Sometimes evenings arrive along one's blogging journey when there seems to be nothing of note left to say. That's how it feels tonight here at the start of February.
Forty minutes ago, I got back from "The Hammer and Pincers" after another Sunday night pub quiz. We didn't win anything tonight though we have won the top prize on the last two Sundays.
Even though we did not win, it was as nice as always to meet up with Mick and Mike for easy conversation, ribbing and laughter mixed with serious stuff. We never know where the talking will go but we always enjoy each other's company. Hell, I have been quizzing regularly with these fellows for twenty five years now. We are growing older together.
Mick is a bachelor who lives alone in the old family home. Both of his parents died years back and just after Christmas his only sibling - his brother Roger - also left the land of the living.
Mike lives with his wife Jill and like me he has a grown up son and a grown up daughter. Also like me he has three young grandchildren. In the last two years he hs been battling with health issues stemming from a diagnosed condition called myasthenia gravis which has manifested itself in several different ways.
But still he battles on. Well, what more can you do? Fortunately he has a pretty upbeat, cheerful character and I am sure that this has helped when dealing with setbacks and the unpredictable course of his health journey.
Earlier, Frances and Stewart were round for Sunday dinner with our two little granddaughters. The menu consisted of roasted beef, Yorkshire puddings, roasted carrots and parsnips with homemade gravy and roasted leeks in a cheesy sauce. For the starch element I made a mash of potatoes and chopped swede (American: rutabaga). It's amazing how much boiling or microwaving swede takes before it really softens up ready for mashing.
For dessert, Shirley made a plum cobbler using frozen plums from our garden - accompanied by vanilla custard. I was glad to get some of our frozen fruit out of the freezer.
Ah well, another Sunday night and even though I had nothing of note to say, I still managed to produce another blogpost. I have no idea what will be in tomorrow's offering. Watch this space!
I thought you might blog about the passing of Marianne Faithfull over the weekend. Were you not a fan?
ReplyDeleteThe cobbler looks delicious!
No Kelly - I would not say that I was a Marianne Faithfull fan but there was a certain mystique about her - that is for sure. Shame she went through a difficult phase of heroin addiction.
DeleteYour meal sounds yummy, as always and the plum cobbler, oh my! I've always thought a pub quiz sounded like a lot of fun with friends. All I know about them is from TV shows and British novels.
ReplyDeletePub quizzes bring people together and test your general knowledge but they have to be pitched at the right level. I am sorry that you have never attended one Deb.
DeleteWe all need good company to make life pleasant. Good that you stick with the friends through quizzes. And then a good Sunday dinner goes a long way to make things pleasant.
ReplyDeleteAccurate assessment Uncle Keith.
DeleteDarn it. I am ready for bed and now I'm hungry for cobbler!!! That looks dee-lish!
ReplyDeleteSimple fayre but a great winter dessert.
DeletePlum cobbler sounds delicious to this Canadian in the middle of a cold spell of weather :)
ReplyDeleteWe all agreed it was a great dessert.
DeleteAnd how is the cobbler part made please? I have frozen apple/rhubarb in my freezer and think it would be lovely as a cobbler. I'm glad you still get out to your quiz nights.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this recipe will help madam...
Deletehttps://www.savingdessert.com/easy-plum-cobbler/
thank you.
DeleteI don't think there's "nothing of note to say" about the so-called ordinary lives of ordinary people. To me, it is part of the charm of blogging to read things like that, just what's going on in my fellow bloggers' lives.
ReplyDeleteDo you and Mike exchange a lot of grandchildren stories? Does Michael feel a bit left out then?
I am sure that we make Mick feel less lonesome and more involved with life. He had a close girlfriend thirty years ago but he kind of blew it - so apprehensive about the next, natural step.
DeleteI wonder if Mick is a 'confirmed' bachelor?
ReplyDeleteMike's disease sounds nasty.
A plum cobbler? That sounds nasty and injurious.
To be confirmed don't you have to go to church?
DeleteThat plum cobbler looks delicious. I make a savoury chicken and mushroom version which the family love.
ReplyDeleteWell I like the sound of that but what is the topping like? Not sweet I hope!
DeleteNo. It's flour and fat only with a smidge water
DeleteMmmm... fat! My favourite!
DeleteI await tomorrow's post with bated breath.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are fit and well now that you are on your medication?
The doctors are still trying to figure out if I am on the right medication. It keeps being adjusted and I have had to have my blood taken and investigated four times now.
DeleteI still have a few bags of frozen Bramley Apple 'sauce', that my wife made with apples we brought back from France. They make great Apple Crumble (of which Lady M is an expert).
ReplyDeleteWhen will she be back?
DeleteThat looks very tasty.
ReplyDeleteWe all gave it a thumbs up.
Deleteblackberries..... copious bags full of blackberries..... they're full of tooth-loosening seeds...... and they regularly spill out of the bags into the freezer while i search for the half bag of frozen peas that will have sunk to the bottom .... probably also upside down....
ReplyDeleteWhat were clothes pegs invented for Foxy? Use them to secure opened food bags in your freezer.
Deleteblackberries secured, i watch my neighbour dancing round the garden wearing my tank top and waving my underpants aloft - cursed wind
DeleteI like blogs yours for the chats YP. You are not ignorant and all always answer or comment on mine.
ReplyDeleteI can be very ignorant Dave - especially when eating barbecued food.
DeleteIt's the little things life is made of...
ReplyDeleteYou are brilliant at making the ordinary very readable Mary.
DeleteLooks yummy!
ReplyDeleteNone for you Mr Greedy!
DeleteSounds like you had a very pleasant Sunday with good food, good friends and family time. Lots to celebrate and a happy post!
ReplyDeleteI was hoping that you would call round Ellen. There was enough for you.
DeleteInspired by your posts, we have been having puddings like this recently. Bloody hell. They make you put on a lot of weight.
ReplyDeleteMr Blobby lives on! Billy Bunter lives on! Boris Johnson lives on!
DeleteYour post made me spend some time googling cobbler vs crumble. Can't I can't say I ended up much wiser... Is there a difference in your opinion? In Swedish I'd call it "smulpaj" ~ "crumble pie". (And until now, in English, "cobbler" for me was either person mending shoes, or some kind of drink...)
ReplyDeleteMy wife's cobbler ingredients are rather different from a typical crumble topping Monica! She used one egg, 100ml milk, 140g cold butter cut into chunks, 280g plain flour, 140g caster sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 tablespoon Demerara sugar.
DeleteA delicious meal shared with family is definitely worth its own blog post.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think I have nothing to say in a blog post, I often just start writing. Eventually something emerges! It may not be genius but it's there.
ReplyDelete