Friday

Collected my repeat prescription. Saw Dancing Fred at the GP surgery. He wants me to make sure he is invited to the Christmas party and tells me the meals on wheels are no good, so he throws them away. He is looking for somewhere to have lunch. I must try and find somewhere for him. I once saw him in a transport cafe in East Street, but maybe this has closed.

I had a coffee at the shopping centre, and did my Ocado order online later. I shall try and economise a bit by only ordering tins and heavy stuff such as cat food from Ocado. The order still came to over £60, but will hopefully last a couple of weeks. Lunched at home today, since I had plenty of casserole left. Saw my upstairs neighbour and her son who is walking well, came into my flat for a short stagger on his way out with his mother, and attempted to engage me in conversation by burbling away for a few minutes. He was very excited by the rattly handles on the bathroom cabinet.

Tonight I shall cook a steak, purchased cheaply at Tesco, in the Heston way. I have left it in the fridge on a cake rack uncovered for a day, normally should be two days but I bought it on sale near the end of its shelf life. This will dry and harden the outside a bit. I shall rest it for a couple of hours out of the fridge later. Then I shall fry it on a very high heat in oil, with salt but no pepper, turning it using tongs every 15-20 seconds until ready, then resting for five minutes while I make a salad. Apparently it should be dark and crispy on both sides and very moist and tender inside. We shall see. I should have used sirloin and it is a rump steak which is a bit tougher, but may have more flavour.

Nibby is lunching today with old friends from childhood in the Wirral. I quite envy her going back there. Though I no longer have friends living there, I have lots of happy memories of a mis-spent youth. Apparently it only takes an hour or so to drive there from Macclesfield.

I must text Dorothy. I am hoping we can meet tomorrow for a coffee at Pain Quotidien or some other suitable venue. Dorothy is too grand to come to my place at Elephant & Castle, and Borough Market is near their address.

A bit nippy outside today. I am struggling a bit with the ipad, but have downloaded a few books, and am currently reading 'The Celtic Twilight'a free download by W.B. Yeats, a collection of Irish folklore and legends which is quite interesting.