Emmaus South Lambeth

Did I mention we might have builders in the kitchen this week?  Well, we did, and how! 
Our brand-new-shiny kitchen on handover last October has proved defective in the fresh air department to the factor of – not having any.  There are no windows, and for fire regulation purposes it is almost hermetically sealed, with an average ambient temperature of around 28⁰c (nearly 80⁰f in old money) even before turning on rings, oven, fryer or grill….  which latter item had to be moved under an extractor canopy and down to a level where mere mortals could see it!

Last week they chiselled out the hole in the wall of the larder for a fan and left us alone on Monday, so t’was on a Tuesday Morning that the Builders came to call.  I had escaped to Cambridge on an Emmaus Induction day which proved very valuable, not least for reuniting me with a great friend of almost 40 years!  So it was sandwiches and salads whilst the fan and ducting and an extension extractor were put in, wired up and plastered and I tell you – standing over a hot stove is now a breeze – literally!

I managed to cook and show visitors round the house on Wednesday, but the Real Excitement occurred on Thursday.

I was called in for the consultations between our Deputy, the Builder and his Electrician regarding the re-siting of the gas grill and consequent movement of electric cabling etc.  Technical terms included “more or less 50cm…” and “…should end up with enough clearance – haven’t got a tape on me at the moment..”   We supplied one toute suite!

Whilst this was all very interesting, the trauma occurred when it was decided the units and shelves that needed adjustment would be taken away – right then.  I had ten minutes to move all our pots, pans, bread-tins, roasting pans, pyrex, colanders…  etc   The microwave now sits dolefully beside them on the floor as its shelf has gone off to be reduced for the under-2m cooks of the world.  And there was I, hoping to get onto a stilt-walking course, darn it!  (Confession:  I was having trouble finding one which had a Part 2:  “Carrying grill pan with sizzling sausages at least 5’ to serving hatch safely”)

Fortunately one of our Volunteers had nobly offered to make lunch, so I played helper – clamber over rows of pots to reach the herbs;  move others away to get the flour;  shove more aside to access the sugar stocks for tea and coffee supplies etc, etc.  Near crisis when the pasta was ready to drain – where sieve…..?

The kitchen will be closed for at least two days next week for the major work to be completed, so it’s sandwich lunch and take-away evening meals for the duration.  Great timing – I’m working on an Emmaus’s Green Credentials leaflet for a Climate Change Conference, so at least I will be gainfully employed.
 
Altogether a curate’s egg week – but please don’t tell the Food Hygiene Inspector! 

Keep well,   Elizabeth

It’s hard to believe that just a week ago I was enjoying a break deep in the sunny Gloucestershire countryside.  The memory of streaming eyes, runny nose and sneezing with my first-ever case of hay fever may fade soon, too.

In spite of that, I had a very enjoyable time, and many thanks to all at Emmaus Gloucester for the warm welcome (and I don’t refer to the 27^oc!).  Slimbridge was lovely too – until my streaming eyes missed a goose who had waddled up so close to me, I narrowly missed kicking it!  I spent a time watching the fowls, who are well adjusted to having security, food and shelter laid on (birds of a feather there, duck!)   Their logic is obvious:  Visitors buy food bags and feed us;  you are a visitor, therefore gimme  (pronounced : Honk!).

Then it was back to work – big time.  We hosted a training group of 18 guests, so it was 30 lunches and–pray-the-builders-don’t-arrive time!  As a result, the only visit I was able to make to the allotment was when the van collected a donation of gardening tools, so I cadged a lift for a quick recce.  It is blossoming beautifully – as are the blackfly on the broad beans, alas.  However, I did see two spherically-challenged ladybirds and can only hope one of them is, in reality, a gentlemanbird, as their babies would be set up with the best nursery dinners in town.

A fire alarm at 2.35 on Thursday morning mercifully proved to be a false alarm;  our cat has just about caught up with the 20 minutes of sleep he lost, but it’s a bit hard to fit anything more into a daily schedule comprised of 23.5 hours of cat-naps/siesta/rest/full-out sleep, 14.7 minutes eating and drinking, 2.3 minutes of wandering round yelling to be lifted onto my bed, and 1.4 minutes of washing etc.

Next Tuesday I’m off to Emmaus Cambridge for the day, which is fortunate, because we have the Major Kitchen Alterations drama ahead, so the visit will prevent the next blog being a total replay of Flanders & Swan’s classic recording “T’was on the Monday morning that the Gas-man Came to Call..”

So those of you who still have middle age ahead of you and may have missed the joys of their music, have a week or so to find the song on your I-pods or Wii’s or whatever – and you’ll be in for a treat whilst you weep for my trauma-in-progress!

Best wishes, bye for now, Elizabeth

When my thoughts first turned to this latest blog a couple of days ago, I was struggling for ideas.     Being British, I turned to the weather;  customers have been equally bleak and dismal, the only bright spot in it all being the arrival of a new Companion, to whom welcome.

Well, there was another bright spot :  we have been given access to ‘Personal Development Funds from Emmaus UK , for training or passports etc, so I put in a bid for a passport renewal faster’n the various bolts of lightening we have had recently (my pet hate).  Sent the passport off today;  it probably won’t return in  time for our Chairman of Trustee’s generous day-trip to France in a couple of weeks, but Cinderella can now (hopefully!) go to the Emmaus Salon, a gathering of the Clans Emmaus in Paris in June.

Within moments of my thinking how quiet and generally dull life has been since the Opening, fate changed the plot.  It was Wednesday, and we’d done a ‘dawn raid’ at the cash and carry.   Boy Scout training (SO much more fun than the Brownies, I can tell you!) came to the fore, and I’d made meat loafs the day before, to give me time to put the goodies away and subdivide the 9kg of meat, etc, before staring on making lunch.

As it turned out, traffic from the cash ‘n carry was reasonable, so I had an hour or so cleaning time on hand.   At which point, I found myself putting spuds on for the mash.  Silly thing to do, I won’t be wanting the mash for another couple of hours yet – why did I do that?

The reason chose that instant to arrive, in the shape of a cooker engineer we had called out to check why the back-burners blow out when on a simmer setting.  It was the moment of revelation equal to Conrad Lorenz seeing his butterfly, and chaos duly occurred – but luckily lunch was able to proceed on time!

It turned out that the blow-outs were caused by a trivial and easily adjusted mis-fit – but other issues the engineer mentioned led to the original installers being in the kitchen as I write, surrounded in cooker parts prior to moving it in order to…    Suffice to say, major works are under way and the happy final outcome will be, inter alia, that the grill is going to be placed at a height where I can actually remove a tray of sizzling sausages without fear of dropping the whole damn’ lot on my head!

Elsewhere, the allotment is planted with onions and spuds and I’m going to research the best strain of rice to plant if the sky continues to pour forth its blessings much longer.  I must ask the Shop Companions to reserve a Coolie hat if they get one in… 

Whilst on the subject, I have to take this opportunity to pay my own tribute to the late and much lamented Humphrey Lyttleton, who popped to mind (as a devoted fan of “I’m Sorry I haven’t a Clue”  since it began)  when I was up at the allotment last week.  A couple of the Committee had come over to discuss what arrangements to make about access to the new fencing at the back of our plot, and one of them suggested it was essential to have a back passage, reducing me to ‘Clue’ giggles in the midst of a Very Serious Discussion….  Thanks for all the laughter down the years, Humph.