Saturday 17 November 2018

Fred Fernackerpan...

It's Friday and the end of the week and I had a complete brain-fart this morning - I got up and rifled the freezer to rustle up something for our supper this evening.  We had inherited a load of spare ribs from different eateries so I shoved them all together and decided I would let them thaw in the glorious sunshine and then shove them in the slow cooker so that they would be super tender by the time we got home from pickleball this afternoon.  John was dreaming about coming in, having a nice hot shower, pouring a glass of wine and then sinking his teeth into the ribs and the freshly made coleslaw along with a jacket potato or maybe some wedges.  The only trouble was, as we remembered when we were en route to Paphos and having put on the slow cooker, we were eating out this evening!!!!!


It is another glorious day even here in the hills where the temperatures seem much warmer for this time of year than they should be.  In fact this evening we were amazed to exit Fitos's and be greeted by a balmy 19 degrees!  The cats seem to like this time of year because it isn't too hot for them and if they do get chilly we have some snuggly throws around which they love.  They seem to spend much more time indoors at night so when I got up this morning Boris was chillin' on the sofa!

I found this on the internet today - that is most definitely John and I although we are trying not to expand our waistlines too much as the years go by.  Actually we don't eat as much as we used to but still love our food and you cannot beat a meal for socialising with friends.  My thoughts are turning to Christmas and we have agreed that we will still do a little walk on Boxing Day and have our pasties as we have done for years and years although maybe eat them at home in the warm.  I need to organise a day with Mum when we can make them together - probably with Dad's voice ringing in our ears that we aren't doing it right!  He was the master at pasties and I haven't exercised my pastry crimping skills for a very long time.

We know Christmas is going to be strange this year so we are trying to get ourselves organised so it is as good as we can make it so we are now looking for films and tv programmes that we can all enjoy together.  We have always had a Christmas Day Film, some have been more successful than others and we have always tried to find the right mix of sex/violence/bad language so that no-one feels uncomfortable - that isn't always easy particularly if you are watching a film for the first time - no matter what the review might tell you!!!   I have given Mum strict instructions to scour the TV magazine and highlight things she might find of interest.

We were just about to leave for Paphos when we bumped into Bassam who had come for coffee but unfortunately we didn't have the time for a good long chat so we arranged to see him on Moday.  We had a really good afternoon at pickleball.  It is not now so drippingly hot when we play but we have some good hard games with a lot of laughs and banter.  John played this week and his knee held up - he is currently trying to decide whether or not to renew his badminton membership which is due now - he doesn't want to pay and then not play nor does he want to lose his membership and not be able to renew when he does feel fully fit.  I think he should pay it and hope he will return.


So it was not to be the rib and slaw supper we had anticipated - in fact it was to be something even better as we were picking up Rob and Di and catching up with Mina and Claire before they go away for a week.  We had a lovely evening but boy was Fitos busy - so much more busy than we had imagined.  No-one eating outside so we were glad we had booked our favourite table No 1.  For a number of reasons we haven't seen these two for quite a while so it was good to catch up.   As I said when we emerged having eaten the temperature outside was 19 degrees and it felt so warm - having got hot inside we expected to feel a real chill.  It is so hard to think we are in November and Christmas is fast approaching - I shall have to get my arse in gear and get some cards made, written and posted!!!

Interestingly Mina used a word tonight that I have only ever heard my Dad use before - Fernackerpan - Dad used to refer to us all as Fred - Fred Fernackerpan - I thought he just made it up but I have found out it is a term of endearment Oooop North and apparently was more likely to refer to a Fanny Fernackerpan.  The only other reference was in a poem by the legendary Spike Milligan which goes like this....

I am a mystery fellow,
I'm Fred Fernackerpan,
I wear one sock that's yellow
The other dipped in jam.
I walk about the countryside
I walk about the town,
Sometimes with my trousers up
And sometimes with them down;
And when they were up they were up
And when they were down they were down
And when they were only half way up
He was arrested.
Spike Milligan

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