Confessional: The Scotch Egg Incident of 2011

 I first told this story to my group in University and on a roll repeated it to my table at the Village Casino night.

They say confession is good for the soul.

So my soul should be squeaky clean.

By now….

Picture this…..Trelawnyd 2011….It’s summer August 13th ….Sylvia Evan’s blood pressure is through the roof as she and us, her Flower Show minions, set up for another record breaking show. 

Domestic class entries are through the roof, this year and as usual I’m helping with the organised madness that is Judging Day.

It’s 11.55 am and setting up closes at midday.

Sylvia is very strict with her timings 

Mona Davies arrives breathless, with seconds to spare . Her entry, a scotch egg, the only one in its class , wrapped in clingfilm on a saucer in her hand .

The scotch egg, is huge, the size of German grenade.

It is a thing of pure beauty 

I almost heard heavenly music when I first set eyes on it 

Now I liked Mona. She was a spinster school teacher and elder sister of farmer Basil , one of the most highly respected countrymen of Trelawnyd . They shared the beautiful Ochr y Gop farm, a slightly dilapidated Georgian farmhouse at the top of high street, and I was lucky enough to interview them both for my history blog , oral histories which have now been archived by the National Welsh Library in Aberystwyth. http://trelawnydhistory.blogspot.com/2011/05/mr-basil-davies-miss-mona-davies.html

Mona was strict and fair. She didn’t suffer fools either and was an amazing cook.

I fell in love with that scotch egg the second I saw it

Look closely the egg can be seen centre table to left

Now of course Mona won first prize for her glorious egg. 

The elderly judge, who was not know for flights of fancy , even commented how magnificent it was and gave it a comment of merit which was a rarity 

Now fast forward to the Flower Show final moments which have always remained a complete bunfight

The hall is packed with winners collecting their winnings (coins placed  in tiny brown envelopes) and exhibitors grabbing their certificates, exhibits and extra cakes bought from the tea table manned by Irene Murray .

And in just a few minutes the hall can be stripped, like a carcass surrounded by hyenas .

I noticed that the scotch egg had been abandoned at the end of the day

Mona had left it ! 

I was joyful 

Excited 

And devious.

If it had been abandoned I was having it.

So I pocketed it as deftly as if I was jewel thief and

I hid it in my Flower Show bits and bats box as the show folded and the doors closed. 

I had swept the floor, put away the rubbish and said goodbye to most of the committee, before there was a small knock on the Hall door. 

It was Mona and she was late collecting her scotch egg.

Sylvia found the saucer and Mona’s first place certificate but was thin lipped in anger at the thought someone had taken the egg home. 

We shook our heads at the awful thought someone had stolen it 

And Mona took her certificate home with a slightly heavy heart

Am I ashamed ? 

Of course I am

But do you know what? 

It was the best bloody scotch egg I have ever tasted

EVER!!!!

The delightful Mona Davies

Shortly before her death in 2021

The egg in close up

Bloody Lovely

 

This morning I thought it was time for a scotch egg.

Over the years I have worked very hard in designing a high flavour , lower calorie scotch egg the size of a large hand grenade.

I’m feeling rather altruistic today so I shall share my recipe. 

Lean pork mince ( enough to cover four large organic eggs which have been boiled for four minutes)

A bulb of garlic roasted 

Dry herbs

Paprika 2 tea spoons 

2 eggs beaten 

1 large packet of Panko*  breadcrumbs 

When the garlic cloves are still warm, squeeze out the insides which have the consistency of a paste and mix it with the pork mince, dry herbs, onion salt , pepper and paprika 

Don’t add onions if tempted as they make the scotch egg wet and breaks the pork ring.

Shell the eggs and wrap each one in the mince. Be generous and make sure the scotch egg is large , the size slightly bigger than a tennis ball.

Roll the scotch egg in the egg then press handfuls of the panko breadcrumbs into the meat.

Repeat the process and place of greased oven tray.

Roast at 200 degrees , until the egg is golden and Crispy

Serve one egg per meal with an apple salad coleslaw or low fat creme fraîche as the pork is a little dry

Enjoy!  

My four eggs will make four meals......

No real news today . I have my second covid vaccine appointment for next week.

Alfred Hitchcock lecture tonight on zoom 

* Panko are made from a crustless white bread that is processed into flakes and then dried. ... These breadcrumbs have a dryer and flakier consistency than regular breadcrumbs, and as a result they absorb less oil. Panko produces lighter and crunchier tasting fried food

I Need One .......I Want One........GIMME ONE YOU BITCH!

It's been four weeks since I've had a bit

Four weeks of abstinence.

For a month , I've not touched one, caressed one......enjoyed one

I've been strict with myself....saying that I can cope without the indulgence

How wrong was I to say such a thing.

At 1800 yesterday, I was 90% of a way through a hospital shift when I spied a visitor eating a mini scotch egg.

I could of cried.

I said to my colleagues that I could have killed a nun for such a morsel and all they could dowas to shrug their shoulders.

No one knows a scotch egg addict than another scotch egg addict eh?

Anyhow I battled on

After I got home, I walked the dogs, kissed my husband and then went to Sams for a shift

At 12.45 am   I told my co worker that if I couldn't find a scotch egg I would die

" stop off at the service station in Rhyl on the way home " they suggested

I stopped even though the place was deserted

The service station was only open to payments through a small metal slot..so I begged the spotty youth on duty to find me a scotch egg as quick as he could

" I think we only have only have individual pork pies" he chirped obviously unaware that I was about to kill him

" I need a scotch egg" I begged " just the one......please go and look again!"

He did....thank God

After an age he returned with two scotch eggs in individual wrappers

" one expired yesterday" he said helpfully

" I don't care" I shouted, " bung 'em through the slot"

They tasted like cardboard nectar
Don't tell the Prof
The Roger Eyebrow would be raised well above his head

Bet Roger Moore never said Hey ho
Hey ho

" Back Away From The Scotch Egg..You Fat Bastard"

I stopped in at Sainsbury's last week and surprisingly got heckled by the church organist as I walked across the car park

" going in for a scotch egg?" She cackled loudly 

She is the third person to question my supermarket visits recently

She reads the blog!

Yesterday I counted 14 scotch egg wrappers hidden away around the Berlingo....this morning I took my old weightwatchers point counter to Marks & Spencer to check the calorific total of their luxury Lincolnshire Range . ( which is pure heaven  ambrosia in breadcrumbs I must say)

12 points! 12 friggin points! 

That's nearly half a day's points in two eggs!

It's no wonder I am starting to waddle again

Seeing my shock a middle aged bored shelf stacker came over and asked if I needed any help

" I need to put the scotch eggs down....and I need to walk away from the scotch eggs that's what I bloody well need to do" I told her

She laughed and tapped her arse with her hand

" don't we all love" .

So I rang the " Scotch egg abuse help line " and now have formulated a controlled scotch egg eating plan in conjunction  with weightwatchers, (an organisation I shall be rejoining  next week)

From today I will  allow myself just two ( non luxury) scotch eggs a week.

No more.

And I was proud of myself when I walked out of the supermarket this morning without picking up a packet!

Mind you I did linger just a tad too long next to a rather attractive display of Melton Mowbray miniature pork pies..............

To add insult to injury..this coupon arrived is morning in the post......why God? Why?

A Scotch Egg .......lost

The expected storm has hit Trelawnyd hard in the night.
So hard that the graveyard cockerels haven't crowed this morning,
They are struggling to keep their feet in the Church yew
I have slept badly
It's 5.45 am and I'm going to work soon
I went to see my aunt Judy yesterday
She gets discharged next week
She remains slightly dysphasic after her stroke
But laughed a little in between the more serious conversations .
The lady in the next bed was from Trelawnyd
And Judy pointed the fact out before I sat down
I have a lot of time for this lady, my aunt's neighbour, as she once made one huge glorious scotch egg which she entered and won in the one and only scotch egg class in the cookery section.
It looked like a magnificent grenade of a scotch egg
It was so big that it had to be lifted with two hands!
The cookery judge said she had NEVER seen anything quite like it EVER
IT WAS HEAVEN IN BREADCRUMBS!!! It was a monster....it was fantastic!!!
And I never got over the fact that the lady involved took her scotch egg home with her!!!!
And I never got to taste it!!!!!

The Future and another “Happy Birthday”

 

I wrote the previous blog whilst in the library in college.

It’s boring as it is bland.

I picked the dogs up from a friend in Craig Y Don, who had been watched them and we drove into Conwy

Where I had to ask a stranger to hold the dogs when I went into the famous Edward’s Butchers for a chilli Scotch egg. 

In the end I bought a black pudding scotch egg too, and we sat on the quayside and shared them together

Bloody lovely they were too.

I went to Conwy for a think.

From September things will be rather different 

More academia, more need for personal discipline, and some serious self reflection 

Between then and now I have Venice, Barcelona and Rome to enjoy then it’s knuckle down and work

Funny how things can change 

Five years ago, I had retired and was planning to leave the village

Now I’m embarking on a new career and a new direction, a journey which is scary and exciting all mixed together and I’m part of village life more than I’ve ever been.

We sat in a line on a bench. Dorothy to my left, the Welsh to my right.

I kept the chilli scotch egg for myself , but the dogs loved their third each portion with a small bite taken out for me. 

It’s four of us against the world now

And sharing a scotch egg is a luxury only we know how beautiful

We were all late back home after a full tiring day. So much so Dorothy refused to leave the back seat and had to be carried into the cottage. 

I missed choir 

Which was unfortunate

But this video was sent to me by Hattie 

Our choir’s tradition of celebrating everyone’s birthday 

It moved me greatly 

And perfectly ended the day 

BitchWars

Jess and Meg in happier times

For most of January I will be popping into my sister\'s house on a daily basis to walk her patterdale terrier, Jess.
Jess and our Meg have hated each other ever since they met some five years ago and all it needs is a look in the wrong direction and the two of them can be found noisily locked together biting the f@*k out of any anatomy part that manages to come to hand.
Bitches are like the females of most species, for they never forget a slight and they NEVER forget a nasty bite up the arse.
Unfortunately Meg and Jess are both terriers (and terriers for those that don\'t know never EVER back down)
Having said all this, things have seemed to have settled down somewhat over the last year , so when I called down to Prestatyn to walk Jess on Monday,I thought I would take the chance to give her a further break by allowing her to come on a bit of a drive in the car.
Things went well all week. Jess was tied into the back seat with the ever calm William and George and Meg was given alpha female status in the front seat next to me. Everyone looked happy..and everyone got along. We have been out together all week long now and have visited the beach, the animal wholesalers and even been on a jaunt to my friend Eirlys\' farm, everything has been fine... That was until I made the mistake of taking my eye off the ball by putting a scotch egg into my mouth as I started to drive out of Sainsbury\'s car park.
I think it was the delightful aroma of egg and sausage meat that finally did for me, for as I took my first heavenly chew, all hell let loose.
OUT OF NOWHERE Jess started to manfully drag a barking Meg into the back of the berlingo by her face fur.
I slammed to a halt ( blocking the road as I did so) and spattering scotch egg everywhere tried desperately to separate the two as a small crowd started to form to watch. William was happy enough to each the shrapnel as it fell and I could hardly yell at any of them as it is almost impossible to utter anything bit a faint squeak when you have a mouthful of boiled egg.
For god\'s sake I could have choked to death but after a minute or two I did manage to separate the bitches and re tie them to their respective seats after vacating the car and clambering manically into the back .

during all of this palava, I have to note that George being the opportunist that he is, clambered into the front seat and managed to steal my last remaining scotch egg from its resting place on the dashboard.

Scotch Egg On A Train

I'm on the way to London to see Nu.
I'm all set for the journey, newpaper, internet, Christmas cards and an emergency scotch egg are all laid out ready.
There was a somewhat offensive druggie wandering around Prestatyn station in a father Christmas jumper when I was waiting for the train, who started to be rather confrontational to a young Asian couple standing nearby.  So I ate my first egg in rather a defiant manner at him after walking up to them and blocking his view.
" Don't you want to talk to me" he slurred at me eventually.
" NO! " I said talking a bite of scotch egg..... Druggies are like nasty drunks, the less you give them the better.
Anyhow that little drama over with, I am comfortably sat with my jobs all in hand. I 'm meeting Nu at Angel then we are off to the ballet. Tomorrow will be lunch out then some shopping for me before coming back on the early evening train.
Christmas has officially started.

Caught Out At Tesco

Yesterday I started with sciatica
I suspect this was caused by a combination of lugging 25 kilo bags of corn, digging veg beds and coping with a body that is nearly 51 ( and a brain that thinks it is only 28)
The pain has been nagging, constant and bleeding irritating
It has also been embarrassing, because the main locus of the discomfort  has been located directly in the centre of my left gluteal maximus ( ie my left arse cheek) so every few minutes I have been delving down my pants to give myself a bit of a rub....or failing that I have been leaning on any supportable surface with my left leg slightly elevated.....it seems to help.....
It's not a good look.....
Anyhow.....yesterday I had the car, so, after buying and collecting animal feed from the wholesalers  ( and rubbing my arse in front of the slightly uneasy shop owner Jean) I took the dogs for a limp on the beach........
On the way home, and realising it was lunchtime, I popped into the new Tescos to collect a couple of items and was just crossing the car park after my shop when a car beeped me from outside the store
it was  Leslie, my elder sister's husband's sister's daughter( think about it) ......and obviously she reads the blog because she yelled
" have you just bought a scotch egg?"
Strangely enough I had ( emergency scotch eggs are an ideal panacea to nerve pain)
And so , despite my discomfort I picked the two pack out of my plastic bag and waved it gayly at Leslie across the car park.......
she laughed her tits off....
It helped me to cope with the pain...........
Strange who actually reads my blog eh?

Anyhow speaking of Scotch eggs..... Fellow blogger Em ( a delightfully talented lady who lives in the far South West)  will be on the receiving end of a quality ( and pricey) Scotch Egg Creation when I send one ( wrapped in bubble wrap) to her today in way of a thank you....
She is sending me some of her artwork of our dogs very soon........
A scotch egg is a small price to pay.............me thinks

Oh my arse.......

Crestwood Eggs Taste Test

For baby sitting their fish and uncommunicative gecko, affable despot Jason and wife Claire gave me,amongst other things,four Crestwood Scotch eggs as a bit of a thank you!
A thoughtful and much appreciated gift, I thought.
Now I have not taste tested this variety before,
And so I set aside a few precious minutes this evening, to give the little beauties my full attention
Here is my assessment

Egg quality 8/10
Grey egg ring - absent 10/10
Thickness of sausage meat cover  average 0.5 centimetres 6/10
Breadcrumb cover - slightly soft in places 5/10
Biteability - fair 6/10

Overall... A fair scotch egg with an averagely tasty crumb cover.Not in the class of Waitrose best or Marks& Spencer quality ranges...... But, nevertheless a nice scotch egg, which could be enjoyed at a pub lunch or a lower Middleclass family get together

OMG OMG OMG!

It's been a grotty average wet autumn day today

A grotty horrible day

Until..........

Until I found one frozen sainsbury's scotch egg 

Stuffed down the side of the fridge freezer!

Oh joy

Now 

Do you know how quickly you can defrost a scotch egg?

3 hours 10 minutes 

But only when you perch it next to the radiator
Fan, fanny-tastic !!!

You can have the turkey but touch the scotch egg and you die

Questions

This questionnaire seems to be doing the blog rounds ?...it's an easy blog " filler" given the only news I have today is the unveiling of my homemade a Christmas Wreath, which some local wag ( you know who you are) described as looking as though it was constructed by someone with ' multiple problems")

1. If there's one chocolate left in the box, do you have to eat it, or can you leave it sitting there?
I would, I am afraid, scoff it. My relationship with food has always been a little bit shaky. Ie one scotch egg will never be enough

2. What do you want to remember most of all, if you survive to be very old?
Well, I would like to be able to remember everything ........from 0 to 80.......and I look forward to the time that I start to remember the smallest of things from childhood...( a time that I don't really remember when I think about it)

3. Would you enjoy being a very rich and famous celebrity?
 I would like to be richer ( I have always had the fantasy of having a detached house with a barn and out buildings) and I would like to experience a celebrity lifestyle for a day or two......just to do the red carpet thing........with a " Poseidon Adventure" dinner jacket on.

4. What piece of music do you personally find most emotionally moving?
Almost too many to mention here but at the moment " The gift of mortality" by James Horner 
And " Remember me" by Thomas Bergersen can move me to tears

5.  How do you deal with depression, anxiety and bad times?
Depression: I never get depressed, never have been and apart from short term worries, normal to the ups and downs of life, I never have experienced a problem with anxiety either.
As for " bad times" at 51 I have had my fair share of them, and I have found that Chris' stoic support, long telephone calls with friends, food, the odd glass or two of white and dog cuddles very helpful.

6. What do you love doing that bores everyone else stiff?
Housework,blogging,cleaning the wrinkles of a bulldog's face with a cotton wool stick, scotch egg eating,writing Christmas cards, making lists, thinking about the zombie apocalypse, collecting fucked up chickens, polishing church pews, rearranging furniture.

7. Did you ever encounter an inanimate object that seemed to have a will of its own?
I am borderline dyspraxic, and so have a tendency to fall over anything and everything. I am so cack handed that I have to take extra care when holding anything breakable

8. What is your very favourite hotel or restaurant?
Well I have stayed in a few lovely hotels in my time including  places like the Waldolf Astoria but my favourite hotel is the shabby chic Santa Maria in Sitges,Spain. 
As for restaurants? I think you can't quite beat the atmosphere of the Oyster Bar under Grand Central Station..

9. Do you think prisoners who have committed particularly vile crimes should be segregated in jail for their own safety?
What on odd question? As long as they recieved some psychological input in order to come to terms with the consequences of their actions....I don't care.

10. What do you wish you had known when you were 18?
I wish I'd known a lot more about sex! 
Oh I would also have liked to be introduced to the joys of scotch egg eating 

Scotch Egg Heaven

When Chris was at Church this afternoon

I fell asleep in the armchair

Around four pm I was woken up 

By a knock on the door

It was policeman Ian from High Street 

With a single quails egg scotch egg

Wrapped in a small square of baking parchment 

He had baked his first egg and wanted an expert's view on it

10/10

Nectar of the gods

A Funny Nothing-sort Of Day

The woman in the post office didn't seem to possess a sense of humour
When she asked me was the parcel I was sending worth more than 20£
I piped up with a cheerful " no it's a scotch egg from Marks and Spencer, I think it's worth 95p"
She didn't smile
She looked determined enough not to....she was in that sort of mood
She didn't even ask me just why I was sending a reinforced scotch egg in the post to a Devon artist who doesn't get out much....
I was disappointed...
I was just ready for a bit of good natured banter

One egg in the post ..one egg for me

It's been a disappointing sort of day all told....

I had a call out from a man in Cwm (it's a nearby village) who said that he had two hens walking about his garden and could I take them in as they were frightening his bird table's regulars.. I dutifully drove up and spent a fruitless hour or so thrashing around his shrubbery with my thumb stick but no hens could be seen..... I have a feeling the chap ( who was slightly frail) must have seen a couple of hen pheasants mooching around his garden....

I wanted to get my potatoes in ....but arse pain prevented it

I wanted to fix the back light on the berlingo but was given the wrong bulb by the chap in the shop

And I wanted to paint the last of my hen houses a lovely shade of " old English Green" but the paint brush's bristles fell out cos I had left it in the turps for too long

It was just one of those non days I suppose.....

Hey ho

Ps the day did get better....the great British SewIng Bee has just started.....Ah Patrick Grant! 

Bollocks

I bumped the Berlingo in Tescos car park this morning.
I was reversing out of a space holding scotch egg in my mouth, just as a chap was doing the same from the opposite parking space. Now he was just driving, he didn't have a scotch egg in his mouth ( that would be just too wierd) but our bumpers just about touched as both of us hit the breaks.
I bit down hard on the egg which bounced down into the foot well and got out out of the car with a groan
There wasn't a mark on the chap's car.
We couldn't tell if there was one on the berlingo......it's covered in bumps... so we left on good terms.
It's going to be just one of those days today.
When I was outside looking at bumpers
Meg had scoffed the egg on the floor.
It was the first one I had bought in two weeks!.....and they were on special offer!

Scotch Egg Resus

Dorothy was poorly this morning and refused her breakfast

This worried me greatly as she hasn’t missed a meal in five years, 

So I fussed around her as she lay quiet on the kitchen reading chair and even contemplated not going to Chester to meet my friend Ruth for lunch so worried I was 

But Bulldogs are not bulldogs for a reason and by four o’clock , the scent of a sliver of bespoke scotch egg wafted around the kitchen brought the girl back from the brink of death

Ruth treated me from the butchers in the new Chester Market

I gave Dorothy a half egg ( a true prize in this house) to clinch her full recovery

"And The Winner is........."

As always the bloggers of this small world have done me proud........I am sure to conscript you all to enter the novelty vegetable photo competition at this year's flower show in August

Thank all of you for joining in with the fun

The finalists are

Gail12:19 am

Appalled that Chris told the neighbor about the fanny stain on the duvet, John was speechless.

Razmataz12:26 am

Shit, I think I just sat on your Scotch egg.

Zoe1:50 am

John and Dr. Chris's reactions to the zombie apocalypse. 

Kathy58533:13 am

Jon: "Yes, I swear! I can get 4 scotch eggs in my mouth at once!

Chris: "am I really going to marry this clown?"

Curvywitch1:51 pm

Chris had just discovered the dangers of letting John plan the menu for the wedding breakfast - three courses of Scotch Egg would certainly test the laying powers of the Ukrainian Village.

Sue Tooze4:32 pm

Chris, Don't tell me you're going to sing Let it go from Frozen the entire journey"!

And the winner is............

( overly long dramatic pause)

Sue Tooze!

Congratulations Sue......send me your address ( to jgsheffield@hotmail.com)

Your prize will be in the post

Xxxxxx

Chilli Scotch Eggs to die for

 

My obsession  love affair with scotch eggs is now the thing of legend. 

Just recently a I ❤️ scotch Eggs T shift was delivered to Bwthyn Y Llan and before that a gift of two,were left on the kitchen wall, wrapped in silver foil and an Aldi Carrier bag.

Tonight I was left a trio of bespoke chilli Scotch Eggs, a gift from the a hospice head housekeeper whose husband works as a Butcher in nearby Conwy.

Suffice to say my diet went out of the window

The butchers they came from is Edward’s Of Conwy 

https://shop.edwardsofconwy.co.uk/

And it must be said their chilli scotch egg is a thing of sublime beauty 

I ate my first without taking my clinical mask off, which is not an easy procedure in anyone’s books…and the second I savoured more slowly….like a Frenchman may do over six oysters and a glass of champagne

Two minutes later, I was finished

The third I shared with some colleagues. 

As I didn’t want to appear as greedy.

I am set up for the night now, and as I was placing my patient on his ventilation system he gave me a questioning look ….which obviously meant you,reek of chilli and sausage meat!

R.I.P old Lady

She died around 6.45 this morning.
It was on the road to Dyserth.
The Prof was with her.
She only suffered briefly.

The Berlingo, literally blew her old big end in a flurry of dog hair, scotch egg wrappers and old flower show schedules and came to a hasty stop outside the fish and chip shop.
She has been a faithful, if rather dirty and unkempt servant for the past 8 years.
But I guess, the Prof now deserves a car that actually looks like a car.
The berlingo looked like an inside out skip.
I shall miss the old girl.......for over the years the likes of pigs, a goat, ducks and geese, hens and dogs and even a well behaved turkey have been driven around these Welsh hills with all of the seriousness of a farm trailer.
And...you can smell the fact........
The break down chap took one look inside of the driver's window this morning and smiled
" It's certainly lived in " he said diplomatically ...
So as the Berlingo faces that big scrap heap in the sky....I remember her best days with some affection.

A scotch Egg/Berlingo moment

Bingley ...well behaved on the back seat

,

A mobile chicken coop

Dogs on the dashboard

Meg , my co pilot

 

No 21 my first piglet in the boot on the way to see the George Clooney vet

William and bulldog no 1 Constance on the back seat 

A hen on the glove compartment 

Using the berlingo during fox watch 

My Husband

I understand that Going Gently isn't quite like most blogs because it follows the loose narrative that is my daily existence. I can't apologise for that, for that the way the thing has evolved , the only down side is that sometimes the entries can be somewhat pedestrian in nature. Bear with me.

Yesterday I had the car because it was vet visit day for William. Our vets is a country practice located in a busy and very Welsh market town  17 miles away. The surgery doesn't open until 2pm so I stopped at the butchers to buy a homemade scotch egg ( incidentally the same butchers that processed our pigs) and shared it with William in the waiting room at 1.50 pm.
(He prefers the sausage meat and allows me to keep the eggy middle for myself)
I always get to the vets early, as I hate to get in that bunfight of waiting behind a load of people that think their baby is better than yours.

The George Clooney and Russell Crowe vet were not on duty, so we were seen by the Bridget Jones vet who gave William a detailed examination and charged me a fortune for a steroid injection, antibiotics and some antifungal shampoo. I kept some scotch egg aside to give him when Bridget checked his anal glands. It kept him quiet.

Anyhow as we  left the now packed waiting room a middle aged man stood up with a smile and extended his hand to shake mine.  I had no idea who he was, nor did I recognise his  smiling wife who was sitting next to him  with a small poodle  on her knee.
" Did your wedding go well?" He asked and seeing my sudden confusion quickly added his name with the added explanation " you admitted me to ICU  in February "
It was typical of meeting someone that you have only seen once before in a completely different situation as I only vaguely recognised him, so I smiled broadly and shook him warmly by the hand.
I told him that he looked well and so he did.
It was then I remembered him. He had been very poorly but chatty when he came under our care , and in passing, in a way of reducing his anxieties, I had told him a little about the wedding plans. I looked after him for around eight hours.
" So the day went well? " the man said and I replied " It was the best day"
The couple smiled together and the man said easily  " And that is how it should be .....give our very best to your husband"

I think it was the genuine easiness of the remark that pleased me the most. Genuine easiness and genuine interest. I have a new husband and a relative stranger celebrated the fact with no edge at all.