Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Avocado with custard .


The heating remains off.

The airline texts at 4:32 am to inform us that all the days flights to London are cancelled due to snow. 25 minutes later they text to say a full refund has been sent to our credit card. Usually the notice of a cancelled flight only comes after you've driven down and checked in.


We dress in 'multiple' layers.

'The Font' deals with the cold by setting out the creche in the dining room.

This is a not so subtle hint for Angus to rehang the curtains.


Angus phones the plumber and informs him that it's urgent he come to deal with the central heating  as tonight there will be two frail old folks in the house . The plumber is unimpressed and says he'll be here on Wednesday afternoon. Angus puts the phone down and mutters some decidedly unPresbyterian sentiments. '' Who are the frail old folks ? " asks ' The Font '. '' Us '' I reply. Raucous laughter dispels some of the chill.

Mid morning I turn on the boiler again in the belief that a rest might have done it the world of good. It lights on the third attempt and seems quiescent until it shakes alarmingly and emits a cloud of dense acrid smoke.

I turn it off before we become an item in the newspaper.


Bob and Sophie are oblivious to the cold.


Dressed as if we're going to the North Pole owners and dogs head off in the big car. Can it really be warmer outside the house than in ? The Volvo has heated seats. Bliss. 


A trip to the cheese lady ( some Salers for the PONs ) and then the fish counter.


Were avocados first imported into the UK to be eaten with Custard ? : http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42268516




24 comments:

Emm said...

You'd best watch your back -- those fish look very angry.
Hope the heating is restored soon. The creche figures are really quite charming.

MOPL said...

What is the country of origin of the creche figures? The boiler man is heartless.

Coppa's girl said...

Maybe it's time to call in a favour or two, Angus- could the Mayor have a quiet word with the heartless plumber?
The acrid smoke does not sound good, and I hope that it isn't a case of "I'll be back to fit a new boiler in the new year". If it is, given the way the French workers seem to operate, it might be as well to find out which new year !
Perhaps you should take up residence in the Volvo?

WFT Nobby said...

Is there #MeToo for heating problems? Returned from Torridon last night only to find boiler in Aberdeen not working. The trusty Norwegian jumper has been pressed into service as I await the engineer. Fortunately being a 'frail older lady who lives alone' does appear to carry some weight with Scottish Gas...(They asked if I suffered arthritis and I mentioned twinges in the base of the thumb...)
Cheers! Gail.
PS Good to see the wooden crib again.

WFT Nobby said...

PPS I remember in the 1960s going round to a friends house and her father showing me this bizarre and exotic thing, an 'avocado pear', which he was growing in his greenhouse. I have no idea if they ate it with custard though!

Taste of France said...

You have my sympathies. Our furnace gave out when it was about 25 years old (so not really a surprise...it was just a question of which day it would happen). In the middle of a cold snap. We all wore three layers of clothes and stayed in the kitchen, where I did a lot of baking. At least the hot water heater was separate so we had hot showers.
Good luck with the plumber. Might be time to read up about new boilers.

William said...

Before the plumber is drawn and quartered, if he does good work, imagine finding a good air conditioning man here in Oklahoma at the height of summer heat, they will be very busy.....

BaileyBobSouthernDog said...

I agree with all of the above sentiments, having just gone through our “snow event” with no power or heat. It brought back many memories from my childhood. One memory is of my Grandfather always covering himself in newspaper when he would nap! He would turn down the blanket I brought, telling me the news paper was warmer. However, in your situation you may want to move straight to card board.

I'm a Sophie Doodle Dog said...

Yes, it can be colder in the house than it is outside, at least in Illinois! Aren't heated seats wonderful?! As the PONs already know, a good fur coat is awesome when it is cold outside, or inside. Toodles-Sophie the doodle dog

Yamini MacLean said...

Hari OM
Am back in the Hutch after a week in the warmth of very frail old father's Edinburgh home... flicked the switch more out of curiosity than hope, and - blow me over - the heating is running. At the moment. The boiler is complaining loudly with belching and bubbling, so a plumber must be called - but for the moment not an 'urgent' callout. Several blogpals have had this problem. Is it an indication of the impending ice age???

I have made avocado soup (cold in summer), avocado ice cream and avocado in all sorts of main dish presentations. Custard? Nope. Never tried that one. Though having done the ice cream, one could see that a custard made of the avocado might be a goer. YAM xx

Nancy said...

I commiserate with you. Our furnace died over a week ago. We are getting estimates to replace it. How soon can they start? Our wood stove cannot heat the whole house and it is 19 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Goose, our 13 year old dog, has to be pushed out the door when we leave for work. We have a heat lamp in the outside laundry room on all day for our three dogs. Only the border collie mix finds this un-Oregon like weather to be delightful. At age 61 I feel the cold in my bones and wear flannel lined blue jeans and layers upon layers. This is Oregon where we delight in rain, not freezing temperatures. Could someone call the Jet Stream and tell them they are off center and need to re-direct? Again, I commiserate with you.

Unknown said...

Many years ago our furnace died on Christmas eve. Had to red tagged so we could not even attempt to turn it back on. We were without a new furnace for over a week. We had just had our basement completed and had installed a gas fireplace so it worked out really well for us considering the damp and cold in the lower mainland of Vancouver, BC.

rottrover said...

Those fish resemble that river-eel the Font enjoyed for lunch last summer. I'm still traumatized by the video showing their teeth! Sending you some California sunshine. It's forecast to be 81F today. Not helpful to the firefighters, but good for old bones.

Unknown said...

I seem to recall that they may be from Czechoslovakia.

Unknown said...

Please also send some sunshine to Northern California. It's cold up here. (Though thankfully the furnace still runs.)

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

Sounds like it may be a Three Dog Night, too bad you only have two. We're finally getting some hot weather 36°C, wish we could send you some.

rottrover said...

Coming your way, Stephanie Jo!

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

We were in London for the snow. It was the most Dickensian experience.
Quite delightful!
xx

Angus said...

Glad you had a god time. All the flights from here were cancelled on Monday because of the snow at Heathrow.

Angus said...

81 sounds good.

Angus said...

BC in winter without heat doesn't sound like an experience to be repeated too often.

Angus said...

Thankfully, the SW of France usually doesn't get too cold but when it does get cold it really knows how to do it !

Angus said...

The PONs cold weather DNA is loving this cold snap. The PON owners less so.

Angus said...

Yes, bought in the 80's when the Czechs and the Slovaks were still a thing and thees things were still carved in the mountains.