Curry night - a catchup post...

So this morning was like the hymn says - all things bright and beautiful although it went severely downhill as the day progressed with thunder and hail in the afternoon and a cold chilly night at the end.  John took the opportunity this morning to go and chop up all the wood which we had moved across the road onto the drive of one of the abandoned houses.  We didn't really like having it there and it looked messy so this was a job very well done and one of our fuel boxes has been filled with seasoned wood that will burn well.  Whilst he was doing that I was getting ready for Elaine to come for a meal this evening - I had promised her a curry before Christmas and then had got a bad throat just before she was due to go back to the UK so we had postponed the occasion.  I was doing my normal dip and poppadom starter, a chicken massaman curry with lime and coriander rice and John's home-made naan and then some cake and icecream to finish.  We had a visit from the Bobster and Mrs V who are off to the UK tomorrow for a family visit.  We will be keeping an eye on the house and garden whilst they are away.

Even though the weather was slightly more wintry than of late Spring is most definitely here as the goats are being grazed in the field next door which means that if there had been any early asparagus in there (which there normally is) it had probably provided a gourmet treat for the visitors.  I like to see the goats but this does mean that the cats will now be a landing pad for the ticks that they carry.  We have had the first couple recently so are bound to get more.

We battened down the hatches, lit the fire and the candles and got ready for Elaine.  I had struggled to get plain poppadoms and normally get the ones which you can cook in the microwave - they are easier and less messy but in the end had to settle for a packet of Sharwoods from Ikoagora - I had to fry them but did them early, wrapped them in kitchen roll and stacked them upright and they were fine.  We had a lovely evening - the curry and accompaniments were a hit with Elaine.  I had checked to see how hot and spicy she liked and she had replied without checking the predictive text, meaning to tell me she didn't like boring Kormas she had sent me a message saying she didn't like boring Koreans which was just as well because I don't know any!

We look a bit like two rabbits caught in the headlights in this photograph - too much flash I think but this was just to mark the occasion.  Charlie, as you can see is dead excitied to have Elaine here - so much so that he had a go at her when she was trying to be nice to him - he is such a little shit but looks like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.