Tuesday

Good morning, gentle readers.  It's a chilly, bracing morning, just as they told us it would be, and I'm hoping those clear skies herald a good drying day today.  I do hope so as I have copious amounts of bedding to deal with and I do dislike having it hanging around for too long.

So it's all over for another year.  Well, all bar sorting out the aftermath - moved furniture, too much left over food, etc.  My last guests are leaving this morning and life more or less reverts to normal again.  I'm looking forward to peace and quiet and time to catch up on all the telly I have missed over this last weekend.  Thinks like Going on a Bear Hunt, Bake Off, Doctor Who, the Carols from Kings, Strictly . . . oh, so many things I really wanted to watch.  Thank goodness for iPlayer and the like.

Apart from the aforementioned washing (plus drying and ironing, of course), my main task for today is dealing with the turkey.

It's an odd sort of problem to have really.  I always get my turkey from Kelly's of Danbury.  Famous and justifiably so with the added advantage of being a local business.  Terribly expensive but real quality and anyway, I get financial backing from my parents, bless them.
Anyway, when I opened the box which came on Friday, there was a note inside saying that their turkeys had grown exceptionally well this year and therefore they had given me a bit more.  A bit more?  I had ordered a 7k bird and what came was more akin to a 9k bird.  My heart sank somewhat because the last time that happened I had ordered a much bigger bird as I had more guests and the resulting giant wouldn't fit in even my largest roasting tin and I had to borrow mum's largest tin, hack off the legs and even then it was touch and go!

This time, however, it just fitted so all was well!

However, it does mean there is more leftover than anticipated, even after sending John home with a goodly amount and ditto with my other guests who are leaving today.  Beth's cats will be treated and after stripping the carcass, the rest will go into the freezer to be used over the next few weeks/months.  The resulting delicious stock will partly go into home made soups and the rest will go towards the gravy for next year's turkey.  I know it sounds odd but I do like to make the gravy in advance as I hate that last minute rush, so some good frozen stock is just the ticket!

So that's today all sorted out!

The decorations are staying put until Twelfth Night and so are the pictures on this blog.  😊

I stopped mentioning my meals towards the end of the year as things got less organised but I shall start again now.  So . . .
B:  toast and fruit
L:  ham/turkey salad, apple
D:  leftovers bubble and squeak, orange