Beer Baby...

Say hello to John's beer baby.  He/She has to be kept at an ambient temperature for several days to allow the stuff to 'work'.  It appears to be doing it's job because the big silver brewing bag is now firm and inflated and thankfully the cap has a release valve so Captain Kirk she ain't gonna blow!!!

We are fairly certain that during the day the conservatory is the correct temperature but at night it drops in there so we have to keep an eye on BB (beer baby) otherwise all our hard work will be for nought.

This wonderful kit came with absolutely everything save water and is designed so that you dispense the amber nectar direct from the tap on the bag but John is hoping he will be able to decant some into his flip-top Grolch-type bottles so that he can give it to people i.e. The Bobster to try.  Friday BB has to be taken from its current home and placed into a cooler environment.

The rain we had been forecast came a day late i.e. today and it was heavy and stormy - I guess Winter is here!!!  Hopefully it wont be like lat year when it started to rain in November and never stopped until the following April!!!

The temperature has really dipped today as witnessed by the fact that we had hail this morning - not for long but long enough.  We had planned a trip down to Polis for some shopping and were going to call into see Les with his post and Stephen who has moved in to his temporary accommodation in the village.

Not wanting to get Les's post wet we decided to leave that until on our way back as it was hoofing it down when we ran the gauntlet from Bramall Lane out into the street.  John does keep thinking about making the pathway a little more waterproof for occasions such as this and I always think that we have better things to spend our money on until we get days like today and then I think he may well have a valid point!!  There was a hasty search for some waterproof coats - we do have some - last year they were a necessity but once the rains stop our memories become very short and they get stuffed away in some deep dark corner until the next time which this year is today.

We called in to have a coffee with Stephen in his new abode which a lovely couple from Droushia has given him the run of.  We don't know the couple but we do know the house and have passed it over the years and often wondered what it was like.  I remember it used to have a wind turbine outside - this seems to have gone and been replaced by photo-voltaics.  We think Stelios looks after the pool, in fact we are sure he does and it the name of the man who owns it is John then we think the property belongs to a couple which Stelios kept asking us if we knew or they kept asking Stelios if he knew us - not sure which way round as sometimes things get lost in translation between Stelios and ourselves.
As we approached the front door a little voice could be heard from within and then a window opened and Stephen's head popped out - he couldn't find the door key so we then made our way around the back to this fabulous pool area.

If the people who own this property ever read my blog then I must apologise for being so nosey BUT this house has THE MOST INCREDIBLE VIEW!!!!!  I don't know how long it has been there but I can absolutely, absolutely see why this spot was chosen.  I have often cleaned up rubbish right up to the house sign on one of our Droushia cleans but never in a million years appreciated what a glorious vista there was at the back.  Anyway if the people who own it do read my blog please let me know - it would be lovely to hear from fellow Drouseians and Peshwari Nan readers.

Although it appeared brighter down on the coast the weather was heading in that direction and so as I was sat waiting for John to have his hair cut and to listen to the local gossip from Barber George I was treated to a right old downpour with some thunder and lightning thrown in for good measure.

Paps was fairly quiet and we didn't need too much so we were able to whip round and get what we wanted and restock the booze cupboard because last night I had snaffled the last of the port and brandy for a nightcap and apparently we were out of ouzo and zivania too - what the hell is going on???

All sorted we made our way back to Droushia and made our way around the village so we could drop the post off to Les.  After all that rain the village was in a right old state with mud and muck everywhere - you do think that rather than bury the electric underground they might be better off building some proper drainage because the rain water just has nowhere to go so it courses down the hill dragging crap and rubbish with it.  You have to really feel sorry for the villagers who are caught up in the middle of this chaos - they reckon it could be two or even three years before the upheaval is over.

We had not been home five minutes when I received a phonecall from Kronos couriers to say they had a parcel for me and that he was in Inea - I directed him to the Mukhtar's 'supermarket' and John went off to meet him.

It was with great excitement that he returned with my new lamp.  I have wanted a nice new lamp in the corner where I sit and do my crochet or knitting as the lamp that is there is dimmer than a TocH lamp.

(Possibly not used much nowadays as probably deemed politically incorrect but the expression, "as dim as a TocH lamp," was often used up to the late 1960s to describe someone who was not quite as bright as others were.)

I now have a lovely new Mother and Child lamp - the mother is an uplighter and the child is spotlight which can be positioned wherever I need it which will make my evening crafting easier to manage - well see at least!!

I am super delighted that I managed to get one of these from a shop on Ebay at a really reasonable price because for some reason - I blame Brexit - goods from Amazon are now accompanied by extortionate shipping costs.

Today we bit the bullet and fired up the gas fire and had the panel heater at the other end of the lounge/diner on the go to lift the temperature this evening.  We have three different weather station things sitting side by side and they all say the room is a different temperature - there is a difference of 3 or 4 degrees - I am taking the highest as being correct otherwise I think that subconsciously you can look at a temperature and think yourself cold.

We were both in shorts during the day despite the rain and then we had a nice warm shower and got into slobbers and ate the last of the Shepherd's pie before settling down for the evening.  I cannot believe that the pie I made for Sunday stretched to 12 good sized meals and it was delicious - I think it was the heavy cocoa content dark chocolate I put in that was the magic ingredient.

John is happy as all the cats are in at night now that it is getting colder so we don't have to worry so much about them.  It is a year ago since Charlie had his accident - we certainly don't want to go through something like that again.

We are now stuck into the TV series Gold Digger - I have tried to see if it is based on a book I read years ago written by the actress Jill Gascoigne called Addicted - if it isn't then it is pretty close.  I still have a copy of that book on the shelf somewhere and think I will give it a read again.