The slug was moving at great speed across the kitchen floor when we entered the kitchen to prepare our ‘day before Christmas Eve’ breakfast of smoked salmon and scrambled egg. It’s just as well we’d put the light on else there would have been a squidgy surprise underfoot for one of us! Funnily enough Maice had been in the kitchen earlier at 5.30am to make our hot lemon water and reported that there was absolutely no sign of any slug at that time. Of course I was the one who had to dispose of said slug, humanely of course by picking it up in kitchen towel and placing it in the plant pot outside. Hopefully it wouldn’t find its way back inside!!
The church bells had tolled all through the night on the quarter of the hour and although we did sleep we woke before dawn. Maice woke at 4am still suffering with her cold even though she’d been inhaling Tiger Balm all night and had it on her tissue, which just happened to be stuffed down her frontage! We might have to sue the makers who report that Tiger Balm cures all ails…….well it’s obviously not working its magic properties on Maice! As long as she doesn’t pass the lurgy onto me all will be well.
Before breakfast, Maice and Winston joined me in my double bed, me on the left, Winston in the middle and Maice on the right where we spent the next hour a) catching up on our Christmas admin b) sorting out the blog c) checking the weather app and d) deciding what to do today. Winston, cocooned in his blanket was most definitely in his happy place…..all that emanated from beneath the blanket was the gently snoring sound of a very contented dog.
Breakfast was a fine affair of smoked salmon, scambled egg , toast, tomato juice, fresh orange juice and a couple of vitamins to keep us going. Of course sorting out breakfast was a two woman job. I was in charge of the cooking whilst Maice was in charge of setting the table which involved moving too-and-fro between the kitchen and the dining room, walking through the lounge then walking precariously with a tray of ‘stuff’, sideways down the narrow passage into the dining room. It certainly is an art-form thats for sure although we’re certain something is bound to get broken during this twice daily ritual!
Consulting with the weather app for the umpteenth time it was telling us that today was most definitely going to be the best day with some sunshine and very little rainfall. So that was settled. We were going to walk to Blackpool sands then along the coast to Strete. We made a picnic and set off. We got as far as the village store, a mere 100m down the road where we popped in for two cappuccinos and purchased four toilet rolls and two rolls of kitchen towel. Seems we were only provided with two toilet rolls for the week!!!
At 10.30am we eventually ventured forth down to Blackpool Sands and proceeded to walk along the beach which was easier said than done due to the very soft shingle which made it difficult to walk on. At least it was giving our legs a work out. We walked right along the beach and back again but decided to forgo the walk to Strete due to the fact that it had started to drizzle. Just as we were leaving the beach Winston’s nose took him in the direction of a dead fish and before we could reach him he’d rolled in the remains of a very stinky rotting corpse. He was obviously in his element. Honestly, what it is with dogs that they have to roll in such disgusting stuff?
We still had to eat our picnic but due to a) the inclement weather and b) the fact that Winston stank of dead fish we decided to walk back home. On the way up we stopped off at ‘Davids’ bench, a little area we found underneath a canopy of trees that overlooked Blackpool Sands. It was a bit drizzly but, hey, what the hell…..we were eating as-fresco.
By the time we’d got home we realised we’d only done 8,000 steps so took ourselves for a walk around the village before going home and putting Winston in the sink. Bathing Winston was definitely a two woman job, but considering the indignity he must have suffered he was actually a very good boy and didn’t wriggle too much. It seemed a more traumatic event for us than it was for Winston
With a nicely smelling Winston now tucked up in his bean-bag we changed into our hufflebuffs, poured ourselves an alcoholic beverage and enjoyed Maice’s home-made apple cake topped with a big dollop of M&S’s extremely potent brandy cream. It was delicious. And after enjoying a well earned siesta we watched Paddington before squeezing through the passage into the dining room where we sat down and enjoyed a pasta supper made with Franca’s special anchovy, olives and caper pasta sauce. It was super, super delicious so a big Thank You to Franca for providing us with such a delicious supper.
After supper we retired to the lounge and went immediately to our chosen sofas…….today I’m having to squish myself onto the two-seater sofa whilst Maice has the luxury of stretching out on the three-seater sofa. Fortunately, to make it fair we’ve decided to swap sofas each day so, ‘relaxing’ on our sofas we watched another film with a very ‘bossy’ woman in it called An Invitation to Murder. All things considered, it was actually very good, not quite as good as Agatha Christie but similar.
We took Winston out for his last wee and poo and at 11pm we were in our beds. Gosh, it was a late night for us. Hopefully we’ll all sleep well tonight without any interruption from the church bells and with a bit of luck we make wake up to some glorious sunshine and no rain…..ha ha, wishful thinking!
Night all…..M, A and Sir Winston xxx
