Whew!

That's another hurdle over - on Sunday I did my first spot in the pulpit. It wasn't as terrifying as I thought it might be, in fact I wasn't nervous at all. I attribute this almost entirely to the fact that what I'd written was the result of a great deal of collaboration with the group and also that I felt the friendly vibes that everyone was behind me. Whenever I ventured a look round the congregation there were smiling faces and eye-contact, even with the distraction of noises at the back, which in my teacher days might have stopped me talking to give the *GLARE*.

Just one more person to go and then we'll all have crossed the Rubicon.

Something Fishy

If I ever meet the ****wit who chucked an old fish pallet into the ditch right beside the place I walked my dogs today, I'll slap them round the chops with the nearest wet fish. Now my car stinks of rotten fish, as do my dogs. Alas.

Avocado soup

I love avocados so much that a different way of serving them is always welcome. I also like recipes that don't require much in the way of fiddling and this one fulfills both requirements. So, on to the soup:

Take one small avocado per person (or presumably one large between two). I'll now assume we're making this soup for 2 people.
Put the flesh into a blender along with a tablespoon of lime juice and whizz till mush.
Add about half a pint of chicken stock. You can judge the amount by how thin the soup is getting. It should end up with the consistency of single cream.
Add either a little green chilli or some green peppercorns or maybe some tabasco to give it some bite - depending on your taste - and about half a teaspoon of salt. depending on how salty the stock is. Whizz it up again until it's nice and smooth.
Chill in the fridge for at least half an hour before serving with freshly baked brown bread.
Delicious and good for you!

Sleepy lark

I'm a lark rather than a night-owl - I really am - but at this time of year everything gets skewed. It begins on Christmas eve because I always go to church at midnight and don't get to bed until 2am, then the madness continues throughout the holidays, being reinforced at New Year. Going to bed earlier doesn't help because I'm not sleepy after getting up so late. I could set the alarm, but that would be unfair on the Old Man because he likes to sleep late on his holidays. Gah! On Monday it's going to feel like the middle of the night when the alarm goes off at 6am!!

Other news - M and C have a new dog, a Cavalier KIng Charles spaniel called Hamish. So that's three varieties of spaniel in the family! The boys want me to show them the ear-cleaning routine, alas. All spaniels have trouble with their ears and JD and Jess run the minute the word 'ear' is mentioned or the bottle of cleaner comes out of the cupboard. Looks like poor Hamish is going to follow suit. We're all going to meet this afternoon, on neutral territory. I hope they all get on. Hamish is neutered, so he and JD should be okay, but Jess gets very flirty with small, boy dogs and JD might decide to defend her honour!

Seven meme

I was tagged by my friend Chris to do this, so just for her, here goes:

Seven things to do before I die:
Visit Pompeii again and explore it properly. Last time I was there I had only a few hours. I reckon it needs at least a couple of days, write a novel, visit America, make a will, tidy up the hard disk on my computer and delete all incriminating material, paint the bedroom (I'm sure that last will never get done). That's only six but it's all I can think of. . .

Seven things I cannot do:
Play the piano, sing lower than Middle C convincingly, write poetry, turn a cartwheel, the Times crossword, train my dog Jess to do anything unless food is on offer, turn back the clock.

Seven things that attract me to my spouse:
He's kind, he's fun to be with (most of the time), he's clever, he's thoughtful, he can fix just about anything, he's a bit of a Peter Pan and he seems to love me.

Seven things I say most often:
I'm just on my way, I'll be ready in a minute, where's the phone? Rob!, dogs! okay then, indeed.

Seven books (or series) I love:
The Starbridge novels, Lord of the Rings, anything by Louis de Berniere, the Rebus novels, the Jungle Book, anything by Bernard Cornwell, Kidnapped.

Seven movies I watch over and over again (or would watch over and over if I had the time):
The Man From UNCLE movies, The Way We Were, The Great Escape, All Quiet on the Western Front, Pretty Woman, Lord of the Rings, Chicken Run.

Seven people I want to join in, too:
I don't know seven people who read this!