The day has started with a grumpy sort of
sullenness which is not the ideal incentive to gird loins and get to the
swimming pool. Nevertheless, my desire
for physical exercise has the added inducement of displacement activity as I
should now be penning a description of Coketown as outlined in the first five
chapters of Hard Times. This little
exercise is more difficult that it should be because I have lost a book. Lost electronically!
I last read Hard Times in an eBook format
and experimented with highlighting and associating notes with the highlights in
a more than adventurous manner. All
lost! I have tried computer after Kindle
and nowhere is the edition of the book that I used to be found. I have bought a new edition (OU approved) but
I cannot believe that this new version has written over the last one. My book must be there, but lurking is some
sort of obscure folder that I have not yet opened.
The ironic thing is that this is an
electronic example of what is hidden behind closed doors of the IKEA Billy
bookcases in the living room – chaos. It
is nice to see that electronic verisimilitude extends to mirroring human
indolence and lack of organization in the so-called real world!
The weather, as is the way in this country,
perked up a bit and we had a few scraps of sunshine, but then there was a half
hearted attempt at rain and now we are back to “brightly dull” which is the
default position of this climate when it is not sunny.
Chocolate Week, by popular demand, has been
extended to an unprecedented Second Week and I have taken it upon myself to
promise further chocolates made with my own fair hand. I have been stymied in this laudable
intention by a complete lack of suitable raw materials not provided by our
local Carrefour. I am yet to find a shop
which actually sells marzipan for example!
Such barbarism!
I trust that I have learned from my last
attempts and this batch (should I get the stuff) will be a marked
improvement. I shall attempt to make
them substantially smaller and each to have a little less sweetness than the
normal daily sugar intake of a family of six!
Perhaps we can go to St Boi and the hypermarket
before we have our meal- As it turned
out it was after the meal that we went there – and no marzipan was to be had
for love nor money. But the meal itself
was interesting.
When I first arrived in Castelldefels I
used to go to a restaurant called Club Lancaster. I thought it was the last thing in value for
money and interesting food. I still
remember with warmth and appreciation the first leaving of a bottle of wine on
my table. Should I drink it or was it
just left there as a forgetful gesture of a harassed waiter? I thin I actually asked! Much to the amusement of the waiter who urged
me to drink. And drink I did. So this is living in Spain, I thought to
myself. How good can it get?
Well, with experience, a bloody sight
better! And now that restaurant has
closed down and an brand new Indian restaurant has taken its place. Admittedly only one of the chefs is actually
Indian, all the rest are Pakistani – just like the so-called Indian restaurants
in Britain – but the food was good.
Over-priced possibly, but good nevertheless. Somewhere to take the Pauls when they come
over! And we were given two shots before
we left – which is a positive invitation to come back!
I have failed to find any marzipan. I will be driven to go on YouTube to find out
just how it is made!
I do have glacé cherries so it is possible
for me to make the super-calorie sweets that I mad previously though I do have
some calorie reduced ingredients to help make them this time – and a little
less calorifically explosive!
Tomorrow is a workday in which the horror
of marking has to be leavened with the delights of writing about Dickens.
Roll on Monday!
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