January 23, 2025 by Mike Madden

I Don’t Like Mondays

Working Nine To Five

News on the job front – Ole has now passed his probation period at Sky and so is allowed to work from home. This is getting quite expensive for us, as at his office he goes to Subway or Greggs for lunch, but at home he goes to the fridge. The same happens on his morning and afternoon breaks. I’m thinking of getting a vending machine installed in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, my Dutch adventure is not going particularly well. Its making a profit, but it is a pain in the arse. So, I am trying to simplify it with a view to maybe ending the whole thing. My first step was to end the appointment of my Dutch director. I am looking for an alternative, but if one cannot be found that will just force me to close the business anyway. All of my contracts expire in March anyway, and although renewals will be offered, this would be an opportune time to step aside.

You’ll Always Find Me In The Kitchen…

The Christmas kitchen has been as busy as ever, with the staple chocolate log making an appearance. This was a little later than normal so that Zac would not eat it all before the big day.

Festive chocolate log

The Creole cake was finished, and Sally added her usual artistic touches. 

Creole Cake 2024

Lasagne was another success, made with turkey mince and lots of cheese, and then there was a new recipe.

Every year we have a panettone, but I can never remember actually eating one. So, I saw Rachel Allen use one on her “Bake” series, basically making it into a pudding filled with ricotta, cocoa and a few other things. I decided to give it a go myself, and the end result of Zucotto di panettone was delicious. It was compared to rum and raisin ice cream, and a giant chocolate eclair. It will definitely be made again, maybe in time for Easter.

Zucotto Di Panettone after 24 hours…

…topped with cocoa…

…sliced and devoured

Away from Christmas I gave home-made fish & chips another outing, although I did not have time to create the mushy peas so common or garden had to do.

 

Home-made chip shop fish

Storm Of The Week

Yet another Storm Of The Century hit Whaley Bridge recently, that’s probably the fifth since the millennium. I still think its a bit early to be calling anything “…Of The Century”, but the weathermen in particular insist. This one brought extensive flooding to the area, quickly followed by heavy snow.

How high’s the water momma?

The BBC and Sky came to the village looking for a news story, the first time the press had descended on Whaley Bridge since the infamous dam incident.

Temperatures dropped, meaning the thaw was delayed. Footpaths were literally ice sheets, and we had a burst pipe in the garage.

Snowy Whaley Bridge

However, this gave plenty of opportunity for crisp winter walks across the frozen fields to Buxworth, and a nice stroll up to Solomon’s Temple with the grandkids to blow away the cobwebs. Well, the grandkids made it all the way to the temple, we stayed at the bottom of the final hill to get our breath back. 

Sending the grandkids to Solomon’s Temple

The storm meant that our planned New Year’s Eve bonfire was a damp squib, but we had one a few days later, and then Sally decided on another in early January. I’m not quite sure she built it properly!

Not quite Bear Grylls

Brothers In Pyjamas

Damage from the storm was widespread, and it destroyed one of our fence panels. We got another delivered, and I painted it with wood preserving stain, but it would still be tricky to get it into place. A branch had grown over the gap since the previous installation, so I had to get a saw and cut that off. It was turning into a project, but help was at hand. Ole and Zac decided that they would finish the job.

To be fair they did complete it. It was upside down and back to front, and I’m not sure health & safety would have approved of their uniforms. The right hand side had a significant gap to the stone frame, and they started knocking it down with a hammer. This would have significantly damaged the panel, so I stepped in and raised the frame. The job was done, but I am now concerned that the next panel along is showing signs of wear and tear!

Driving Home For Christmas

Christmas Eve used to be a stressful time, making sure all of the presents are accounted for and wrapped, but now that the kids are grown up it is a lot more relaxed. Except this year! Ole was playing football in Marple, but his car would not work. That’s unfortunate, finding out that your car won’t start on Christmas Eve, but that was not actually the case. He found out a few days earlier, but decided to do precisely nothing about it. So, Sally had a go at starting his car with jump leads, but to no avail. It was completely dead. He had not left any lights on, or radio blaring. It was a mystery.

Beat The Clock

Fortunately we have RAC cover, so I called them. I picked up Ole from his football, confident that the repair man was on his way. I guess I should have expected a wide variety of possible arrival times, from 2pm to 8pm, then 5pm, 10pm, and so on. This was disturbing as I had a must not miss appointment, at the Drum & Monkey, at 3.30pm.

Eventually the guy turned up just after 3. I thought that it would be a long job, but not so. He connected the battery to his vehicle, and seconds later Ole’s car sprang into life. I told him that Sally and Ole had tried to jump start it earlier, and he simply said that they had not been doing it properly. He also said that Ole had left the lights on which had killed the battery. He refused to sell us a new battery, as the existing one was under warranty and his batteries were too expensive. The mechanic was brilliant, just doing his job and not trying to rip anyone off, all on Christmas Eve. It was a Christmas miracle that enabled me to to get some well deserved me time just 10 minutes later than planned.

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day

We had a wonderful Christmas. Sally stayed in bed until 7am, which is two hours later than normal, and we fell back into bed much later than previous years, mainly due to something called “Gavin & Stacey”.

The cats also enjoyed their Christmas – with Bo attacking the feather and Thomas taking the more fundamental approach of disabling the base.

Monday Morning Blues

New year came and went, and one morning Sally shot out of bed in a panic. She quickly dressed, and muttered something about a car service. By this time all of the lights were on and I was awake, without my customary early morning coffee.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I’m late. My car is going in for a service this morning and I’m supposed to have already dropped it off,” she replied.

“Car service? On a Sunday?” I asked.

“Sunday? Its Monday,” she said.

“No it isn’t,” I said, and after clarifying the situation we did indeed agree that it was Sunday. So now she was in the wrong clothes for her normal Sunday activity of horse riding. And guess who’s fault it was.

“Its all your fault,” she said. “You were watching American Football last night and you normally do that on Sundays!”

Road To Nowhere

Zac decided that he was going to the Lake District with some friends. With his health scare fresh in the memory Sally wanted to know exactly where and when he was going, and the locations of all hospitals in the area. Zac either did not know or refused to say, but shortly after he set off she managed to track him on Snapchat. I can’t help thinking that that particular avenue may be closed by Zac in the near future. He did insist on Sally frequently asking him the question “Have you packed….?” using random items. This was so that he did not forget anything.

I Hear You Knocking…

While he was away Sally decided to clean his room, despite his pleas not to. Amongst the debris was a pizza box containing a bowl that had an unknown brown substance in it. The bowl was some sort of pottery, and so noxious was the substance that it had permeated right through to the underside of it.

In one drawer there was a mountain of socks. I paired them for him, and threw away a considerable number of odd ones. The following day another draw was emptied, and in it was another mountain of socks, many of which could have been paired with those already discarded.

Zac was fuming when he returned, and it looked for a while like World War 3 would break out. However, things seem to calm down, and then Zac set about rearranging and tidying his room himself. He did a fantastic job, the question now is “Can he keep it that way?”

Here Comes The Sun

Percy’s Daydream and Star Of Lady M have just resumed training after their winter break. Unfortunately the racing programme has not yet been released beyond the end of March, so it is difficult to plan anything for Percy’s Daydream.

Star Of Lady M’s season should be a lot more predictable, with the Palace House Stakes at Newmarket the initial target. There should then be a race every three or four weeks up until the Nunthorpe at York in August. David O’Meara is happy to send her straight to the Palace House, but he is also not against a prep race if one can be found.

As Easter is late this year that is not particularly easy. The only handicap we could consider is at Musselburgh, but just two weeks before the Newmarket race. The Listed race at Bath has been moved from Friday to Sunday, leaving just a 13 day gap. Our only option might be the Abernant also at Newmarket, which would give us a 16 day gap. It is six furlongs and a tough course, so the ground would have to be on the quick side for us to consider that.

Meanwhile, she has clearly become the face of ITV Racing. Her image has been used against previews of The Opening Show, and on ITVX. I don’t recall agreeing to image rights for those!

I’m Looking For My Wife