Sunday 8 June 2008

Lemon and rosemary chicken, and train jam

13st 10lb; 8.5 units of alcohol yesterday; 1,336; Cape Desolation.

One of the many things about which the LTCB has consistently mocked me is my anal approach to scheduling, so it was a real delight to find her setting the alarm clock for 8.30 this morning, after working backwards through all the things she needed to do before my aunt arrived for lunch at 12.30. Though in fact our guest was half an hour later than that, having been trapped in the street where she lives by a policeman guarding some sort of parade. “There’s a load of teddy bears going past now - on motorbikes” she reported at one point, in a particularly glum answering machine message which could only invite the question: why? Clearly not a grant of freedom march for some soldiers back from Afghanistan, then.

Still, it was a beautifully warm day so we were able to take the rare opportunity to sit outside in the sunshine sipping an aperitif while we waited for Auntie to turn up. When she did so, the LTCB’s roast lemon and rosemary chicken proved completely delicious, while the accompanying roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips were a triumph. The following baked nectarines with Doddington ice cream were equally enjoyable, and I detected that my aunt was impressed. Indeed, I began to suspect that they were getting on rather too well as whenever I stepped out of the room my return seemed to interrupt a most entertaining exchange about some impossibly grumpy old bloke with whom they are apparently both acquainted. I never did find out who he was.

The LTCB intercepted a barmy intruder in my kitchen while making coffee: some mad old bat who claimed, when challenged, to be looking for my next door neighbour. At least she was not armed and did not have the presence of mind to grab one of my own kitchen knives before I escorted her firmly off the premises. Perhaps the days of leaving doors unlocked are over even in this remote part of England.

I took the LTCB to Alnmouth for the 16.47 to York, and returned home feeling lonelier than I have done for some considerable time. But obviously happier than the person who was delayed by such a train jam in York station that she missed her second connection in Manchester, thereby turned a tiring and tedious 4.5 hour journey into a 5.5 hour one.

No comments: