After rather a lot of frantic upping and downing, sanding and varnishing, tidying and hoovering, it was decided that, though things are far from purrfect here in Cookiecutter Cottage, it was time for a ¡Toast! And some very nice fish…
So, we raised a glass or two of semi-frozen Aqvavit to our tiny new home (and to the generous donor of the bottle) last weekend, and followed it with a brace of very fine Sea Bass from the rather upmarket fishmonger in St Andies.
When I say ‘we’ I did my best to get in on the action whilst fpu was otherwise occupied, but I was caught bang to rights and deposited without ceremony onto the fake stone effect vinyl.
These are so fresh their eyes purractically twinkle in a very Cap’n Pugwash-ish fashion. In fact, I think one of them winked…
Lime, grated fresh ginger, Chinese one-clove garlic (don’t ask. It’s a Lidl thing. They’ll purrobably never appear again, now we’ve just discovered them!) and parsley.
Oiled foil…
Fishy cavity stuffed with the above plus butter and sea salt. (Non-intentional advert for Philips…though we have just purrchased a very fine new Philips iron as recommended by Which? and sundry Amazon reviewers. I still get a frisson of fear at the thought of Auntie Beeb wielding her virtual red pen over a photoblog due to slavish adherence to the non-advertising rule…oh the scars never heal…)
En papillote and a fine kettle of fish
I was only just keeping an eye on it while she was otherwise occupied, honest…
Semi-naked sea bass. You won’t see such high-quality titillation anywhere else, I’m telling you now…
Not even landladyland can supply you with such top end images as these. Honest guv. Plain brown paper wrapper, under the counter, no questions asked. To you a pony me ol’ china. Cheap at arf the price.
What a well-behaved kitty you are, KC! Dozing on the chair beside a plate of fishy goodness. Cor stone the crows, you’re a diamond geezer and no mistake, not ‘arf.
I always snooze with my eyes open…
You went all cockenade at the end there KFC, is it you dropping hints that you are a descendent of Dicks pussy ( Oh NO YOU’RE NOT) The panto Dick, that turned around (
Would you like me to dispose of that stray bracket there Tws, or are you quite happy to leave it hanging? For a tiny tin or pouch of Sheba, I’ll do almost anything😀
May you have –
Walls for the wind
And a roof for the rain,
And drinks bedside the fire
Laughter to cheer you
And those you love near you,
And all that your heart may desire.
And may you shed to your heart’s content!
*purr*
That is just the nicest thing Mia. Made my day. The only thing that’s missing is the fire…not to mention the firepurrlace
As for the last bit, I’ve already covered the unpurrotected bits of my white Poäng chair with a tasteful miasma of tabby hair😆
That is lovely, Mia. What perfect sentiments. I’m going to keep a copy of that.
Oh everything in your new abode looks so clean and tidy and shiny and new!!!!!! I am so jealous, in a nice sort of way…..
woops.Something went wrong with my italics there, KC, I was not meaning to be just so emphatic
I’m just wondering how long it will take for fpu to tire of cleaning up after inadvertant pawprints on the dining chair seats (ecru-ish) and my and Marmers’ very own Poäng chair with Auntie Jill from Eek crocheted blanket😀
Thank you FC and Jill. Female staff has a fondness for Celtic (no, not the footie) Blessings and that one has stuck in the depths of her little brain for years.
Glad you’ve now got a permanent place to rest your weary paws from grand adventures. I do hope you and Marmers got some fishy scraps for your restraint and celebration of your new home too.
Lang may yer lum reek as a house blessing won’t go far in a hoose without a fire purrlace. So a slight adapation for you – lang may yer radiators steem. 😀
I would like to suggest a free standing coal/timber free standing slow combustion heater with a cook top which can be routed(flue) through your ceiling/roof. the most inportant thing is the outlet projects above the ridge line by a metre.
Nice of you to think of such a thing Roy, but CCC is a two-storey house and so small, if we put a woodburner in the living room (with flue through the wall), the rest of us might be huddled in the garden. We’ll just have to stick with the gas central heating for now.
I can vouch for the calm Scandinavian joys of CCC’s lovely new decor and furnishing, as perfect a bit of Larsen-y as ever I saw.
Skol, KC!
Thank you MadPiece and JeelieLamb! It’s a bit less calm now the bookshelves are up…another fortnight and the books might be in situ too…
Now I am drooping about the gills.😦
So am I – back to work tomorrow.
But isn’t it nice to have a purrpose in Liff? (awaits showers of oprobrium) And has anyone followed the automagically generated link to ‘5 things to leave out of your wedding toast?’ It’s quite fun…
And i’m going back to france,😦
That’s nice…ahem…
I’d rather my purrr-pose was more about curling up on the sofa with a good book, or poking the tattie soup, or even painting the odd picture. Figgy’s got a nice life, and likewise Paddy. Where did I go wrong?
You’ve not been buying the right lottery tickets, that’s what it is. And you’re a purrfectionist…and too conscientious…and while you’re about it, give that lazy sod in the corner a boot up the bahoukie (no no no not my mate Figgy…nor even the d.o.g.)😆
I take it you’re referring to my precious firstborn… can’t complain just now, he’s been manning a stand at a filmfest all week, and he’s going back to Borders when he gets back.
Certainly not, the very idea! Jeez-oh! One was thinking more in a work context…
I’m glad it’s only firstborn that get the bahoukie/boot treatment. Means I’m completely off the hook!
I may come and visit one day, though it’ll have to wait until a year when I have at least a day of spare holiday…
Oh I don’t know. Anything can be arranged for a small fee😆
I’m not saying you don’t pop in here very often SF, but I had to moderate your comment…
When you eventually get a round tuit, Spare Sofabed will be arriving on Thursday. That goes for you too Jeelie…not at the same time, obviously🙂
Ah yes, her besom-ness is much the same, but I can see a tiny light at the end of the tunnel, so spirits are rising… PF has been very much aff his bahookie, and had a great time working 12 hours a day and meeting some interesting bods. Looking fwd to sampling the Spare Sofabed, with or without company, as long as none of you mind the fragrant (!) Paddy.
Oh Congratualtions of the very most congratulatory sort for the most recent, rather than final, move in your little life, Cat of the Kingdom. And how pleased I am to read that your intelligent pu-s remembered to chill the bottle and its contents. Room-warm aquavit tastes more like embrocation than something intended for human consumption.
I find the piccy of what I imagine is the mpus soles rather fishy – is he off to bed or what?
Whatever blessing on the hoose that a crabby old salt can conjure up, he doth…
Long Silence ….
Well, I did try. 1 mark perhaps?
Takk skal du ha Kapitan! Which is purrobably very badly spelled Norsk but you get my drift!
10/10
Did you not mouse-hover over mpu’s descending paw Barney? The one with GUINNESS imprinted on its sole?
He was, if you look very closely, getting the fish kettle down from the extremely handy above-kitchen attic. There’s a lot up there and, one way and another, most of it ain’t coming down in a hurry.
Yay! I found Flying Cat!! I’m so happy. 🙂
How is the Kingdom of Fife??
I was lost but now am found😆 Fife is very well thank you and only slightly damp so far.
Goodness me, KC, you could of put a warning before that last photo! I had to have weeks of therapy, I’m telling you…
Norty photos aside, many congratulations on your new house! It looks lovely and cosy, prrr…
How nice to see you, young Pineapple. Awful sorry if you were in any way discomnogurated by the naked fishy.
Anyway, no worries, iPhoto has disappeared completely and I am photo-less. For ever unless some clever purrson can help me find it again…*sob* How can a kitty be expected to blog without photos? ‘Scuse me, need a hanky…
I have just bought a book on how to catch fish when at sea – as my record in that department is most dismal, one small (very small) makrel (sp.) in hours and years of trying – and there it is, written in letters almost of fire, that the sea bass is about the best fish for the human palate that there is. So congratulations on a good choice.
Without wishing in any way to impunge upon the judgement of the pu-s, they might, when another bottle of the stuff appears, consider to consume it together with marinated herrings (can be bought from IKEA) or lovely red crayfish after boiling with dill and other condiments: cool before eating (and of course cool deeply before drinking). I am assuming that there was nothing left in the bottle except air once the meal was over. I don’t think IKEA stock crayfish. Scampi cooked with aforementioned dill, etc.? Just maybe the culinary revolution of the 21 century.
PS Try to get the Anstruther chippy to sell akvavit with their other produce.
make your own condiment,pu’s! Honey,mayonnaisse,just a tiny pinch of mustard,mix well and add dill or whatever: great with all fish and seafood:
p.s. thanks barney🙂
Re marinated herring, the Orkney Fishermen do several fine lines in this department. We can get them through messrs. Keracher in St Andies. I know they also have a contract to supply one of the better supermarket chains but blowed if I can remember which. Our german chums ( lidl) do crayfish tails. I feel a seafood night coming on.
Me too!
HB: why,oh why,do you and your better half always me dribble at the gills,’cause of your delicious meals??:sob:
What kind of a Salty Sea Dog is it that can’t catch mackerel? I thought they purractically threw themselves at the hooks!
It’s a bit worrying that taddoe seems to have developed gills, it’s the sort of rapid evolutionary purrocess that needs keepin’ an eye on. She’ll be acquiring Finns next😆
Nice tip on the condiment front taddoe, thanks v. much.
my pleasure,dear puss,and I have aquired “”finns”:wink:b>
In the plural taddoe? That’s a bit greedy. There’s not that many of them about, so it’s a bit unfair to hog them like that…
Well kc,being a scot ,I went for the “buy one-get one free”:wink::wink:
We have any amount of Finns over here, KC. Just send an order.
With the usual catveat – ie and to wit, “someone tells me to say”, could someone purrlease order a Finn over 2m, blonde, iron-jawed, tanned&fit and with his own sauna?
Thank you in advance,
Yrs Aye,
KC x
I’ll do my best to please your fpu but what would mpu think????my”fin”friend flys a “cat”ouch!!I hear you say,I see the air around mpu a strange colour of blue:😀😀stop laughing tws!
Well I was making the request to Cap’n P as he seems to have an unlimited supply of Finns, but if you can supply the goods taddoe, bring ’em on!😯
But you have not named your price, dear KC. No, actually, it is I who has not named my price… Finns is very expensive these days, what with the pound and all that sort of stuff. Not to mention VAT. Mind, I could get you a couple of White Ruskies for the price of a medium-sized FInn, if that would do the trick, like? WOtcher say, eh, KC?
If I were KC,I’d say”on yer bike”THOUGH if they were a couple of billionaire white ruskies maybe KC would accept,but I would like to have my say on the matter😀
just had a thought—this is serious(for once) how many finnish pilots can fly a catalina????😯
Why is that a serious thought, Taddoe of the Mysterious Ways and Means? Lots of Finnished pilots could fly a Catalina, if there are any still to be found that are airworthy. Instruction book in one hand, joystick in the other. And there are some pilots who could finnish a Catalina, instruction book or no. As to flying a Cat on a Lina, a piece of cake, my dear, once you have got the control lines hiched up to his vital parts (those that are left).
Barney;in April 2009 there were SIX still in service,one being based in Auckland