Sporting Sunday

Last night, after the Blades fantabulous drubbing of Swansea, John decided to stay up to watch the Big Fight and cheer on a fellow Blades supporter - Kell Brook.  This was to take place late or early depending on which way you look at it but whatever it was I wasn't bothered so I went to bed.  I went to bed and slept and when I woke up realised that the TV was still playing, the lounge lights were on and John was sound asleep in the chair with Miss Minnie snuggled onto his lap.  I woke him and asked if he had seen the fight, he replied yes, by which he meant no - I had seen the result so I could have told him!  I bundled him off to bed.  He snored his head off, I tossed and turned and then, in the morning, was peeved when I realised that I could have watched the Olympic Women's curling final live and witnessed the GB team taking gold!

I was somewhat jaded when I got up this morning so was rather glad that I had got the bulk of today's lunch sorted yesterday although weekends do seem to feel like two days of continuous cooking!

This morning I took the gammon joint out and basted it with the honey, mustard, orange jus stuff and then whacked it under the grill to give it a crust as per the recipe.  This is not my photograph but I am pleased to say that my effort did look pretty much like this and the meat was not overcooked which was a bonus because I wasn't really sure how long it needed.

Mum came up - she said that there was very little traffic on the road which is good.  She has mentioned that she is considering giving up driving next year - not sure why next year but I think it has something to do with the cataract she has which needs attention.  This will be a major decision and will have a huge impact on her life and ours but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.  For now we will just go with the flow!

I have been nurturing a bowl of pansies to replace the poinsettia that my sister put there.  I thought it might be a nice idea to take it down to the grave as this week sees the anniversary of Dad's passing.  I know that Mum finds it difficult to visit the cemetery so we don't push it but I suggested we went today before lunch and she agreed.

There had been a funeral this week.  It transpires that it is the wife of the man who is buried next to Dad.  It came as something of a surprise to see the top of marble on that grave lifted up because as we approached Dad's it looked like it was his.  We decided that the pansies would benefit from the shelter of the tipped up marble which is propped between Ivan's grave and Dad's.

We normally try to check to see if there have been any changes because I know it can be a bit disconcerting if you visit and things are not as you expect but somehow we missed this but Mum was ok about it - maybe because we had gone together.

Anyway we are all going to have lunch together later this week in memory of Dad - we are going to Tavernaki - he would have approved - he was always blown away by the meals there which were always 10 euros including a drink.  Not sure if after the pandemic this is still the case!

Gammon is, apparently, mum's favourite and I would confirm that, based on the size of the meal she ate today which was really good for her.  She even had extra sauce which will have made her blood sugars soar for sure!!!  Anyway John and I don't care its just good to see her eat something and enjoy it.  She even managed a rather large panna cotta with lychees - even though I am sure she had no idea what lychees are!  We rounded off the afternoon watching the closing ceremony of the Olympics.  We have found that if we can find something to watch for an hour or so after eating it helps so I am not sure what we are going to do now that the Olympics have finished though!

Anyone watching the Olympics may have been surprised to hear the Chinese regularly singing their version of Auld Lang Syne - it seemed very random to hear that familiar New Year song being belted out in an oriental fashion - they did it again at the closing ceremony which made us wonder why?

How on earth did this Scottish song catch on in the most populous nation on the planet?  According to the tintyweb a large part of the reason appears to be the Hollywood movie Waterloo Bridge which was made in 1940 - it is one of my all time favourite movies.

It was a love story set amid the war.  During one scene the two stars dance to Auld Lang Syne.  The film was hugely popular in China as the end of the Second World War and then revived in the 1980s when the film was dubbed for a Chinese audience and widely played in the cinemas and considered a classic.  It is believed that because of this film Auld Lang Syne is now widely taught in Chinese primary schools and high schools.

WHO KNEW????