I'm currently in a process of tidying things up, decluttering my life (physically, but mostly temporally), and generally clearing the decks. Hopefully once that's done normal blogging may resume - it's been unsatisfactory for rather too long.
In the meantime, continue talking amongst yourselves...
#17: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang over the Moon", by Frank Cottrell-Boyce (a book for Funsize)
Another update on goals, again with almost nothing on the blog since the last one...
That's now two goals having reached completion, one that is well behind target (and unlikely to be completed successfully), and one that has long-since been accepted as failed. The fifth and final goal needs some attention - it will probably be the difference between a 60% passing marking and 40% abject failure for the year.
I'm going to need to think carefully about goals for next year - whether to set any at all, but also what they should be. The redecoration of the house has now reached a stage that it is essentially complete (ideally, the remaining rooms could do with more than just a lick of paint), while both the Book and Blogging goals seem to be lost causes. We'll see.
As the father of two young children, it is of course my duty to wind them up with all sorts of nonsense and japes. So it was with huge amusement that I was able to launch a successful double bluff: I spent the day telling them we were having tacos for dessert, secure in the knowledge that they'd think I was joking, only to roll these out at the key time. Huzzah!
The basic idea for these came from the Tesco magazine, but they're really simple enough that they barely warrant a recipe - take some warmed taco shells, add some chocolate spread, ice cream, fruit, and various toppings. Then eat them.
These were a triumph. Not only will we definitely have them again, Funsize has already insisted on having them again. So that's a win.
Another belated experimental cookery, this one was actually cooked in the over but would have been ideal for the BQ. This one came from the Tesco magazine, but is almost certainly available in the online archive.
This one was a much more successful effort than the previous - it involved in cutting things into big chunks, placing in a bowl with a spice mix, threading on skewers (which Funsize and Surprise! enjoyed helping with), and then baking. Messy, but all rather easy.
And the results were very nice. There's no surprises here - if you like the things that go on the skewers, you'll probably like the result; if not, you won't.
We'll no doubt have these again, though possibly without the rice and probably cooked by BBQ.
This is a much-belated "experimental cookery" - we had these some months ago. The method comes from Tom Kerridge's "Outdoor Cooking".
I'm always on the lookout for good things with which to expand my BBQ repertoire, and also for good vegetarian options. So the possibility of a vegetarian BBQ option was rather enticing.
Unfortunately, this one just didn't work for us at all. I think I probably did something wrong, but the bottom line is that after a big fight trying to get chunks of vegetable and cheese onto parallel skewers (which wasn't fun), and after what seemed an age on the grill, they came off and just weren't nice at all. The tastes were basically okay, but the texture was just... no.
I really can't imagine having these again, and I'm not at all inclined to try inflicting them on any guests. Very disappointing.
Oh dear. I haven't managed to update the blog since the last of these. Well, here goes...
One goal has slipped back from last time, and one has taken a big step forward. That's not terrible, though the blog in particular is disappointing.
It seems like no time since the last update, but here we are:
Other than the blogging goal, things are looking pretty positive for the year as a whole, so I'm pretty happy with things. It's a shame about the blogging, but I just don't see that recovering for the rest of this year.
A year ago I posted about the treatment being meted out to Kate Forbes in the SNP leadership contest because she is a Christian who actually dares to believe things. A year on and Humza Yousaf has proven to be a disaster and has lost his job as a consequence. The SNP need to find another new leader.
At time of writing, there are no declared candidates. There has been a lot of noise, but for the moment nobody has actually put their name forward.
And already the monstering of Kate Forbes has begun.
As with last time, the tone of that monstering is extremely important, and of extreme concern - because Kate Forbes is being decried as some horrific far-right bigot based on her having expressed what are, ultimately, some fairly mainstream Christian views.
I said before that if Kate Forbes was somehow barred from standing, or was ultimately pressurized into dropping out of the race, then I was done with both the SNP and indeed with independence - I have no interest in voting for a country where every minority is welcomed and respected except for mine.
Unfortunately, things have rather moved on since then; unless and until Yousaf's horrific Hate Crimes legislation is repealed I'm done with Scottish politics as a whole. (That's yet another example of well-meaning but atrociously-drafted legislation from Holyrood. It needs scrapped.)
But, again, if the monstering of Kate Forbes is such that she is somehow barred from standing, or she throws her hat into the ring and is then 'persuaded' to drop out, then there's no way back for the SNP. If she chooses not to run, fine; if she runs and is defeated, fine. But I'm watching them closely, and they are on their absolute last chance - get this wrong, and there's no way back for them.
