Better kip last night, assisted no doubt by a few pints in the strugglers. A rare couple of hours in the pub but actually the second Thursday on the trot. Coops arrived just ahead of me so bought the first round, result. Pub was full so no place to sit but I did manage the occasional perch on a stool. Dropped off and picked up by THG fair play. Orrible weather but warm and cosy int pub. Morning Star is likely to be the next pub visit on 21st Dec for the carol singing although we do have our annual boys lunch at OleOle with @Wayne coming up next thursday and there may be a supplementary pub or two involved.
Big day ahead. Beef stock making. Picked up a load of beef bones from Fosters yesterday afternoon so all set to go innit. Home made beef stock is vastly superior to the stuff you can buy in the shops. Even the expensive liquid stock that is sold as posh stuff is still pretty dilute in my mind. My beef stock cools to a gel and I think this time I’ll reduce it even further. We aren’t exactly over endowed with freezer space and won’t need the stock until Christmas so a smaller volume for freezing will help.
When I say we are short on freezer space it has to be seen in the context of our having three freezers. Gawd only knows what’s in there. Gawd and THG. I did manage to find the fish fingers last night but that was only because THG showed me where they were before she went out. One of them really needs defrosting. Will need to wait for a sustained period of sub zero temperatures. We keep the contents in a bin liner outside whilst the freezer defrosts in the garage. Obvs the bin liner needs to be suspended from a tree to avoid attention from wandering bears looking for food. Only joking. They are all in hibernation by now around here. Deep in their snow holes.
The lake cam has hitherto not picked up any bear action. I have mixed emotions about this. On the one hand bears are just the kind of wildlife we should expect and want to gather around the lake. After all their diet does include fish (I’ve seen the youtube vids) and as we know there is plenty of fishing to be had in the expanse of water that is the lake. On the other hand we wouldn’t want any harm coming to Brian the fishing gnome. It doesn’t matter right now as he is overwintering in da Caribbean maan but there again the bears ain’t around at this time of year for the very same reason Brian shoots off to warmer climes. You will be the first to hear of any sightings, natch. Standby…