Saturday 2nd May 2015

Friday.

1st of May.

Bank Holiday in Denmark.

I mention the above fact because this means that there will be almost certainly no other colleagues at work, which means apart from the usual weekly tasks, no one will respond to my mails, and so I will be mostly clicking my heels. But it will come as no surprise to learn that the young Jelltex found ways in which to fill his day whilst working from home.

I made bread. Chilli and multi-seed bread. As I mixed the dough I thought, shout it really be that red? Apparently the lid came of the cayanne pepper as I added it, oh well, maybe it will come out right I thought, whilst the same thinking it looked like angry lava as it proved in the bowl.

I listened to the radio, because as we know, radios don't listen to themselves.

I was on call to the cats, at their every whim. Just wish they could say what it was. But it seems like either food of strokes was what was wanted.

Later in the day, I made dinner, which was caramelised chicory tart and sausage rolls made with the left over filo pastry. I know, filo isn't right, but what the heck. I googled chicory tart recipes, and found one that sounded OK, it wasn't until I was tipping the caramel mixture into the tart I realised that this was in fact caramel. I have never made it before, and I don't have a sweet tooth either, but it might be OK. 5 minutes later i go to wash us, only to find the caramel had set like concrete. I tried for ten minutes to chip bits off, but in the end had to fill the pan up with water, boil it and pour the sugary water down the drain.

The sausage rolls however, looked and smelt fine, so all not lost.

The bread was spicy and left a burning sensation on the back of your throat, but with lashings of butter was very nice.

Outside it was sunny, looked warm enough to sit in the garden. I put on a jumper, took out a cup of coffee, but was still cold. So I dead-headed some daffs, inspected the other plants, and looked at all the blossom on the apple tree, making plans for apple crumble come the autumn.

Jools came back, we had early dinner: the bread was fine, the sausage rolls were fine. The tart was, OK, but the caramel had accumulated at the bottom and was sweet and crunchy. If you took that out, if was fine.

It is a bank holiday weekend, and as usual the weather is taking a turn for the worse. Cloudy today (Saturday), heavy rain, but then sunshine tomorrow, and more rain on Monday. Little cahnce of any orchid hunting one suspects, but maybe Sunday afternoon.

It is 5 days to the election, and it is all so depressing. he campaign has been so negative from the Tories and the right wing press, very little about the policies and Moon Face's record, which is appalling. Just the promise to punish the bankers further by slashing another £8 billion of the benefit budget. Yes it was the low paid, unemployed, sick, disabled and elderly that brought those banks down. Make the bastards pay, whilst those poor bankers get their 30% wage increases; they earned it. I have not mentioned it much, as the stories coming out on social media are so depressing, with what is and what is not being reported by Fleet Street, and sadly the BBC. Seems like they only report on what is Tory friendly. Or UKIP friendly, quite what they see in Farage is beyond me. And then there is the demonisation of Scotland: last year it was all how we would be 'better together', now that their SNP might hold the balance of power is somehow undemocratic.

It will be over, and if the Tories get back in with either a coalition with the Libs or UKIP, the NHS will be sold off, benefits will be slashed, and more money will go to the rich. And we will have a referendum on leaving the EU, which is when the shit will really hit the fan, but for now, yes, lets blame the left, the EU and immigrants for all the ills of the country. But keep paying the bankers or they might leave and go somewhere else.