The power cut in the Rover’s Return reminded me of the first day of the Millenium, when we spent the afternoon in a candlelit pub in Waltham Abbey. I wanted to be somewhere seeped in history, and the Abbey’s been standing for centuries. The first wooden church was built there in 610 by Sabert, king of the East Saxons, extended in stone by Offa of Mercia, then established as a point of pilgrimage during the reign of Cnut (1016-1035) – being very carefully not to misspell that one!
So we wandered through fields and gardens surrounding King Harold’s grave before seeking a 21st century lunch in the nearby pub. Its power cut led to a sparkling array of candles on every surface, probably exactly like it was at the turn of 11th century – but without the smell, or the plague.
So my secret’s out. I do watch Coronation Street. I know which Twitter friends are logging off in disgust and I’m sorry about that. It’s my only guilty pleasure. Apart from chocolate.
Anyway, the Waltham Abbey story is a bit relevant, as Harold’s death led to the start of William the Conqueror’s reign and the subsequent introduction of French as the country’s primary language. This caused the linguistic split that becomes evident today when I run Plain English training sessions. It’s not all about history – if you want to find out practical ways to get your message across and market your services much more clearly:
I lit loads of candles on Saturday too, when the amazing chefs from @Desire4food came to dinner. As you may know from my tweets, I don’t cook much, although I have a good selection of chicken, bacon and avocado recipes in my head. But my friends are vegetarian…
A panicked tweet elicited the most responses I’ve had on Twitter for some time, and I ended up creating something reasonably edible. Risotto with slow roasted tomatoes, mushrooms, red onion, spinach and cream – I was quite pleased with that and they had seconds, although possibly just being polite? I also threw together in Nigella-esque fashion a rocket salad with roasted butternut squash and goats cheese, plus a tureen of parsnip and apple soup.
Thank you to everyone who tweeted food suggestions, support and offers of help. Especially @Oldfreerider, my mystery friend who – all I know – travels around Europe on a whizzy motorbike, finds me lovely purple pictures and now, I discover, is also vegetarian. Your champagne risotto sounds amazing – maybe you can come and cook it for me sometime!
As Robbie said about the Millenium: “Some say that we are players, some say that we are pawns; but we’ve been makin’ money since the say that we were born.” Well the stars are not directing your fate. Make more money by maximising your social media marketing… Ask me how: @WeekendWitch
PS – social media training on March 26th is SOLD OUT! Check back soon for the next date…
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