Friday Morning

Still no dishwasher!

It’s being an interesting week for eating at least. On Wednesday evening we went to Waters on the Square for dinner and had the chef’s ‘surprise 5-course menu’. This was:

1.    An amuse of carrot and butternut squash soup.

2.    Tian of crab, smoked mackerel and smoked salmon.

3.    Duck liver ravioli with mushrooms.

4.    Blade of beef with broccoli puree and beans.

5.    Dessert tasting (crème brulée, raspberry smoothie, honey cheesecake, strawberry ice cream).

Overall, a very nice meal (though I think this is 4 courses, not five: I’d always argue that an amuse is not a course, nevertheless very god value for money). They call it 'relaxed bistro dining, but really it seems to be low-end fine dining, if you see what I mean.

Yesterday we went for lunch to The Cottage inthe Wood, Malvern. This was a special lunch to celebrate the golden wedding of some dear friends. We got to meet other friends of theirs who we’ve heard about over the years (and liked almost all of them). I’d describe the food as ‘good hotel restaurant’ in style: you can look on the web to see the current menu if you’re interested. It was a very nice event to attend, and we certainly had plenty to eat! (Just had a poached egg on toast for dinner last night.)

Our builder is coming this afternoon to look at some proposed alterations we’re planning: removing a chimney breast and changing a window configuration, so that promises to be interesting. We’ve also got a kitchen design meeting booked for Sunday afternoon with a company we’re (currently) quite keen on…

Tuesday Morning

It’s my birthday today – but we still have no dishwasher. If you get offered repairs by Service 2000 of Walsall then avoid them. Unfortunately, we’re tied into them by the insurance we have. Currently they are still ordering a part: the delay is because their ‘engineer’ didn’t take the correct details with him.

So, we’re just back from Porto, Portugal. It’s a great little city and well worth the visit. From our perspective, Portugal is a cheap place to visit (helped by the strength of the £ v € at the moment). Lucked into the Pestana Hotel (the yellow building in the photo) which is very luxurious and has wonderful staff. Loved staying there. We were lucky with the weather, too. No rain and a lot of sunshine; a great antidote to the grey skies of England.

(Torre do Clerigos)

(Pestana Hotel from the other side of the river.)

(Coudn't resist the picture of the urinal: never seen anything quite like this!)

(This is the Douro Valley ay Pinhao)

The food was pretty good, too, though we only found one exceptional place Adega São Nicolau, which had the most fantastic grilled octopus. Other local delicacies included an unusual sandwich – the Francheshina – which seems to consist of steak, chorizo, ham and garlic sausage in sliced white bread, wrapped in sliced of cheese and grilled, all floating in a bowl of thin spicy tomato sauce.It sounds a bit odd, but was actually rather good.

The locals eat a lot of cod (some salt-cod) which was fantastic and always properly cooked. There’s a lot of tomato around too.

Had the opportunity to go on a trip along the Douro valley to visit a couple of Quintas (port wine producers) which was a fun experience. The 140 kmh return drive to Porto in the back seats of a minibus was less fun, though.

Anyway, home now and hours spent cutting lawns and other gardening.

Oh, and it's my birthday today!

Sunday 24th - Still no dishwasher

So, we're back from Porto; fabulous little city with lovely people and decent food. Will write a bit about it over the next few days.
Returned to a message from the dishwasher repair people (last Monday) saying they needed a serial number from the machine. Rang them straight away to find that 'they'd closed the job because we hadn't been in touch for so long'. Personally, I don't think 4 days is that long a time. Sharp words were exchanged and they decided that it was possible to re-open the job.
Now waiting for them to order/receive the part.
Not really a happy bunny.

Also spent part of today with a kitchen designer since we've decided that we're going to re-do the kitchen. Exciting, but no decisions made yet...

Saturday - Early Afternoon. Still no dishwasher.

We saw Tom Paxton in concert last night. Really glad we went since it turns out that this is Tom’s last UK tour. I’m not really surprised, because the man is 78 this year! He’s been an inspiration to me for a VERY long time (almost 50 years) writing and performing songs of social concern (and politics, humour, etc.). I’ll miss not seeing him live, but it was great (and rather moving) to be there last night.

Today we’ve been clay pigeon shooting. The club we go to has changed the course AGAIN, but we were on much better form, so I shot 70% - which is good for me – but more importantly, had a really good time.

Since then I’ve done a little gardening: some weed control on the lawn and planting the next batch of peas.

Dinner this evening will be:

English asparagus (probably with a soft-poached egg).

Cottage pie with peas.

Chocolate cheesecake.

 Off to Portugal in the morning. May try a couple of updates from the tablet, but who knows. See you in a week’s time. Take care ...