Another crisp, fresh, sharp, even very cold yet glorious day here at Latimers. This is not boding well for the hanging out of the washing which has to take place sometime over the weekend ... cold wind and wet washing means frozen hands.
M changed Hermes' rug over yesterday so he's at least looking a bit warmer but it does make you wonder what type of body heat control big animals have (besides huddling together and there needs to be more than one of them to make that happen) and how difficult it would be in really cold weather. Of course, we do know that in some cold countries people and livestock used to share buildings through the winter - I wonder if that still happens. Where would Hermes want to be ... but on a slightly more practical note, I wonder how long it will be before M starts putting him in the stables overnight.
Tonight, Pearl wore her nightie for the first time this year. As soon as it was on, she ran down to show me - and then as soon as S opened her door, she raced in to show her as well. There's little doubt she feels special when she's wearing it - it's probably linked to a sense of belonging; M says that if you want Pearl to know that she's really in trouble (not very often) taking her collar off her makes her feel as though she's no longer part of the pack (Leader of the Pack?) and displaced. This is obviously something that is not done lightly.
Friday Family and Friends Dinner was at Mouses's and S had put in the menu request ... "It's getting cold isn't it?". This translated to borscht and vareniki with a side of (what I call) bazooka which is like a ragout (do ragout's usually have meat in them because this one doesn't) as a different way of serving us vegetables. It was all very nice, hot and more-ish - and it was just as well people had left room for F's favourite rhubarb crumble and Mouse's custard. For those of us who don't like rhubarb, M had brought along some of the cake she had made - carrot/apple/pecan (or was it walnut?).
We caught up with MasterChef Master Class over dinner - if you could hear it as we all seemed to be in the midst of fairly animated conversation - all with lots to say including recounting our weeks, talking about M's new business venture (she was quizzing M and S about their telephone sales) and recalling bits of the Fiona O'Loughlin comedy routine some of us had seen the other evening. M said, again, that she would like to go to the comedy night each week. That wouldn't be a bad thing, especially as she is usually at the venue on a Wednesday night for other business as well.
And speaking of entertainment, tonight was the first heat of the Eurovision Song Contest - the same contest that launched Abba back in 1974. I was first introduced to it 21 years ago when S and I got together and she made me watch it on her very, very tiny black and white television set. Luckily we had colour last night because the set and staging were absolutely amazing - a huge screen behind the stage was transformed into backdrops suiting the songs - most of which, unfortunately, and I don't know if this was, as someone suggested, part of the competition rules - sung in English. While people don't have an accent when they sing, if English is not one's first language and you are not familiar with pronounciation and/or the words, it can lead to some very interesting moments. The second heat is on tomorrow night; the final's the night after. Who will win?
