Whirlwind

We saw one of our nephews today, in his Nan and Grandad's back garden in the sun. He has grown so much since the last time I saw him but what stood out the most was the way in which he has matured as a little person. He was playing with toy cars on the paving slabs and I joined him for a bit. I was thinking to myself that it wasn't so long ago that I was doing something like that. The last time that I saw him he was at the stage where he would pick any toy up and wave it around or throw it about; today he was there 'driving' the cars around.
Another trait he has picked up is to court a little controversy. He's pushing each and every boundary to see what he can get away with and what is out of bounds. It was like a little whirlwind had hit the garden as piece by piece the ornaments were pushed until they toppled over. "No", said Big Mama. "NO", said P, "NO!!!" shouted Chief. It was only when there was a little feeling put into the command that he stopped, stared at his father and knew that the boundary had been crossed. He still looked around the garden with an air of someone planning their next 'job' though :-)
When we got home we split the jobs between us, I cooked the roast beef and by so doing avoided mowing the lawn. The dinner was a roaring success. For the first time I got my timings right across the board, I was like a whirlwind in the kitchen!

Tempus Fugit

I had been invited to Sunday lunch by Dad earlier in the week, "Why don't you join us?" he asked, "We're having roast leg of lamb." That sounded delicious but I wasn't certain what our plans were so had to ask if I could get back to him.
Last night I did saying that I would be delighted to join them only to find that chicken would be the order of the day as the temptation had proved too much for them and Maundy Thursday's dinner had put paid to any ideas of lamb on Sunday. So chicken it was and mighty fine too, dad had once again cooked a marvelous dinner and I enjoyed every bit.
I had supplied some wine and a bread sauce mix, for I love bread sauce. We quaffed and ate whilst talking on a seemingly endless range of subjects. We had started talking about Nan in the main which had put a smile on all our faces; she was such a wonderful lady with a wicked sense of humour. Memories of our times in Ireland surfaced as is often the case when the conversation revolves around her, it was obviously a place where mum and Big Ted were very happy as kids and I always enjoyed my trips there too.
When I look back at conversations it is often difficult to remember how subjects changed within them. We had sat for hours around the table covering politics, history, family and language; we even hit on blogging at one point. This diverse mix of content seems strange now looking back on the evening but when you are happy amongst those around you the conversation flows without need for pause or explanation.
When I looked at the clock I couldn't believe the time, it had only seemed like 2 maybe 3 hours had gone at best. I suppose the age old saying rings true,

"Time flies when you're having fun!"

What no roast?

"I would like to order 2 roast beef Sunday lunches please." I said to the barmaid at the Harvester pub. "I'm sorry," came the reply from her manager over his shoulder "we don't do roasts anymore." I had to check with him twice that he wasn't pulling my leg, can you believe it a chain of pubs renowned for serving British fare at reasonable prices have dropped roast dinners from their menu!
I must confess that it has been a while since I have been to a Harvester so I'm not sure whether this is a recent change or not but it's still not a welcome one. T and I checked the menu for an alternative but the prices seemed inflated and the choices limited so we decided against it and departed to make our own arrangements at home.