Monday 22 December 2008

Z finds the Venison

The five o'clock bulletin - I just opened the fridge to put in the soup from last night, which had still been warm so had been left in the cold larder. There was the missing venison. Right there in plain view.

I'd checked the fridge three times for it, moving everything to make sure it wasn't lurking. I've opened the fridge innumerable times since to get things out or put them in. That venison was not there. Now it is. Well, it isn't any more. I've taken it out and if it's still fit to be eaten, I'll make a casserole and if it isn't, I'll throw it away.

It wasn't there. I looked properly. Then it was. I have no explanation.

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It is now 5.50am. The venison was fine. No apparent deterioration took place during its period of dematerialisation. I made a casserole with the vegetables I had - I'd used some of the ones I'd planned to add during the past couple of days. So it has in it onions, shallots, carrots and a tin of tomatoes, as well as red wine. Now it reposes, cooking gently, in the bottom oven where it will stay for the next couple of hours or more.

I'm eating porridge now. I had a most restful afternoon and evening. I made soup, from onions, celeriac and a stray turnip and decided to watch a film whilst making wreaths. In the mood for amusement, I picked The Hudsucker Proxy, which screwball comedy bears re-watching every so often. I started wreathing and finished as the film ended, having used up all my materials and made five wreaths.

After dinner, I turned the lights off and lit some candles. No, I lit a candle first, then turned the lights off, then lit the other candles. It was very relaxing. I listened to music, chatted to the Sage, read blogs - I've caught up with feed-reader saved posts - and read the paper; this last a bit slowly as I could only see a bit of the page at a time. In between whiles, the Sage was making phone calls. I think he must have flagged on the card writing, and was ringing friends instead. As good if not better, to speak to people whom we rarely see.

I was in bed by 11.30, asleep an hour later and awake two hours after that. At 5 o'clock, I gave up on attempting to sleep and got dressed. After breakfast, I'll polish the cutlery. It can do with it, and I'd be pushed to have another opportunity.

It is 3 minutes past 6. This will be a long day. At least we're past the shortest, so more of it will be light than yesterday was.

18 comments:

Dave said...

I think Tilly's been playing games with you. Hiding the venison, eh?

Z said...

There's no other way of accounting for it, Dave.

Anonymous said...

I think the venison was helping Santa out. I brought it back to life especially, but the spell seems not to have lasted very well...

Z said...

I should have known who to blame.

Sorry, Tilly.

A wildlife gardener said...

The inexplicable happens to me too...I blame it on having too many things to do in a short space of time, and, judging by your extremely busy schedule over the past few days, I'd say you more than qualify for that explanation :)

We are in Paris for Christmas.... First time on our own in 40 years! On Christmas Eve we'll go to a service in French at 7pm, then on to an organ recital at 10pm, and, finally, a Watchnight in St Michael's at 11pm...that should do the trick :)

Happy Christmas to you and yours...and, be kind to yourself re the diet. New Year resolutions are coming up :)

Dandelion said...

Oh ye of little faith. It was obviously your Christmas ghost.

Z said...

I meant 'whom to blame' of course.

What a lovely plan, to spend Christmas in Paris and make it something special to remember, rather than feeling a bit too quiet at home. I hope you have a wonderful time.

I have Stilton and a lovely goat cheese. And I'm planning to buy chocolate. But not to make any mince pies or anything that will tempt me but isn't worth it in the long run.

Z said...

Well Dand, I hope it is a ghost, because otherwise it's me being completely witless.

Pat said...

I've noticed before -inanimate objects love to play hide and seek at this time of year.
Happy Christmas!

Dandelion said...

You? Witless? That's hardly likely, is it?

I think the supernatural is clearly the most probable explanation. And it is obviously a benign Christmas ghost, because otherwise they wouldn't have given you the venison back, would they?

Dave said...

I must admit to a certain amount of disappointment that it wasn't the flesh-eating monster lurking in the wainscoting.

Z said...

The flesh-eating monster would be quite welcome if the flesh it ate came from the right places around my ribs.

Listening to Dr Stutteford (I should check in the paper to make sure I've spelled it right but hey) talking on the radio about signs of dementia, I got a bit gloomy. Mind you, my family have long puzzled how, were I to get Alzheimers, they would be expected to notice the difference.

Thank you, Dand. You sneaked in a rather charming compliment there.

Unknown said...

I think you're thinking about No'3 too much!

Z said...

I'll have another go, John.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting to read about your life in your part of the world. Hope you're having a beautiful holiday season. Thanks for visiting my blog and for your comments. Diane@Pinecones & Roses

Z said...

It's all a bit chaotic actually, Diane, but at least it's not as cold as it is with you!

Thanks for dropping in.

Anonymous said...

The venison and the tea infuser were bored yesterday so they played hide and seek. Obviously the tea infuser is much better at this than the venison.

Z said...

A saucepan lid joined in the fun, but the Sage found it. There's altogether too much Christmas spirit in the kitchen at present.