We had the gang, aka our daughter and most of her offspring, round for a meal yesterday. For various reasons we’ve not seen the eldest granddaughter for a while. For the same various reasons she and the second granddaughter have not seen each other for even longer. Whether that had anything to do with it or whether someone slipped giddy juice into the food I do not know, but the conversation around the dinner table got rather loud and giddy and silly. And Phil and I were the only ones drinking wine and we were probably the most sensible.
The two smallest caught the general giddy mood and once given permission to leave the table (yes, we and their mother all insist on requesting permission to leave the table!) ran around sticking paper spiders on more grown-up people’s backs and other such nonsense.
It was nice to see everyone having a good time, especially the three sisters. Hopefully it will have set up the workers for the week beginning today. It certainly made up for the rain! We made our own sunshine!
Today by the way is another dull day but so far the promised rain has not arrived. It still doesn’t feel much like summer. May is out, in the sense that we have moved on into June, and also in the sense that the “May” blossom, i.e. hawthorn, is not just out and blooming but coming to an end. So, according to old sayings, we can now start to cast clouts - in other words put winter clothes away and don lighter wear! And yet, when I went for my run this morning it still felt rather chilly! So it goes!
The jubilee celebrations are over and done with. We can all get back to business as usual. And this morning came the news that the Tory MPs are going to vote this evening on whether or not they have confidence in Mr Johnson. Some time after 8.00pm we’ll find out if he really is teflon-coated or if his MPs finally had enough. If the vote goes against him, the next question is: who will replace him? Not an easy decision, I think!
Someone interviewed in France yesterday described the British as an island nation who eat a lot of fish. I’m not sure that most of us are truly conscious of living on an island. An awful lot of us are city dwellers or at least suburban dwellers. Island dwellers live on the Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, the Isle of Anglesea or the Scottish islands. Even though many of us live not much more that 50 miles from the sea, I don’t think we’re really aware of it.
As a child, growing up in Southport, but out of sight of the sea, I thought I would always like to live in a place where I could easily access the sea shore but I never thought about us being an island. And then I went away to University in Leeds, well away from the sea and since then have lived mostly in Greater Manchester, also well away from the sea. Yes, I know I can still get there in an hour and a bit but it’s not the same. However, I think the hills and moorlands have replaced the sea shore for me.
As regards being a nation who eat a lot of fish, how many of us really do? Phil and I do. And I know the fishman at the market on Uppermill does quite a good trade but it would be interesting to see some proper statistics.
Here’s some stuff about fish and chips, or rather, in praise of chippies.
They start the article with a sort of disclaimer about it being unfair to inland chippies to claim that best chippies are by the sea. So I won’t protest but I will repeat my praise of Diggle Chippy. I would like to add to that a mobile chippy we discovered recently: Cod in a trap - a kind of Elvis-tribute chippy. Really good chips! Of course, the best fish ‘n’ chips are always the ones you eat outdoor, walking down the street in the late evening, sitting by the Diggle duck pond at the end of a hike, or on a windy sea front, possibly having to protect your chips from the rather aggressive seagulls!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment