Of This And That

A very chilly and very overcast day here, the sun of yesterday now a fading memory.

Well, it was delicious

My rice pudding before we attacked it with gusto.  Mind you, we were very good and there is enough left for dessert this evening as well.  I never thought it was going to get done. Pudding rice, at least in this area, seems to be a thing of the past, nobody stocks it.  Basmati - yes, long grain- yes, wild rice - yes - you can get all those but plain old pudding rice...........no!  I even went to Tesco online in a search for it but could not find it there either.  In the end, in desperation, as by now him indoors  was dreaming of the rice pudding I had promised him, he went to the health shop.  Success.  They sold it under the name of Arborio white rice.  It looked the right shape so I went ahead and, as you can see, all was well.  It seems that nowadays everyone wants microwave rice puddings or tinned and there seems no call these days for good old pudding rice.  Sad really. I wonder if it is just in this part of the country.

Mike is continuing to lay insulation down in the loft and has come across one or two "lost" items up there in the process. Now, I do not know if your men are the same but ask Mike what ornaments are in our lounge and he simply could not tell you.  We have a saga every Christmas when I have to pack the ornaments away so that I can put up the Christmas decorations.  I always ask him to mark the box or boxes with whatever is in them.  Asking is one thing, getting  is another.  He always says he will remember.  So when it comes time to take the decorations down, we always have a problem.  "Where are the................" I ask him.  He looks blank.  Tells me he does not remember them.  Well, why should he, we have only had them for thirty odd years!!!!

When we moved to this bungalow we came from a four-bedroomed house.  Lots of things had to go and many more things were stored in the loft "temporarily".  The temporarily has turned into many years.  I have lost track of the times I have asked him where this ornament was or where that ornament had gone.  He assured me that every box in the loft had been gone through with a fine tooth comb and that I must have got rid of them.  I knew I never had.  My problem is that I cannot venture into the loft, never have been able to.  I do not like ladders and we have one of those pull down contraptions that is very steep.  I have never been able to attempt it.  I would much prefer having a cellar to a loft.  A cellar I could cope with. So, if him indoors tells me that everything has been checked, I have to accept it.

Late yesterday afternoon, he came down dragging some boxes with him.  "Better go through this rubbish" he says, pushing them towards me.  So in I dived.  Firstly I found a mouse had been in one of the boxes and made a nest - YUK. I hated to think of all that mouse wee over everything.  Anyway, it was mostly rubbish but buried under a heap of old newspapers were - a framed photograph of Mike's Dad,  and several of my missing ornaments!!! I had not seen them in over twelve years. 

Of course, him indoors had no explanation as to why he had never found them before or why he had told me that everything had been checked thoroughly. When I waved them in his face I get "oh yes, I remember them now".  MEN!!!!!!

He will be up there again this afternoon or tomorrow and who knows what might still turn up.  I know there are some missing family photographs. Whether they are still in existance I have no idea or maybe the mouse has eaten them if they were there to start with.

Anyway, if we find any treasures, I will let you know.  Now I am off to make a Shepherd's pie.

I am sure this desire to be cooking in the kitchen will wear off eventually.