En garde!

Tom is being taught fencing. Unofficially, but still. He knows how to do the salute at the start and starts off with his left arm in the air. He returns frequently to the salute but the arm is never lifted again. He also cheats by using two hands. He claims vociferously that he doesn’t cheat OR use two hands. He does.

I think this proves my point

We had a lovely pre-Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve lunch. We had what we normally have on Christmas Eve which is the roast gammon. The meal turned out perfectly (even though I was forced to use ghee* when I realised there was no lard in the house) apart from the brûlée which wasn’t set properly. As Mirinda said, it tasted perfect but was a bit runny. I blame my wrist because it’s always been perfect before.

After lunch, Mirinda and Sophie went for a walk into Farnham, leaving Tom and me to watch The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. What a cack! It was hilarious. Quite surreal in parts.

Tom actually remained quiet so I could hear the dialogue. At one point I paused it to let Day-z go to the loo and Tom complained! Odd how Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs doesn’t have quite the same effect.

Anyway, I loved the movie. I thought the Hoff bit was superb, the opening sequence with the pirates truly inspired and Scarlett Johansson excellent as Mindy, which is saying something because I’m not a big fan of hers.

We both laughed a lot throughout. Tom claims he’s only seen it once before.

I had a lovely day (this is the first time Tom has stayed with me while Sophie went somewhere else with Mirinda) and was royally entertained by Tom and his two rubber swords.

Mirinda telling Sophie where the house extension will go

Both Sophie and Tom noticed the new path (with a little prodding) and wholeheartedly approved.

*The Story of the Ghee
Normally I roast potatoes and parsnips in lard, like anyone who was brought up in the same cultural way that I was. For the last few days, I’ve kept forgetting to buy any lard to roast the potatoes and parsnips in for today. Every day I return from Waitrose and whack myself on the forehead and give an agonised D’Oh!

Last night was the last straw. I figured they might have some in the Pantry (the ex-Londis…the shop down the road) so I popped out. They had no lard but they had tins of ghee. For anyone who doesn’t know, ghee is a clarified butter or, basically, butter without the whey. It stores very well outside a fridge, in a can and it smells very buttery.

I ‘ummed’ and ‘ahed’ for a bit and then decided to bite the bullet. I bought the ghee and used it for the potatoes and parsnips. It’s very easy to use (pretty much like lard, really) and makes the kitchen smell of butter. The potatoes were very crunchy and fluffy. Mirinda said they were the best roast potatoes she’s ever tasted. I guess I’ll be sticking to the ghee from now on then.