ve ever had, they were just so tender.



5. Squirrels. And finally our resident squirrel, we discovered this afternoon, actually is resident — it has build it’s nest in the ivy at the top of our hawthorn tree. While in the garden we saw it running through the trees and Noreen spotted it sitting in its drey, a pair of ears and a beady eye poking over the edge! I like squirrels, despite that they are only tree rats, and I feel honoured to have one nesting in the garden.

So here we are at week 51 of my experiment in documenting five things each week which have made me happy of for which I’m grateful. It’s been a busy week, not helped by the fact that I was knocked out last weekend and the beginning of the week by my annual ‘flu jab.

Anyway, just for Sue, here’s this week totally non-foodie selection.

1. Golden Leaves. Many of the trees are still green, but there are also a lot of wonderful golden-yellow autumnal colours as well.
2. Clear Dental Check-up. We had our twice yearly dental check-ups this week. And we both got away with nothing needing doing — though we had to run the gauntlet of the hygienist as well.

   

3. Vintage Cars. Yesterday was our quarterly Anthony Powell Society London pub meet (always enjoyable) and one of the nice things about going into central London this day is that there are often vintage cars driving around getting ready for the London to Brighton run the following day. Although there weren’t many around yesterday I did see the one above receiving some attention near Lancaster Gate, having just been pushed out of the traffic. I managed a quick squint at the engine as we passed, and the cylinder block was tiny — little more than half the size of a shoebox.
4. Sunshine. When we see it, as we did a couple of times this week, I always feel much better.
5. Top Hat. I bought a top hat this week. You know, the way one does. It isn’t really for wearing but more to provide a fun hat to be passed round at AP Soc. gatherings.

Week 50 of the experiment, and just ten weeks to go documenting five things each week which have made me happy of for which I’m grateful. This week we have … Oh God, it’s going to be a foodie week again!

1. Pickled Onions. I don’t eat pickled onions for months at a stretch, and then I decide I want them, which is what happened this week. Why I don’t eat them all the time I don’t know, ‘cos I always really enjoy them. Unless you’re going to the fiddler of doing your own (which I used to) then Garner’s are the best available by a long way.
2. Lime & Chilli Prawns. This was the last thing I did before collapsing with the after-effects of the ‘flu jab. King prawns, with the juice and zest of a couple of limes, a chilli, some onion, garlic, tomato and mushroom; sautéed and served with pasta, à la mode d’ici.
3. Queen Wasps. Just as blogged earlier in the week. And I can confirm they are indeed Vespula vulgaris as I suspected.
4. Chillies. The chilli crop is nearing the end; there are just a handful left to ripen and the flowers have almost ceased. Even the prolific tiny red Explosive Ember are petering out. But earlier this week I picked a magnificent collection of about 10 each of the large yellow Scotch Bonnet Yellow Mushroom and Hot Lemon.
5. Thicker Duvet. It’s got noticeably colder this week — and you know it’s cold when I say it is because I’m normally a warm mortal. Although I’m not sure we really need it yet it is nice to snuggle under the heavier weight duvet. The cats like it too!

Week 49 of the experiment, and it’s been another manic week. Indeed it has been so manic I’ve had to scrub a couple of things I wanted to do; one needs a certain amount of elbow room and breathing space. Anyway here are my five picks of things which have made me happy of for which I’m grateful.

1. Productive Meetings. I’ve had several meetings this week and at least two have been really good and productive.

   Yesterday was the Anthony Powell Society AGM; as a charity we have to do things by the book. Like all these meetings it is seldom hugely well attended although, as yesterday, we normally get 20-25 members present (as well as a tranche of proxy votes). This makes for a productive meeting with some useful discussion and excellent ideas from the members to keep people like me on our toes. And somehow I always manage to find an interesting speaker; yesterday was no exception so thanks to John Blaxter.

   And on Monday I had a really good meeting with our doctor’s Practice Manager and his deputy working through how we’re going to organise and run the Patient participation group which I have now been fingered to chair. Another extremely productive hour.

2. Cold Sausages. I love sausages. Almost every sausage from plain British bangers to Bratwurst in a bun. But cold sausage always goes down well in a sandwich for lunch.
3. Adnam’s Ghost Ship. Naughty child that I am I’ve had a couple of pints twice this week. One of them was Adnam’s Ghost Ship, a very pale, light, beer with a delightful fragrance and a citrus-y flavour, almost like a clear Wheat Beer. Here is Adnam’s own description:
   

   This beer has good assertive pithy bitterness with a malty backbone and a lemon and lime aroma. Ghost Ship is brewed with a selection of malts – Pale Ale, Rye Crystal and Cara. We use Citra, and a blend of other American hop varieties, to create some great citrus flavours.

4. Left-Overs Risotto. One evening during the week we had accumulated several bits of left-overs: the end of the beef joint, some dressed salad, some spare veg and a couple of steamed potatoes. Thrown together i n a p[an with some Arborio rice, some stock from the freezer and a good slug of red wine it made a really hearty rich risotto.

   

5. St James’s Church, Piccadilly. As I mentioned above yesterday was the AP Soc. AGM which we held at St James’s Church, Piccadilly. But “Arrgghhhh!!!!!” there’s the TUC Anti-Austerity March going along Piccadilly exactly when we need to get the car there to deliver stuff; not a hope due to road closures. So we had to go early in the morning and waste time. I asked the church if I could leave our boxes there for the morning (we had the room from 1pm). Not only did they oblige but they let us have the room for most of the morning, to guard our valuables and set up at leisure. They even evicted the TUC stewards who were using another of there rooms as their coordination point and squatting in the adjacent room! Excellent service and way beyond what I’d even dreamt of. They are also extremely good value; room hire is so much cheaper than almost anywhere else in London; and it’s an historic church with many associations, which does good work and is well worth supporting. Oh and Tuesday through Saturday every week they have a super antiques and/or craft market in the churchyard — well worth visiting for those special presents.

At week 48 we’re now 80% of the way through my 60 week experiment documenting each week five things which have made me happy of for which I’m grateful.

Yet again it’s been a busy week, but a week crammed full of good things, so here are my top five picks fro the week …

1. Lunch with Friends. All this really isn’t good for my waistline or my blood sugar levels. Twice this week we’re had lunch with friends. First on Monday we had one of our 3-ish times a year get-togethers with a few former colleagues. Then on Thursday we were in Norwich (again) to see my mother whose birthday was on Friday and we again had a superb gastro-pub lunch with a friend. All most enjoyable.
2. Smoked Chicken. I think it must have been Wednesday evening we had smoked chicken breasts with salad. The Rannock Smoked Chicken comes from Waitrose. Surprisingly isn’t any more expensive than the regular stuff, but a whole lot nicer. In fact it’s so good we always keep a couple in the fridge.
3. Online Shop. At last, after weeks of work an d endless head-scratching, I managed top get the Anthony Powell Society online shop up and live. It’s been a lot of work, not because it is inherently difficult but there was a lot of it and there was a coding bug I just could not find — but which I did find on the third minute read-through of the code. And it is already proving it value with a number of unexpected orders flowing in.

   

4. Sunday Lie-in. With such a busy week we’ve had a number of early starts and I haven’t been sleeping well. How lovely then to not only sleep pretty well last night but also sleep late. I know I came to a couple of times in the night (that’s normal for me) but I didn’t even begin to surface properly until almost 9 this morning, and didn’t manage a vertical position until 10. All done naturally, without alarms etc., so I felt rested and relaxed (so relaxed I’ve done nothing much today).
5. Roast Beef. One of the two major things I’ve done today is our roast beef dinner. A melt-in-the-mouth double rib of beef, nicely rare (actually a bit too rare for Noreen — sorry!) with jacket potatoes, and steamed cabbage, broad beans and fennel. Roasting beef never was one of my strong suits, but hopefully I now have it sorted, although I still can’t be bothered with the faff of doing Yorkshire puddings.

Well her we are at week 47 in my experiment documenting each week five things which have made me happy of for which I’m grateful.

And what a week! I’ve not had time to turn round this week and the next two don’t look any better; I’m feeling seriously stressed and lacking “me time”. But it serves me right for volunteering!

So anyway, to my five things. This week I give you …

1. Family Reunions. On Monday I met up with my father’s three half-sisters. The eldest I have met once before when I was 10 and she was 18. The younger two (both within a year of my age) I had never met. My grandfather’s illicit liaison, which started during the war, ended up splitting the family as my father was always seen by his brother & sister to be on grandfather’s side against grandmother, and grandmother wouldn’t give grandfather a divorce. Frankly my father was trying to be fair to everyone (even if somewhat heavy-handedly) and give his half-sisters a chance in life, especially the younger two who ended up in Barnado’s — after all their predicament wasn’t their fault. Anyway, yet again I’ve managed to put a broken piece of the family back together. My half-aunts were overjoyed as they thought their father’s side of the family was lost to them forever. We spent a great afternoon with them and a couple of my half-cousins, sitting in a London pub just catching up of family things. And here’s the photo to prove it …

   

2. Norwich. It was Noreen’s birthday on Thursday and she chose to spend the day in Norwich. Fine by me as we both love Norwich. We took one of our friends and spent the day revisiting old haunts, and discovering one or two new ones. Then on the way home we dropped in to see my mother briefly. Yes, it was a good day, and even almost dry! Photos on Flickr when I get some time!
3. PayPal. One of the things I’m doing for the literary society is building a decent online shop. And in the process we are trying to move our credit card merchant facility away from the current provider (who are charging us too much) to PayPal. After much to-ing and fro-ing PayPal finally accepted us this week! Now I just have to get the shop pages to work properly!
4. Pork & Apple. See here.
5. Sunshine. After a dismal start to the week we’ve had several sunny days and i even managed to spend an afternoon in the garden — actually repotting houseplants. Lovely crisp sunny autumn days!

Welcome to week 46 in my experiment documenting each week five things which have made me happy of for which I’m grateful. Why is it that some weeks I really struggle to find anything much which has stood out from the crowd, and other weeks it seems everything has been special. I do try to keep a quick memory jogger of special things as the week goes along; some weeks I get to Friday and already have a list of 12 items; but in weeks like this one by Friday I have just one thing on the list. I guess it’s called “life”, which is probably why I don’t understand it! Anyway here’s some sort of list for this week.

1. Apples. As befits this time of year this has been an apple week. I love apples when they are crisp and crunchy and juicy — but they have to be fresh and in season.
   First of all at the beginning of the week one of our friends brought us a big bag of Bramley cooking apples (below left) from a tree in one of his friends’ gardens. It seems that near us Bramleys are about the only apples that have produced any sort of crop this year; our tree has produced about half a dozen small scabby specimens due to the appalling weather in the Spring.
   Secondly our weekly Waitrose trip turned up some English apples varieties. We indulged in some Blenheim Orange (below right) — sharp, tart, almost cooking apples — and some large under-ripe Cox’s — juicy, sharp but slightly sweet, just as they should be; I can’t abide all this over-ripe pappy stuff!.

2. Haircut. Remember how when you were a kid you hated having to go for a haircut? Well certainly all the young lads I’ve ever known have hated the barber. Earlier in the week I went for a (several weeks overdue) haircut. I quite enjoy seeing Mr Clive, my barber; he’s a cheerful sort, it is good to set the world to rights and you occasionally get interesting snippets of local gossip.
3. £10 off at Waitrose. For some reason best known to themselves Waitrose have sent me a couple of vouchers for £10 off my shopping (as long as I spend £100; easy on a weekly shop). One for use now and another for later in October. I don’t mind if I do! Thank you!
4. Mince Pies. ‘Tis the season of impending Christmas and there are now mince pies in the supermarkets. They seem to be cropping early this year. I will likely have eaten a regiment’s worth of them by the time we get to New Year!
5. Chillies. My chillies continue. We’ve already had a good crop of the yellow “Hot Lemon” and the tiny red “Explosive Ember” (which I leave to dry and use as crushed chilli through the winter). And this week we have the first two ripe Scotch Bonnet type, a variety called “Yellow Mushroom” — stingingly hot in curry! And there are more of all yet to ripen, although the supply of flowers is drying up now it’s got a bit cooler. Next year I think I might grow just the “Hot Lemon”; they’re definitely the favourites; the Scotch Bonnets never do hugely well (they prefer more heat and light than even my study windowsill can provide) and I don’t need more small chillies as we have a goodly supply of dried chilli in the cupboard.

Week 45 (just 15 to go) in my experiment documenting each week five things which have made me happy of for which I’m grateful — and it’s been another strange week where I’ve totally lost all notion of what day it is. Anyway here’s my choice for the week.

1. Eton. On Monday I had to go to a meeting at Eton College. I always enjoy going to Eton, it is such a civilised place even if one does feel somewhat out of one’s depth. The school itself rambles across a large area, which isn’t surprising as it has to house, teach and entertain over 1200 boys. It includes some wonderful architecture — the old College buildings; the early 16th century Lupton’s Tower and the 15th century chapel are just a delight. What’s also nice is that the town still has something approaching an old-fashioned high street of small shops (many in late Regency properties) although sadly they are now more tourist orientated than domestic. One thing I noticed on this visit was that the whole place was adorned with huge hanging baskets of red, white and blue flowers; the white was a petunia (actually blushed with mauve) which had a delightful scent of jasmine. Somehow Eton always seems so much more friendly and inviting than Harrow.

   

2. Sunshine. Yes we actually saw the sun a few times this week! Yesterday (Saturday) was so glorious, even if not hugely warm, it was a shame not to be out in the garden.
3. Beef Curry. Just for Sue I have to include something about food; and we’ve had so much good food this week. Should I mention Friday’s pan-fried lamb with whisky? Or yesterday’s most excellent sausages with linguine in a spicy tomato sauce? No I think I shall mention Tuesday’s beef curry. Yummy beef having been marinaded all day in curry spices, garlic, ginger, lemon juice and gin; cooked with spinach and served with Noreen’s very lemony rice.
4. Orchids. My orchids just go on and on. The first ones in flower have now finished and the later ones are following on behind. But on Friday I succumbed to another: a pretty pale yellow slightly blushed with pink, very like the one on the right — a colour-way I’ve not seen before. And I have two (one mine; one my mother’s) which are already growing flowing spikes again. These plants are mad!
5. Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. We are especially enjoying Italian wines at the moment; the reds especially seem much richer and fuller than the French, and I think one is getting much better quality wine for the same money. We first had this Montepulciano at one of our local Italian restaurants and subsequently found it being sold by Majestic Wine. It is a lovely soft but full-bodied red, just right for accompanying those sausages and pasta. Indeed one could sit and drink it all evening.