Wednesday 30th November 2016

The final day of November, the final pause before the party hectic blur that is December and the holiday season.

I am home again today, like I am and will be for the rest of the week, working away at the dining room table as the plasterers and painters finish the work in next door's house, nothing better than watching other people work, he said. Another stunning late autumn day dawned, the sun rose into a clear blue sky and rose only about 30 degrees or so above the horizon, shining in for most of the morning through the kitchen window, or refelcting off the late glass windows of Bob's house opposite. A day for looking out onto the day, as it was the coldest of the season thus far. The coldest since yesterday, for sure anyway.

When we threw open the curtains, there was heavy frost everywhere, so hoar it looked like snow. Best stay indoors then I think. I brew another coffee once Jools had left, and I stand in the kitchen waiting for the sun to rise above the row of houses on the other side of the valley. Birds were on the wing before full light, looking for food. So I put two cups of food out, and right away the starlings and sparrows are on the scene eating away. Molly sits on the stairs, looking out of the window, chirruping away as the birds feed. She is interested, but not interested enough to go outside to chase them mind.

In the end, what promised was going to be a tough day, soon turned into something calm and peaceful, and quiet enough to pop the radio on in the background, and as the hour hand went round the clock, morning moved onto lunch and then into afternoon. I make a sandwich with added crisps for lunch, and a huge cup of tea because I can, and the world seems OK after 24 hours before seeing do desperate. Just goes to show, I suppose, things are not nearly so black as they seem, and the sleepless tossing and turning was for nothing. Or maybe it was for something, as I traced a way out of the troubled waters.

I get out what I hope is ground beef with which to make a chili; I think it looks like sausage meat, which is what it turns out to be once it starts to defrost. I type into Google(other search engines are available), what I should make. And the computer says Scotch Eggs.

Hmmm, sounds good, but just plain Scotch Eggs, or should I flavour them? If so, what flavours? I realise that I could mix some of the pistachio and onion breadcrumbs, and see what they come out like! Sounds great.

So I boil the eggs, let them cool down and then mix in the coating to the sausage meat, divide into four, then coast the eggs, roll in plain breadcrumbs and bake in the oven for 50 minutes. And did they smell good! They did, and it took all my willpower not to sample a little. With them I opened a bag of roulette Doritos to have with the eggs, but in the spirit of quality testing, try a few just to make sure. They'd go well with some Danish Christmas beer I thought. And was right, but drained the bottle before jOlls came home, and with the eggs cooling on plates, I open another beer.

Jools comes home, and we tuck into the eggs, and they are even better than anticipated. We munch all four, and most of the chips too. And I made another beer disappear too.

We watch some TV, it kinda flows over me, but a nature documentary about the wildlife on the Isle of Skye: otters, golden eagles, red deer, basking sharks, dolphins. All looks super, and where are we going for our holibobs next year, Tony?