It's a lot of graft though isn't it? All of the thinking to time it right so it's all hot and stuff. It's not not just whacking a pan on, which most people don't really understand. I enjoy doing it but it ain't easy........ reaches for the rum..........
I d I didn't realize you were a chef mate, honest. Do you do the full cooking every year? Genuinely interested.
I do the cooking since the wife became a martyr to arthritis and suffered a heart attack. Everything ready, I thought, dishing up the starters when horror of horrors realised I hadn't done the mashed potato. Only the 2 of us this year so thank the lord I remembered we had some frozen mash in the freezer which done with some butter and milk were at least passable.
I am yeah, and do it every year...do all the cooking at home. Left school and went to Monkwearmouth college to do catering, two years. Went to work at a hotel in Brighton in 1984, but the IRA cut that short. Worked a few local places to get by, George Washington Hotel (which was absolute ****e by the way!), prospect at Penshaw, even contract catering, but decided by then that hotels/split shifts were not for me. Went offshore in 1987 and done 14 year, took redundancy in 2002. Got a job as Head Chef at the Marie Curie hospice in newcastle in 2002, and been there since. Absolutely love it...best job I've ever had. Unbelievably rewarding....when you see a patient who hasn't eaten for weeks, once the medical team get their pain relief sorted, and they are now eating three meals a day...it's really rewarding. It's a massive boost to their families/relatives as well....to see their loved ones improving as they do....it's massive.
I was going to ask if you were drinking it neat or not, I went through a phase of drinking rum neat but it was a bit sweet after a while. Great mixed with ginger beer though, crabbies alcoholic ideally.
Thank you for the kind words mate, means a lot. I lost my dad to mesothelioma (asbestos) in 2001, and he was in St Benedicts in Sunderland at the end. They were absolutely brilliant. When I took redundancy in 2002, my first thoughts were that I wanted to work in St Benedicts...I really did want to give something back. In 19 years there (Marie Curie), I still feel exactly the same...I want to give something back, to make a difference. And to actually see that, to me, is unbelievably rewarding.
Brilliant, keep going mate. I only joined Twitter because my Gran was diagnosed with dementia in High Cliff at Witherwack a lot of years ago and they posted pictures regularly. It was very hard to go and visit physically (sounds soft I know).
It's not soft at all mate...it's actually a very hard thing to do, and much more common than you think. It's someone you love, but sometimes they are not the person that you "know", and love. Sometimes, you just want to remember them how they were....really not soft at all mate.
I struggled big style in the beginning tbh. Really struggled when they passed. Visiting the care home was hard but we kept on going and the kids kept us going (even though I know what the used to say about poppping up to Hill End and Frosterly etc.) Ha, just memories popping up about Hill End etc.
Got the eldest boy, his knob of a girlfriend and the grandkids coming round later this afternoon. His gf wasn't meant to be coming so we got a gammon joint in for food, but she decided yesterday she is now gracing us with her precence and reminded us that she doesn't like gammon as it's red meat (yet eats burgers the daft bint) so food plans changing as I type
If you have a lawn, tell her to go and eat grass, or have a separate table in your shed with some bean's and lettuce .. or just tell her to FO
I used to drink dark rum by the tumblerfuls straight off, just like guzzling beer. Glad I stopped when I did. Wouldn’t be here now, otherwise.
