Paella in the garden

Wake at 5:30, let Norman out and give him his breakfast and then sleep until 8:30, not too bad a night despite being woken several times by my cough. Make rye toast with honey and black coffee for breakfast, which I eat in the Garden Room, outside it's a fine sunny morning so put on a wash load of whites before showering and dressing and making my way to Cherry. I still feel a little weak but after collecting Dolly and Teddy, we make our way round the Westwood without incident. I call Sarah about ten thirty and she answers and tells me they didn't get home until 2:30am, but despite the delayed return they have had a lovely holiday. I agree to call in after taking Dolly and Teddy home. When I get there they all look fit and tanned, Louis has hardly been out of the water and loved the giant aqua park. After my walk I feel tired and so don't stay long but agree to drop the change of ownership form into Right Car for Sarah's old Peugeot, which I do after calling at Asda for some bread and a few bits and pieces. Normy and I get home for twelve thirty and as its a sunny day I decide to cook a paella in the garden, but first I hang out my clean whites and put a load of coloureds on. I own an electric frying pan with an adjustable control so I run out the extension lead and plug it in on the garden table. I dig all the ingredients out of the kitchen, onions, rice, prawns, mussels and a small tuna steak, mixed peppers and some peas, ( most of this from the freezer), chile, garlic and ginger, fish stock and some saffron. I put some butter and olive oil in the pan and whilst it is melting, peel and dice the onions and then pop them in to soften on a low heat. Whilst they are cooking I slice the tuna into half inch cubes and knock the ice off the prawns and mussels. Then make a space and add the spices before frying the fish in them gently. When this is done, I add the rice and cook it until the grains are clear and then add the peppers and peas and finally the saffron and fish stock. I give it a good stir and set it to simmer until the rice is cooked and all the liquid has been absorbed. I pour myself a cold beer and chop some fresh parsley from a plant pot as a garnish. It smells very good and Normy can hardly wait, but I have time to read the local free sheets before it is ready. I turn off the power and fetch a leftover glass of Chardonnay from my salad Nicoise lunch, and serve us both with generous portions. I can't quite finish all of mine and Norman too has left quite a bit, it was very filling and tasted rather good, even without chorizo, which I left out because it is Friday. Incidentally there was a Spanish Jewess on radio four talking about the Spanish Inquisition. Apparently they forced the conquered Muslims and Jews who had converted under pressure to Christianity to cook with pork fat and perhaps that is why a seafood paella has chorizo included. It certainly wouldn't be in a Muslim country. Anyway take it from me it's fine without chorizo and fine with it if you prefer it that way! After lunch I did another puzzle until the food and wine and sun took their toll and I had to lie down. I rested for an hour and then took Norman for a walk round the fields, he needed it because whilst I slept he ate all of the leftover paella. It is a lovely evening with enough breeze to riffle the leaves on the willow and poplar trees down Carr Lane, we cross the little bridge and walk through fields of ripening corn and oilseed rape that is almost ready to harvest. We arrive home at about eight and I bring in the last of my washing before making a pot of tea and crusty baguette with bananas, that need to be eaten up. I am surprised that I found the energy for a longer walk this evening, my chest is still wheezy and I am coughing quite a bit but perhaps the antibiotics are finally starting to work. After my snack I finish off the puzzle from this afternoon, if I can do the most difficult kakuro and killer sudoku, my short term memory must be in good order still. To bed around eleven.