Monday, November 27, 2023

Snow on the way.

We have the beach to ourselves. It's close to freezing this morning and a band of frost dusts the shore . Snow is forecast for later in the week . Something about the light reflecting off the frost  makes this mornings sunrise  spectacular. As we head back to the car we meet Archie the arthritic labrador and the lady with the Pomeranian. We've promised Archies owner the dog ramp. The old fellow is now finding getting up into the back of her Audi to be 'problematic'. This cold weather isn't helping his arthritis.


To the farm shop. We buy celery and tomatoes for tonights Bolognaise sauce. We are moving - rapidly - towards a deep winter diet of comfort food. Pasta and pecorino figure prominently.


The town has a number of good restaurants and one really good restaurant. 'The Font' takes in the expensive Japanese knives to be sharpened by the really good restaurants executive chef. He is the only person within miles to have the patience  and the skills needed. The knives and the wooden knife block that holds them  are carried from the car to the restaurant door carefully wrapped up in a freezer bag. 'The Font' thinks that carrying a variety of sharp knives in public is probably some sort of public order offence.


Napoleon starts at the cinema. The Hunger Games and a movie that has  something to do with super heroes are also being shown. These appeal to a younger cinema going demographic. We're not sure what to expect.  Purists ( of which this small university town has many - particularly in the French history and language departments  ) say that the director would have made a better job if he'd read a book about Napoleon  before he started filming. If its historical accuracy you want then this isn't for you. It's more a Netflix style 'based on real events' type production. The movie is full of action, has lots of packed battle scenes and truly execrable dialogue.  Joaquin Phoenix has put on weight. It is definitely the sort of thing you want to see on a long, cold Scottish winters evening. On our way back to the car we discover that aa new 'upmarket' cocktail bar has opened up in what used to be the Scandinavian restaurant. Scandinavian cuisine was  tad too exotic for local tastes and it closed fairly quickly. Before that it was the Salvation Army hall.  Moralists will have a field day with that juxtaposition. A fancy cocktail bar is almost certain to be a roaring success with townsfolk and students.


Oddest ( and very slow loading ) e-mail link of the day. What mailing list must we have signed up for ? The pineapples are pricey  :https://www.penkridgeceramics.com/

Everything in nature sleeps :https://www.quantamagazine.org/sleep-evolved-before-brains-hydras-are-living-proof-20210518/


13 comments:

WFT Nobby said...

I am not yet convinced to go and see Napoleon, however dark and cold the nights!
Cheers, Gail.

Stephanie said...

The colorful and beautifully arranged vegetables almost compensate for the absence of fanciful French pastries once featured on this blog.

Coppa's girl said...

No, Napoleon doesn't "grab" me either - not that we even have a cinema to show it.
Nothing will compensate for delicious French Patisserie, but needs must, and the veg will make hearty warming soups. ideal in a very cold climate.
Poor Archie - our first Lab. Sultan, suffered badly from arthritis in old age and we bought a dog ramp for him to climb into the car. He took such a long time, even with our help. Our other two dogs would wait patiently to begin with, then leap past him on the ramp and into the car.

jabblog said...

The article on sleep was fascinating and led on to other articles. Thank you.

Travel said...

I saw an interview with the director of Napoleon, he commented on how many books had been written, but not how few he read before the writers wrote the script. Apparently the CGI in the battle scenes is extraordinary.

Diaday said...

Those vegetables are arranged beautifully and look delicious. I am off to the store to buy ingredients to make some soup to use up the last of our Thanksgiving turkey. I wish the celery over here looked as fresh as yours. Bon appetit!

Jake of Florida said...

Execrable dialog enough to keep us from Napoleon!!! But December 20 is the release here of a film I am looking forward to: Maestro with Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein.

Anonymous said...

A recent New Yorker had an interesting article on Ridley Scott. Tom Rothman, head of Sony film said that Ridley Scott (89), is the best single argument for a second term for Joe Biden.

rottrover said...

The produce at your farm store is gorgeous! my old dogs WILL NOT use a ramp, no mater how many training treats are involved. I'm ordering some stairs today.

Poppy Q said...

I think I will skip this film, had enough serious cinema this year.

Gemma's person said...

The produce, how fresh it looks, beautiful as artwork.

Angus said...

Rottrover - None of our dogs would use car stairs. They got ramps but never figured out what car stairs were for.

The Life of Riley said...

Love seeing the produce for sale at your farm shop, but can't figure out why they didn't remove the plastic from the cucumbers, as their plastic-wrapped vegetable looks out of place in your photo.