Menoffagainorrhoea; the Not-Menokakkuls

For those who may be travel-weary (I DID warn you this was going to take longer than the actual trip!), I have been breaking things up with the regular Saturday Sayings spot and replacing the regular menokakkuls with some lighter moments from the visit away.

Firstly, for all horses South of the equator, Happy Birthday!!! This young fellow was spotted trotting the close near Aitch's house. Learning to walk in harness...

The timeline ought to have me reporting on Monday 25th June... but it was a total non-event. As was mentioned, the old bod was starting to feel the drag, and after returning from Long Melford on Sunday, I fell asleep in the chair, much to Aitch's mirth. Early bed, out like a light... and I never really woke up on Monday. I rose, had a cuppa and a banana, but was just a walking ache with eyes shut. I returned to bed, ostensibly to have an extra hour... I emerged at somewhere around 4pm and that also, none too brightly!

Thankfully, Aitch had been able to utilise the day for research and prep purposes towards June 30th event - more on that soon enough.

Monday being lost to us, and my physical stamina clearly compromised, the intended trip to Orfordness was, somewhat regretfully, postponed indefinitely. Much too exerting a trip that one. (Will still share some info, in due course - but it will be from a different perspective now.)  I was still out for the count that night and on Tuesday morning, although I was feeling somewhat restored by the blanked day, it was decided we'd return to Felixstowe and visit that fort... but as that is going to be a two or three-day post, let me skip that for now.

Instead, let's skip to the Wednesday 27th when Aitch was to - finally - collect her new car. The time was set early. Needless to say, it didn't go as smoothly as she'd hoped, but long story short, it was finalised by late morning and in we got to the Ford Ecosport SUV. Very smart! After a series of red cars, Aitch had to adjust to white. To celebrate, we drove out to the Suffolk Food Hall, where we enjoyed the view of the Orwell Bridge with a delicious cuppa under the trees. Aitch got bombed by a bird (good luck, I say) and the Fudge narrowly missed being 'blessed'!  That slightly hit and miss experience aside, it was a gorgeous setting and to have the weather to be able to sit out made it worthwhile.

Any fans of "Swallows and Amazons" around here? This is the area where Arthur Ransome was inspired. He lived just down the road from the hall, at Pin Mill. The prow of this ship, hauling out from Ipswich docks, is pretty much pointed at Pin Mill.

We lingered for a while in the FABulush shop - I bought some sweet items to carry home to the Father as well as the Suffolk Magazine. The print version is lovely, but that online choice is also good.

Early home and some more rest - Wimbledon was on, (as well as World Cup Soccer), so we were happy.


Thursday, Aitch had to work. I was left in the kitchen to batch bake...

Why? This was my contribution to the preparations for the 30th. As it turned out, all the organisers had baked and the cakes and tea stall on the day was creaking under the weight! A fair bit was sold though. Of the 20 submitted, nine of my buns had been consumed - which was fine given the choice and variety on offer! What didn't go was divided up and went to freezers around the village. My cheesy scone bites were a bit of an afterthought - tasty though. I also made us a veggie quiche for our tea that day. Additionally, did my hand-washing, a practice run of packing for departure on July 1st (I knew there was more than came...), walked over to the church to place an item for Aitch and to take some images... although 'at home' it was actually a really busy day and the old bod knew about it that night again!

Friday the 29th was spent helping Aitch and crew with setup for the Saturday... but I get ahead...

Amazingly, I couldn't find the preferred yoghurt for these buns (a good quality, full-fat natural or flavoured variety which has 'flow' to it) - so I made them with Greek yoghurt. In retrospect, if using that again, I would 'let it down' a bit with some water, as the batter was much stiffer than usual and the finished product less spongy than am used to. That said, they had a good flavour and were actually more muffin-like than a bun or 'cake'.
...and isn't it always a challenge to bake in someone else's kitchen with an unfamiliar oven?!