Awake

It's somewhere before five in the morning, and I've been awake for hours. Last night, after a long cycle ride and an evening of food and banter with the Tuesboyz I slept like a log for ten hours; this evening I woke at two with a mind racing around like a ferret, thinking of everything yet nothing, and couldn't sleep.

I was convinced that if I got up, my life would change. One's mind plays games at this unworldly hour. So I did, craving (for some strange reason) a cup of nettle tea. I pulled on my djebellah in Rio's empty room, gazing out at the crystal black sky with Orion clear and bright. The lights of a single plane winked by in front of the stars, its contrail leaving them milkily obscured. I guess that it must have been a military jet heading for Lynham, as it was too high to be heading for Bristol and was off the flight-tracks for the London airports. Back from Afghanistan, I suppose.

While the kettle boiled for my tea, I went into the garden to piss and stare into the sky: Orion again, the Plough, Leo, Casseopeia. A shooting star: the first I have seen for years.

I returned inside, unsure of where the my future lies. My current job lies in the balance, Moonface told me that I should try to write. Perhaps it was that which led to my being awake: uncertainty about my future coupled with a suggestion of what I could do - and I remembered the germ of an idea for a story which I could tell. So I noted it down and came upstairs to write this while my drink gets cold.

Bed again, now.

:o/

Fawn from Faun's

On Saturday, needing to travel down beyond Taunton to talk vans with a man, Moonface & I went for a walk along the Quantocks. After so many weeks of fine weather, autumn seemed to have arrived with a keen wind and a numbing cold, so we cut the walk short and tried to keep off the ridges and into the wind-shadow to protect ourselves from the worst of it. We're just not used to being cold now.

En route, we stopped in Nether Stowey to grab something for lunch. The butcher there, Faun's, is fabulous. We buy their pies when we can, but there were none available this weekend. However, they did have some rolled shoulder of venison, and at a ridiculously cheap price. Fresh from the hills, I suppose. We bought the smaller piece (3lb 13oz, £8) as well as some duck, local cheese and locally smoked mackerel.

Yesterday I cooked the meat: slow pot-roasted and surrounded by Moonface's home-grown onions, with odd herbs, crushed (frozen) redcurrants and juniper berries. I was worried about half-way through the cooking, that there was too much liquid thrown out from the meat and vegetables, but after another hour or two this had reduced to an acceptably thick gravy.

And the venison was delicious: tender and deeply flavoured, warming for the first cold weekend of the season. With baked potatoes (again, home-grown) to soak up the juices, I was very pleased with myself. Since there were only three of us, we didn't eat more than a third of the meat so it looks as if we will have curry later this week. After an apple crumble for pudding, I was full and happy. Yum.

:o)