11.04.2024 Just call me "chef."

 ~o~

 Thursday 11th 48F/9C. Overcast, with and a wet and windy morning promised. Up at 3.30-4.30. Regurgitating endless, indelible memories. Searching upstairs for important papers again. It is two years since I last looked. I feared I had mislaid or even discarded them. Where did I put all the others? Then up at 6.30 again to face another day. Without her.

 It is cooking class today. As it is so wet I am denied a pleasant ride. Through picturesquely winding and undulating, rural lanes. In freshly laundered, morning sunshine. I have started the Morris Minor to confirm that all is well. 

 Only 62F/17C in the room. So I should probably light the stove. Though there is no real point. Not if I shan't be here to enjoy the warmth. Nor feed it with expensive logs to maintain the glow. The shade netting is making it darker in the downstairs rooms. 

 The kitchen is getting on my nerves. It is in such a mess! The same old mistakes from the past. Unnecessary furniture collecting detritus. Without any useful surfaces to hold things near the working surface. The pretend larder shelves remain. They are useful to one with the memory of a goldfish. I can see what I need more of at a glance. The same could be said for a cupboard. Though that wouldn't be so accessible and would be blocked by the door when it is open.

 I keep daydreaming about having a window [or even a glass door] in the end, west wall of the kitchen. Pointless expense. Even if it would provide a view across the unkempt lawn. A door would provide garden access. Without having to go all the way around. It would provide more light but be subject to driving rain. Greater heat loss than a solid, properly insulated wall. It would deny a space for larger furniture. Like my wife's, now empty dresser. Which has been sitting there for 27 years. Too many options. Let's not go there.

 Nearly 9.00 I can stop waffling and go.

 14.15 An uneventful drive to the cooking class as it rained lightly. There I made two dishes: Potato gratin: With a bed of finely chopped onions, layered with sliced potato, sliced large tomatoes and sliced squash. Cooked for half an hour in the oven. 

 Then it was onto making a complex, broccoli salad with Miracle Whip sauce. Time consuming but well worth it. Both dishes were excellent. Aided by a further meat dish with broccoli dressing and mushroom sauce ladled over the top. With almost nothing left of a huge quantity of each. I was struggling to stay awake during the after dinner chat around the table. We all washed up and dried and then I drove home for a well earned nap.  

 16.30 It was only 60F/15.6C in the room. So I lit the stove and had a cup of tea. While I scribbled my blog update.

 18.30 No need for any food tonight. 

~o~