Just back home from a lovely 2 days down at the cottage in West Sussex with Janine & Ross. And a deliriously happy Scrumpy, finally allowed off the lead in her beloved coot garden and the local fields to run like a crazed beast, now that her cut leg is (almost, here's hoping) mended.
Given how hot it was, we attached ourselves to the sunloungers, pootled briefly to the garden centre (leaving rather disappointed that we can't have foxgloves in case the dog eats them – as she does everything else – given that they are Digitalis and poisonous, arse), ate ourselves senseless as usual, threw the increasingly disgusting and saliva-y ball for the dogbeast, read the papers, had a riverside stroll, admired some chairs Ross has finished restoring at his workshop (Stewart, they look really good!) and strenuously booked a couple of things for our upcoming trips together. Car for Rhone trip and dollars for Miami – tick!
Also finally dragged a magical box out of the depths of our little sheddie and took it down there. Which was the smoker (no, not Janine or Ross) - actually a fantastic metal thingy that smokes meat, fish, garlic or whatever you want in a remarkably short amount of time and minimal effort – sounds good hey? We dragged one of Ross's trout catches onto it – and 40 minutes later had a perfectly cooked and deliciously smoked big tasty fishy on our little dishy. Mmm, mm, now that's country living for you.
And left a very content J down there, who no longer has to trawl back up to London on a Sunday evening, now that she's got some non-working time on her hands. Now that's the way to do it – enjoy!