A Birthday and Patrice's Chat

Hi Patrice! I don't want to hear you moaning about the heat today. Not a cheep out of you, please, because we are wrapped up in 55F 'heat', with winds up to 40mph, and dampness.

Now, I don't wish to moan about the weather. I know we are well off compared with many others who suffer dreadfully because of the elements, but .... Yes, you knew there was gonna be a BUT there, didn't you.... How we would love blue skies, temperatures soaring into the 80s (okay, the 70s would be wonderful. Yes, even the 60s would bring a smile to my face right now.), and just enough of a breeze to keep the pesky flies and midges away.

Given the choice, I'll keep the weather we have rather than be tormented by these wee critters.

Now, onto more pleasant matters. Those of you who follow Homeschool on the Croft Facebook (by the way, I'd love to shorten this when I write about it, but the shortened version looks like this: HotCroft. Hmmm, I don't think so ... And so, full title remains. Now, where was I? Oh yes, I remember).

Twenty years ago today, God blessed the Builder and me with our first child.

He was, and still is, such a blessing to me. To us.

Ten years after DR was born, we were blessed with another son. Calum is so like DR and in many ways it really is like have DR all over again.

Calum is a very lucky chap to have a big brother like he does.

Yep, very lucky indeed.

The boys in our family come in three sizes: small, medium and large.

And boy, do I love 'em all.

And now onto Patrice's questions for this week:


1. Have you cooked any interesting dishes lately?

Not really. I find, more and more, that I tend to cook the same things over and over. Because there are kids and adults eating together, I tend to be cooking for substance rather than style, for ease rather than for finesse, and so the same staple meals get repeated again and again.

Can you say that - 'repeated - again and again'? Yes, I suppose you can. 'Repeated' would mean it was done twice (at least). 'Again' would mean it was done at least another twice. And the second 'again' would mean it was done at least another twice. So, I have to have made the same meals at least six times.... Phew! Glad we cleared that up.

This is a staple for us: Chicken Thighs.

Mind you, I seldom roast the veg in the same dish. Normally, I stuff each thigh with flavoured Philadelphia cheese - either chilli, or garlic and herbs. I roast them in one dish, and roast the veg in a separate roasting dish.

This pasta bake with chicken and broccoli tends to vary according to what is to hand, but some variation of it is a fairly common occurrence.

Roast chicken - always handy. Tomorrow I plan to roast a couple of chickens and serve it with salad-y foods. It's my attempt at summer living.

Sadly, this is not a common meal for us.

If you haven't seen Our Delicacy before, you really don't know what you're missing. Fortunately, you can click on the link to read all about it.

2. What question would you like to ask Wendell?

Does he think he'd enjoy the Guga if he comes to visit? I wouldn't share it with many friends, but I think Wendell is special enough for me to share it with.

Last year, we shared it with this fella:

But apart from himself and you, Wendell, there aren't many folks with whom we'd share our delightful Guga.

3. Have you had any thoughts of Christmas yet?

Yes, in fact we were talking about Christmas last night. We had the great pleasure of having some friends that DR and Catherine had met in the USA joining us for Christmas.

We had a great time with them, and yes, even though it's now July, we are still talking about their time here.

Here they were, on a Harris beach, on Christmas Eve.

Hang on ... What?? You mean next Christmas.

Gracious me, Patrice! Have you lost your marbles??  


4. Do you make jams and jellies?

Nope. And I'm yet to get over the last question, so I can't say any more than that.


5. Do you have any board games that you enjoy?

Yes. I do love Monopoly. Sometimes, over the winter, we can have Monopoly games that stretch over a whole week. We have some cunning players who almost always win. We have others who blow their cash 'investing' and end up broke before the first day is over.

You know who you are, folks!

See you next week, Patrice, and once again, thank you so much for having us on your porch.