Early this week, the Deckhand was taken outside, tied to the main mast, and summarily flailed with the cat o’ nine tails. His crime? He was using my cast iron pan, and it cracked on the cooker top. I’ve been using this pan, on and off, for the past 15-odd years. The second time he uses it, he breaks it! In fairness, it could just be that it was old, it could be the cooker; glass ceramic hob, or as I suspect, he left the pan on the heat too long with some oil in it and it got too hot. The base cracked, and it leaked oil onto the cooker top. I quickly turned off the cooker, and using oven gloves, placed the pan into the sink. I was mad as a sack of cats! Since we moved in, he’s also destroyed a brand-new frying pan by burning it beyond saving by doing the above. The ceramic hob is easy to clean, but why anyone would install an electric hob, when the house has mains gas, is quite beyond me. Thankfully, he didn’t damage the cooker itself, and the pan was consigned to the recycling crate. Obviously, the whipping didn’t really take place, but I was cross with him.

The pan was a Cousances, made in France. The firm was taken over by Le Creuset though the brand was still available until well into the 80’s when I bought mine, in a French supermarket. To replace it with similar (ie not made in China) would cost a small fortune that I don’t have, and I don’t trust the cooker, nor my son, with a new pan. Oh well…

I have a second one, a large oval pan that takes a whole chicken. That’ll only be used by me, in the oven for large meals, just to be safe. This pan will be treated with kindness, and reverence lol.

Thursday when I popped out to collect my son, I noticed a car in the street had been clamped, and a large sign on it states that it’s untaxed. It’s good that the police check these things, and punish those that don’t tax their car, however we now have a vehicle taking up a parking space for goodness knows how long. They should tow it away, impound it, and fine the owner heavily. Interestingly, by almost 9am, we still have spaces in our street, and the local paper shop people who park their Mercedes and their Jaguar in our street, all day long, every single day, are nowhere to be seen LMAO. I used to visit their shop until I realised they were blocking spaces in our street every day. Now I boycott them. It’s not illegal, but if they can afford posh cars, then they should pay to park in the town car park. Many towns have resident permit only parking near the town centre, but not here, and I’ve no idea why. I’d gladly pay for a permit if it meant I stood a good chance of parking in my own street when I went out. Oh, I made the 3-mile journey to collect him, and home again, sans Satnav. I was so proud… lol

Weather here is dull, dull, and even more dull. Grey skies, dark mornings, and dark afternoons. The only good thing is the cloud cover is keeping the temperatures raised a little.

Have a good weekend. No plans here except to keep warm, and maybe do a little housework. I did a big shop on Thursday and we’re doing some cooking together again, though not using my precious pan!