Tired and hungry

I haven't slept well, perhaps the travelling, but more likely the Camembert and a couple of glasses of wine before bed. I get up at half past seven as Norman shakes himself and then wriggles on his back, looking as cute as an old boy like him can manage and obviously wanting to be picked up and fussed over. I am glad to oblige, he has missed me and his home comforts, and after a short cuddle and rebonding, I set him down on the garden path and he jogs off happily into the cold garden. It is still dark outside and noticeably colder than Rotterdam. I open the new packets of sausage and bacon, then cut three slices of black pudding and halve a tomato, setting them to fry in a skillet. I don't feel that hungry, but Normy is positioned at his watching point, by the hall radiator, as he waits for normal service, i.e. an English breakfast, to be resumed. Three thin rashers of oak smoked, streaky bacon are added when the sausage is nearly cooked and the egg last of all, finally it is ready. Norman's share, half a sausage, a slice of black pudding, a rasher of bacon and some egg white. No dog eats faster than a dachshund, and in seconds it has gone, I, on the other hand, like to take my time. I had hoped to make the Poppy Seed this morning, but I am running slow, and the unpacking and tidying from last night, means it is ten o'clock by the time I collect Teddy and Dolly and arrive at our usual parking spot down Newbald Road. It is a gorgeous, late autumn day, clear, bright, cold and frosty. The frost has brought a few lemon coloured leaves onto the floor of the woods at Newbegin pits, where they lie in stark contrast with the earlier falls, which have been churned into a brown mush by the week of rain before I left. Fortunately the frost has made the ground firmer and we progress without accumulating too much mud. Teddy is dashing about like a demented dervish and even old Norman is looking animated at being off the lead and back in the woods. I swap the dogs on the lead as we emerge onto the common, where we are exposed to a cold North wind. "The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow", or so the saying goes, and it will most likely prove true today. Over to the East, towards the coast, dark snow clouds are gathering, but for now, it is sunny and bright. Dolly comes back to the lead at Black Mill, Norman is put on the lead as well and we stride out diagonally across the common, towards Burton Bushes, the bomb crater is almost empty of water now, but somehow my mojo seems to have gone, so I turn East and we walk back to the car, alongside Newbald Road and sheltered from the worst of the wind. After dropping the terriers back in Cherry, Norman and I drive to Morrison's in order to replenish our groceries. We arrive around eleven thirty and the place is packed, the Xmas madness has already begun. I chose Morrison's, for their German rye bread and their fresh food, but the rye bread has sold out and I have to make do with a sourdough Polish Bloomer instead. A cold wintry day like this one needs comfort food, like the braising steak Graham made the other day, so I buy some beef and fresh carrots, turnip, and spring greens, as well as Parma Ham and Naples dry cured salami, for Louis. The queue isn't too bad, there are only two people in front of me, one an elderly chap in his eighties, by the look of him, comments that it is only the older people who seem to buy fresh food to cook. Perhaps we have more time, or less money, or perhaps its just that we know how to cook from scratch. We arrive home around twelve thirty and unpack, I give Normy some water and dry food and then warm some tomato soup for myself and finish the last of yesterday evening's baguette. I feel extremely tired, although, I need to go to the bank, the library and pick my shoes up from the cobblers, as well as call in on Leslie and Felicity. I opt to meditate and rest for an hour and then go into town around four o'clock but decide to prepare the braising steak first. I fry it in onions and garlic, crumble in two oxo cubes, season with a little magi and then make a sauce by adding a quarter bottle of red wine, before transferring the meat and sauce to the slow cooker. Liliane calls to make sure I arrived home safely, and tells me she feels a little better, I emailed Graham after breakfast, to thank him again and to say that the trip home went smoothly, but he will still be at work. In the event, I am too tired to meditate and sleep like a log for three hours, and wake to the sound of Norman demanding dinner. Outside it is almost dark and snowing heavily, the trip to town can wait another day, Norman has dog meat but with my gravy over it and then  I phone Felicity, who is in good form and tells me she has bought Normy a winter coat, her timing couldn't be better, but her generosity and kindness exceed her means, so I will have to find a way of reimbursing her. I phone Leslie next, he says he is OK, but his voice sounds weak and distant, so I say I will try to call in and see him tomorrow, perhaps after visiting Sam and my granddaughters, after school tomorrow. I take Norman out for his evening walk, before preparing the potatoes and vegetables for dinner, he quickly does his duty and then stubbornly turns round and let's me know, in no uncertain terms, that this isn't a night for an old boy like him to be out. The potatoes and vegetables don't take long in the pressure cooker and soon dinner is ready. Braising steak, with a rich onion gravy, mashed potatoes, greens and carrot and turnip, mashed with butter and black pepper. Proper winter food, and enough steak and gravy to serve with dumplings tomorrow as well, as more snow is forecast overnight and for tomorrow. After dinner, I read some more of "The Arcanum", by Janet Gleason and then go to bed early.