October 2017 Week 1

Sunday 1st to Sunday 8th October 2017

Sunday we walked to the Square and had cappuccini at Miracles. Other than that, we did some work and chilled and did the usual post-holiday chores. For dinner we defrosted a pork vindaloo.

Monday I got up early to go for a walk but had to abandon it when the sky filled with lightning. We got loads of work done, catching up after our holiday. I did a big supermarket shop, so we are all stocked up again. For dinner I had pan fried salmon fillet with roasted vegetables and Sam had a baked red snapper with broccoli.

Tuesday we worked full on. I couldn’t have gone for a walk anyway as thunderstorms passed through all day. For dinner I made chicken casserole.

Wednesday the thunderstorms continued. Today’s storm was huge and at one point visibility was reduced to the edge of our terrace. Great forks of lightning struck the buildings and land about us, so I unplugged our computers. It was quite exciting really, although it bought more misery to travellers as the airport had to close with the planes diverted to Palermo. The storms have bought with them giant flying ants as they do each year but, touch wood, none has made it into the flat. For dinner we had left over chicken casserole.

Thursday Tina called around for a catch up, all in a whirlwind as usual! The storms cleared by lunchtime so I did a long walk in the afternoon. For dinner Sam made roasted veggies with feta and olives.

Friday I got another good power walk in; hopefully this can become a regular event now the cooler weather is here. In the evening we met Chris and Tina at the 1930s Carpentry and then we went to La Trattoria Del Nonno for dinner. We had ribs (excellent), fish and chips (pretty good) and spaghetti vongole (proportions all wrong, too much spaghetti for the amount of vongole). For desserts, cake with nuts (very average) and another dessert. Overall, pretty good but not great.

Saturday we met Chris and Tina at Mambos at Armier Bay for cappuccini and a natter. Sam had hoped to swim but the sea was quite high so we just went for a walk around the coast instead. We had left over ribs, vegetables and salad for lunch. In the evening Sam and Tina went to the Notte Bianca in Valletta. It’s like a huge street party and several of the palaces and museums open their doors for the evening. It’s a nice idea but unfortunately you have to share it with thousands of other people. The official count was that 70,000 people turned up. Being jostled shoulder-to-shoulder doesn’t appeal to me one jot! We were still full after our big lunch so for dinner I just snacked on cheese and biscuits and grapes; Sam had some soup when she got home.

Sunday the weather was perfect. I did a one hour power walk first thing. How fantastic to be able to that again. Later, Sam and I went for a stroll, stopping at Miracles for Cappuccini. We also had a look around the recently refurbished Dolman Hotel which looks quite nice for a tourist hotel.

Yesterday I cooked a pork madras in our slow cooker. The recipe was no different than the one I always follow. But for some reason all the time it was cooking (10 hours) the flat smelled of hot dogs! At the end of the cooking time, when I tasted the curry it tasted of hot dogs. Now I confess I may be imagining that because of the smell, but it wasn’t pleasant. We chilled it overnight and reheated it for dinner tonight but to me it still tasted like hot dogs! Sam had it and said it was “okay” but I couldn’t face it and had a pizza instead. It must be the pork, which we bought in Greens, and which we won’t buy again. The trouble is, it was a big batch of curry and Sam has frozen four portions of it!. They are all hers.

After dinner I did a good walk. I’m loving getting exercise again.