Spot the Difference

I was 'Karchering' around the pool yesterday; cleaning away all the Winter muck and growth on the flagstones (the beach).

I also had a go at our poolside bench under the Fig tree.

It is now once again 'Wood Colour', and looks sittable-on. Even Lady Magnon approves.

Slowly but surely; we're getting there.

In fact we ARE now 'there'. The pool water is sparkling, and inviting. The flagstones are all as clean as they'll ever be. And the Lutyens bench is demonstrably made of WOOD. 

In celebration of which I opened a bottle of Champagne (Saumur) last night. All our efforts were worthy of a few bubbles methought!

Even my 'mechanic' brought-back Rory yesterday evening (Rory is my ride-on mower). Rory had a 'starting problem' which is now FIXED. 

Things are going well.

 

Things I've missed.

Having made my own Bacon in the past, I know how easy it it to create a really delicious product that doesn't seep 'gunge' when cooking.

This Bacon (below) is sliced from a slab and is totally delicious. Why can't all Bacon be made like this? Back in the UK I've almost given-up buying ready-sliced packs of Bacon; instead I now only buy Sainsbury's Bacon 'steaks', that come as two 'rounds' of Bacon in a pack, and are very good.

If I had an easy supply of good quality UK Belly Pork, I would still make my own bacon; but alas.....

Another favourite product that I can't buy back in the UK is Figatelli. This is a Corsican dried sausage that contains Liver. The Liver gives it a haunting flavour that is unlike any other.

It's a very dark and brooding sausage (possibly not to everyone's taste) but for aficionados it's addictive; I have to stop myself heading for the fridge for just 'one more slice'.

The other thing I've probably missed most are my cookery books. All my Rick Stein books, and Elizabeth David, and others. I love re-reading them and trying out different nuances in my dishes. These books (some of which are below) are in the 'Tower', and on really hot afternoons that's where you'll find me, flicking through the pages of some Italian or Mediterranean recipe book.

The pool is now perfectly clean, and at about 24 C is swimmable. In this heat I cannot tell you what a pleasure that is.

This afternoon (yesterday) it's 30 C in the shade, so perfect weather for swimming. The flagstones haven't yet been 'Karchered', but we didn't care; they can wait. Here is Lady M enjoying a few lengths, with Billy admiring her bravery. It was BRACING. The pool looks very narrow in the photo; it's actually 4 metres wide. It looks about 3 metres wide; cameras do lie!

Bloody Nutters.

 

The world's population is estimated to be around 8.2 Billion, out of which just a small handful of men cannot behave themselves. They are a bunch of total idiots and warmongers.

Putin, general secretary Xi, some Ayatollah or other, and Kim ' baby face' Jong Un (plus a few irrational terrorist group leaders), seem to think they have the right to involve the rest of us in their (mostly Communist) expansionist policies by killing people they don't like. 

Well, I for one don't want any part in it, so if they really insist on letting off big bombs, would they please do it on their own soil, and kill their own people. Don't exercise your hang-ups on the rest of us peace-loving folk.

I hear that those charming mullahs in Iran, are now threatening the USA, the UK, and France (I can't escape). Don't those Iranian Shia Muslims believe in peace, sanctity of life, or even the freedom of thought? Obviously not!

One of the most bizarre revelations of the current Iran/Israel conflict is that many Iranians are actually supporting Netanyahu. They want their repressive regime to fall, and they don't wish to see their country destroyed. Perhaps one massive collective assault on Tehran would bring Khomeini to his senses, and he'd raise his white flag. I hear that Iranians have even been spotted shouting "Death to Ayatollah".

As I learned on Day 1 of my Officer Training course; 'know your enemy, go in hard, go in strong'! That's the only way to get this conflict over and done with quickly.

But, please, LEAVE ME OUT OF IT!

Sandy Powell

This act probably seems rather 'old hat' these days, but in his day (Yorkshireman) Sandy Powell was one of the biggest stars of Music Hall. Some might remember his famous catch-phrase "Can you hear me Mother?".

I worked with him in a variety show. I was a student at the time, and had taken a holiday job as ASM (Assistant Stage Manager). Powell wasn't an easy man to work with, he was a cantankerous old codger, often sozzled, and didn't like being told what to do. I often had difficulty getting him on stage. 

On one occasion he was watching some Football match on TV in his dressing room, and refused to go on. I had to hurriedly reorganise the whole evening's running order to cope with his absence. He went on later (reluctantly).

Here he is performing what was probably his most well-known, and well-loved, sketch, as a ventriloquist. The long-suffering assistant was his lovely wife Kaye. How she put-up with him, I shall never know!

The shocking reality

Once all the leaves and water on the pool's winter cover were removed, and the cover itself taken away, this is what we were left with (below). YUK!

It's the same every year. The water level was low, the water itself a nasty green colour, and the flagstones in desperate need of the Karcher.

We need the water level to rise before we can turn on the pump, and start treating and cleaning the water. With just a garden hose (by Billy's feet) it takes a long time to reach the desired level.

Once the water is circulating, and the chemicals added, we can think about cleaning the flags. It'll be at least another couple of days until we can actually swim.

As it happens, we're having a short spell of cooler weather with some rain, then on Monday the heat returns, and we are to have 30-35 C for a couple of weeks; so it has worked out quite well.

I can hardly wait to get those flagstones clean. It always looks so grubby when we open up. The Karcher does a great job. I will clean the Lutyens chair at the same time, it's covered in lichens.

By Tuesday or Wednesday, it should all look like this (below). 

In fact, by late afternoon yesterday it was already a nice blue colour. All the muck has now gathered on the bottom; ready for me to vacuum tomorrow (today). 

Happy times ahead!

 

Back to the old routine.

First things first, so it was off to the woods at first-light (7 am). Amazingly, no-one seems to have visited my mushrooming spot.

This (below) is part of the view from the front of our house, and, in the distance, is where my mushrooms grow. As you can see, it is all very tranquil. The pale treetops are Chestnuts, which are all in flower; the aroma is all-invading.

As I said above, it seems as if no-one had been to my mushroom patch for a while; there were Girolles everywhere. In fact I picked far too many. Omelet tonight.

We had a good shopping trip to Leclerc, but for some odd reason there were already crowds of people there waiting for the 9 am opening time (My Sainsbury's in England opens at 7 am). I don't enjoy being jostled by crowds in a supermarket.

However, we did manage to buy a few essentials, including a magnum of Pétrus 1971 (ask no questions, and I shall tell no lies), and a couple of bottles of our favourite fizzy Saumur. I shall buy more Saumur on Tuesday; it's always good to have a ready supply. This stuff is as good as Champagne any day!!!

But, not everything goes smoothly. At midnight last night we had a small storm. Thunder, lightning, and rain. I suddenly remembered that I'd left the car windows open, so up I got, torch in hand, and walked through the rain to the car (about 50 yards), and closed them. Rain seems to be a thing of the past in Brighton, so I wasn't expecting any here either!

This morning, whilst it's still reasonably cool, we shall clean the pool cover of all its dead leaves, etc, and hopefully pump off all the water.

Lady M is becoming restless. SHE NEEDS TO SWIM.

Journey completed.

French roads are a real pleasure to drive on. They are comparatively quiet, without potholes, and extremely well sign-posted. Our two day drive south was without incident, and (amazingly) without getting lost. Our new little gadget for getting through the 'T' gates on the Péage roads worked perfectly, and unlike the old one, the new one 'pings' when you go through.

It was hot on leg 1 of our trip, and very hot on leg 2. Billy slept for most of the way, and was really excited when we reached home. Our gardener popped-in to see us with his Black Lab', and the two of them had a wonderful time playing together. I suspect, like us, Billy's very pleased to be back.

I gave the lawn a quick trim, looked at all the growth everywhere else, and decided to leave it for another day.

By early evening we were both EXHAUSTED, so, after a nice bottle of Pécharmant, and a slice of Lady M's Quiche, we sat outside enjoying the warm evening air, watching the Buzzards flying, and listening to the Crickets 'chirping'.

Tomorrow we might attack the pool. It's certainly swimming weather.

But before we do anything else, we'll go SHOPPING to Leclerc. I have a long list of delights to bring home!