A friend who, with his wife, retired to France seven years ago was visiting friends and family this week and called in today. He hasn't changed a bit except to look more relaxed now he's out of the rat race. They've always been great animal lovers and at present have five dogs - the latest arrival is a Portugese Podengo - not a breed I'd heard of but I've a dog app on my phone so was able to look it up. He looks very like a fox apparently, with red hair and pointed ears, but his tail is not bushy. They're hunting dogs, and he hasn't dared let it off the lead yet. So he wasn't at all put off when Ben greeted him enthusiastically. Ben responds well to people who understand dogs and settled down very quickly. Though he did take a quick lick from the sugar bowl. W wasn't put off by that either and cheerily spooned sugar from the same bowl into his coffee. No wonder I like him. I don't think I mentioned that when Ben learned to open the fridge a few weeks ago he got his teeth into a piece of raw fish. I washed it of course and made sure it was my portion and the Sage got the unmouthed one, but I ate it all right.
Having revolted half of you (I would never do such a thing with anyone I was feeding I absolutely promise you, I do not impose my casualness on anyone else and am scrupulously hygienic when cooking for guests too), move on swiftly...
We both went to our funerals and saw a lot of people we knew - I said to Marian, the 95-year-old friend I gave a lift to that one of the best things about her birthday tea was that we saw so many old friends at a happy occasion instead of a funeral, which is what usually occurs. She invited me in for sherry when I took her home, so it was later than I'd expected when I left - I phoned the Sage and he reminded me that he was going to a meeting of his vintage car club, which also reminded me that he'd asked the other day if I'd like to go with him. I don't get an offer like that every day and it included dinner - so I said I'd drive straight to the pub and meet him there. We had a swift half hour for a delicious beef stew with dumplings and then a very convivial time at the meeting.
And home for a glass of whisky. Having been driving, I've been rather alcohol-deprived today. Cheers, darlings.
Having revolted half of you (I would never do such a thing with anyone I was feeding I absolutely promise you, I do not impose my casualness on anyone else and am scrupulously hygienic when cooking for guests too), move on swiftly...
We both went to our funerals and saw a lot of people we knew - I said to Marian, the 95-year-old friend I gave a lift to that one of the best things about her birthday tea was that we saw so many old friends at a happy occasion instead of a funeral, which is what usually occurs. She invited me in for sherry when I took her home, so it was later than I'd expected when I left - I phoned the Sage and he reminded me that he was going to a meeting of his vintage car club, which also reminded me that he'd asked the other day if I'd like to go with him. I don't get an offer like that every day and it included dinner - so I said I'd drive straight to the pub and meet him there. We had a swift half hour for a delicious beef stew with dumplings and then a very convivial time at the meeting.
And home for a glass of whisky. Having been driving, I've been rather alcohol-deprived today. Cheers, darlings.
11 comments:
A dog app?? At last I understand why I must get a smartphone.
A Z's best friend, Tim - or one of them, anyway.
My dearly beloved is a butterfly recorder for this area, so he is currently writing an app for butterfly recording. I hope I look sufficiently supportive when he tells me how far he has got with it each night.
You can offer me chewed fish anytime. Not my sister though, she caught me once as I had just taken a flan out of the fridge and the cat got to it while I was laying the table. A dainty 10p-sized portion had been nibbled delicately from the centre. I was just calculating how to disguise it when she came in and guessed what had happened and threw it straight into the bin. What a waste. Not something I would do to friends but I thought she loved that cat and would understand!
That reminds me of when I was a lot younger and making sandwiches for my school lunch. I'd put the ham on then realised I didn't have the pickle so went to the fridge to get some. When I turned around, one of the cats had the ham in his mouth. I delicately removed it, put it back on my bread and continued with the sandwich.
"a few weeks ago he got his teeth into a piece of raw fish. I washed it of course and made sure it was my portion and the Sage got the unmouthed one"
Why? ;)
Dog mouth on food surely must fall under the Five-Second Rule!
I trust your sister was happy to have nothing to eat for lunch then, Jane. You and Sarah and I would understand each other very well - though the difference between a cat and a dog is that you'd have no chance of removing ham from a dog's mouth.
I'm very polite, BW, and wouldn't ask anyone else to eat anything I wouldn't eat myself.
LX, brilliant - though I don't think I'd have eaten it if I hadn't been able to wash it, not because it had been taken from Ben but because it had been on the floor and was a bit gritty.
I'm sure most of us have private hygiene standards that are a lot laxer than the ones we adhere to for guests. When I'm on my own, I'll cheerfully pick food off the floor or eat pock-marked potatoes, but my guests would never be subjected to such horrors!
True, Nick. I also ignore use-by dates for myself but not for guests - one can never rely on their immune systems as one can ones own.
Having worked in the restuarant industry extensively, I always wash my hands after handling raw chicken.
I'm obsessive about washing my hands after handling raw meat, especially chicken. I can't touch anything else first - not even the tap, which I turn on with my wrist.
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