The Maldives, Me and You - A Poem

In my dreams, I wake and walk

Across the room to lift the blind

No need to think or even talk

Just feel your presence close behind

I open the blind to let the sun glint through

Then turn around to stare at you

You catch my eye and I pull the cord

Letting in the sun and the sound of water

I wander out of the room on stilts

Wearing only my bronze silk nightie

Then I sit on the steps and swish

My tanned legs in the calm waters

Here we are in the Maldives

The sun beating down on my shoulders

So early in the morn

Must get dressed and go to eat

Fresh fruit and eggs with

Orange juice and coffee

All laid out on pure white linen

Cannot wait to start our day

I bend over the chest of drawers

Looking for my shorts and vest

When you approach me from behind

Encircling my waist with two firm arms

I reach up and take your hands

You kiss my neck and whisper

Words of love

I feel your strength and tender touch.

Pierre Loti

Pierre was a French novelist and naval officer.

"It is with the approach of WINTER that cats wear their richest fur and assume an air of sumptuous and delightful opulence.

- Pierre Loti

My version of minestrone soup

Ingredients:

3 spring onions, cleaned and finely chopped
Olive oil
2 large carrots, cleaned and cubed
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
tomato puree, about a tablespoonful
2 teaspoons of green pesto sauce
3 soft tomatoes chopped
A quarter of a green cabbage
Vegetable or chicken stock
Fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
A handful of vermicelli

Gently fry the spring onions in a little olive oil.  Then add the carrots, garlic, tomato puree and pesto sauce.  Add about 1 litre of the stock and bring to the boil.  Leave to simmer for about 10 minutes until the carrots are cooked.

Then add the other ingredients, season and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

Serve with crusty bread.

You could always add a tin of cannelini beans, celery and such like, if you have them to hand.

Do you collect Teddy Bears?

Meet Tedward

He's the latest in my collection and was born in Hamleys.

A little history on Teddy Bears:-

A POTTED HISTORY OF THE BEAR

In Switzerland and France the proof of bear worship can still be found.  In Berne (meaning Bear), the capital of Switzerland, there are still bear pits where you can feed carrots to the bears.  Many bones and skulls of cave bears have been found at a site in Drachenloch in Switzerland.  Why Neanderthal man began hunting the Cave Bear is not certain.  It was a formidable animal, standing more than eight feet tall when reared in anger, and must have been a dangerous foe.

Teddy bear collectors are known as arctophiles from the Greek words 'arcto' (bear) and 'philos' (lover).

Theodore Roosevelt, the American President, was responsible for the first “teddy bear”.  On one of his Mississippi hunting trips it is believed that his assistants cornered a black bear after a long chase and tied it to a willow tree.  Roosevelt refused to shoot it saying the immortal words, “Spare the bear!  I will not shoot a tethered animal.”  Clifford Berryman of the Washington Post drew a cartoon of the scene and eventually the cartoon bear became smaller and cuter.  In 1903, a new stuffed toy was developed by Morris and Rose Michtom, owners of a store in Brooklyn and when they put it in their shop window they used a sign saying “Teddy’s bear” and it became a great success.   Almost simultaneously in Germany Margarete Steiff, a disabled seamstress, was making stuffed teddies and selling them to the USA.  The Steiff company went on to sell millions of teddies before the First World War in Germany, as well as the UK and USA.

A family business called Merrythought in the World Heritage Site of Ironbridge in Shropshire, England, have been making teddies since 1930.  In the 1980’s they made showpiece teddies, some 6ft. tall for Hamleys and Harrods.  In 1992 they won the TOBY (Teddy Bear of the Year Award) for Master Mischief designed by Jacqueline Revitt.  In 2013 they produced a special edition bear to mark the arrival of Prince George of Cambridge.

Lamb stew with light green courgettes

This makes a nice winter meal served with pure white basmati rice and a chopped mixed salad.

Ingredients

4-6 light green courgettes, washed, peeled and cubed
1 tin of chick peas, washed and drained
1 chicken stock cube
half a kilo of cubed lamb from the leg or the neck
olive oil
salt and pepper

Fry the cubed lamb in a little olive oil until browned.  Add 1 pint of chicken stock, salt and pepper.  Then add the chick peas and courgettes.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for about half an hour until the lamb is soft.

Polydactls also known as The Hemingway Cats

Most cats have four toes on their back paws and five toes on their front paws.  Exceptional cats can have six toes, or more rarely, seven toes on each paw, making 28 toes.

Ernest Hemingway had more than 50 cats at his Florida home, about half of which were polydactls, cats born with extra toes.

The word is Greek in origin, "poly" meaning "many" and "dactylos" meaning "digits."

Polydactls were popular on boats with fishermen.  With their extra toes, they had a better grip on the deck if the sea turned rough.

Spanish Style Roast Lamb - Castilian - with Potatoes and Onions

This is a popular dish in Spain when eating at home or outside.  Each person is often served a whole baby leg of lamb but a large one between a family will do just as well.

Ingredients:

Large leg of lamb (3-1/2 pounds) or 1.5 kg.
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon of fresh thyme (or dried)
8 cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
A wine glass of white wine
1/2 a pint of water (300 ml)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons of wine vinegar
Juice of a lemon
6-8 large potatoes, peeled and sliced in 1cm thick rings
2 large onions, peeled and sliced into rings

Method:

Rub the olive oil into the lamb along with the thyme, salt and pepper.  Make slits in the lamb and insert the sliced garlic slivers.  Set aside for about an hour for the lamb to absorb the flavours.

 

Put the onion rings and potatoes in a roasting tin, together with the garlic cloves.

Put the lemon juice, wine vinegar, water and white wine into a pan and bring to the boil.  Pour half over the meat and place in a preheated oven at 230C/450F (gas mark 8) for 15 minutes.

Then reduce the heat to 180C/375F (gas mark 5) and continue to cook allowing 15 minutes per pound if you like it rare or 25 minutes per pound if you like it well done.  Baste with the remain liquid occasionally.

Serve the lamb on a platter with the potatoes and onions.  Green vegetables would be a great accompaniment as would a bottle of Faustino red wine.