Perfection, as always! Love that painting. Today we're looking after our 5 month grandson on our own for the first time while his parents go to Mighty Hoopla. Slightly nerve wracking (all day and into the night) but he's such a darling, also looking forward to it. Have a lovely Sunday yourself 😎
Oh how lovely! You’ll have a LOVELY but busy time! (When I had my middle nephew for the first time for a couple of hours when he was about 3 months he was quite fractious. He only settled when I put the tv on and the film The Shining was on! Something in the sound design must have struck him as peaceful!
I will warn you: this particular Neph is glorious but also the most bonkers person I have ever met so whether that explains The Shining incident or is BECAUSE of the The Shining incident, I don’t know!
Please can you publish a cookbook because I hate cooking but that's the best recipe I've ever read and I would gladly make loads of things if recipes were all like yours.
Also, thank you for bringing The Meatball Lady into our lives. How old do you think she was in the clip? I reckon maybe 52? 47? 38? Sometimes I wish people were still expected to dress like an ancient person when they hit 40. I'd have hair like a space helmet and all the men I know would wear Big Trousers like my grandad. I think it would be quite freeing!
One of my favourite friends (who is 70 and slightly bonkers but I love her for it) has an old shop mannequin in her garden who she has named Doris. Every season Doris gets a new outfit. She is currently sporting a bikini because of the boiling hot weather but I dare say she’ll be wearing a woolly jumper soon! Also, “flailing about like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets” absolutely made me laugh out loud and is so typical of our local coffee shop (also I love The Muppets 😂)
Ah a true weekly highlight. You MUST turn these into a book with even more of your delicious prose please. More chicken tales and more snippets of people you have noticed being weird. Or normal. Weird is normal non?
I have mentioned this in a comment on India Knight’s Substack which you might have noticed but if not I think you would like the live feed of the Usk Valley Osprey group. There is a breeding pair for the first time in 250 years in the valley and they have two brand new chicks. I have just watched the mother patiently struggling to feed the smallest baby. It is not easy because the chicks have not got strong neck muscles yet and their heads bob around evasively whilst simultaneously screaming for food. Dad is watching over but he is not allowed to have a go until the infants can keep their heads still.
Always my favourite thing on Substack, and now I’m yearning for an Alex T Smith recipe book! Perfect combo of delicious and hilarious, and I’m here wholeheartedly for salads with aggressive amounts of feta! 😋
Delightful! I shared the snippet about buying the sheep during Covid and thought I'd share again here what I got up to during those tragic days. I decided to turn the bathroom right at the top of our house – miles and miles up kind of like the Swiss Alps because we do live in Switzerland – into an indoor greenhouse. I ordered loads of packets of seed and lined up tiny little pots in the shower bottom, filled them with soil and planted seeds. I watered them with the shower head, as one does. And promptly clogged the pipes...but it didn't really matter because it took weeks for the water to get even vaguely tepid up there, so we never used that shower. Anyway, my seeds grew successfully as there was a window in the roof, and the weather was phenomenal. I had loads of flowers to plant in the garden later on! We sold that house a few years later, and I sometimes still wonder whether the new owners had pipe issues!
Also, we had a pond in that garden, and bought a rubber dinghy, and my husband rowed around in it to record a birthday message for my father! Oh the giggles!
The sea monster painting almost made me snort my iced coffee! As did the image of a chicken head first in a watering can.
And I love a bean salad. Will have to try your recipe, esp as I have an avocado on my counter crying out to be eaten today. My fallback combination is white beans-cherry tomatoes-cucumber-crisp halloumi-pickled red onion-soft herbs.
I’m looking forward to seeing the sheep in your garden. Joy Parade is an absolute JOY and I am sharing. Thank you.
Wonderful as usual xx
Mother wrench 🔧😝😘🤣
Only just discovered you. What a fab post, so much to enjoy. What have I been missing?
Oh I’m so glad you found Pigeon Post! You’ve missed just a lot of nonsense really! I’m so glad you are here!
Perfection, as always! Love that painting. Today we're looking after our 5 month grandson on our own for the first time while his parents go to Mighty Hoopla. Slightly nerve wracking (all day and into the night) but he's such a darling, also looking forward to it. Have a lovely Sunday yourself 😎
Oh how lovely! You’ll have a LOVELY but busy time! (When I had my middle nephew for the first time for a couple of hours when he was about 3 months he was quite fractious. He only settled when I put the tv on and the film The Shining was on! Something in the sound design must have struck him as peaceful!
Thanks, Alex - will bear Rhe Shining in mind if all else fails!
I will warn you: this particular Neph is glorious but also the most bonkers person I have ever met so whether that explains The Shining incident or is BECAUSE of the The Shining incident, I don’t know!
The gentle gift of a tin of sweetcorn 😅😅😅 Wonderful Alex x
Joy indeed❣️ I smiled and laughed the entire read through. Thank you Alex.
I am cheered up - thank you!
Please can you publish a cookbook because I hate cooking but that's the best recipe I've ever read and I would gladly make loads of things if recipes were all like yours.
Also, thank you for bringing The Meatball Lady into our lives. How old do you think she was in the clip? I reckon maybe 52? 47? 38? Sometimes I wish people were still expected to dress like an ancient person when they hit 40. I'd have hair like a space helmet and all the men I know would wear Big Trousers like my grandad. I think it would be quite freeing!
One of my favourite friends (who is 70 and slightly bonkers but I love her for it) has an old shop mannequin in her garden who she has named Doris. Every season Doris gets a new outfit. She is currently sporting a bikini because of the boiling hot weather but I dare say she’ll be wearing a woolly jumper soon! Also, “flailing about like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets” absolutely made me laugh out loud and is so typical of our local coffee shop (also I love The Muppets 😂)
Ah a true weekly highlight. You MUST turn these into a book with even more of your delicious prose please. More chicken tales and more snippets of people you have noticed being weird. Or normal. Weird is normal non?
I have mentioned this in a comment on India Knight’s Substack which you might have noticed but if not I think you would like the live feed of the Usk Valley Osprey group. There is a breeding pair for the first time in 250 years in the valley and they have two brand new chicks. I have just watched the mother patiently struggling to feed the smallest baby. It is not easy because the chicks have not got strong neck muscles yet and their heads bob around evasively whilst simultaneously screaming for food. Dad is watching over but he is not allowed to have a go until the infants can keep their heads still.
Oh I do love reading your Joy Parade every week! That image of the barista like the Swedish muppet chef made me spit out my iced oat latte ;)
Always my favourite thing on Substack, and now I’m yearning for an Alex T Smith recipe book! Perfect combo of delicious and hilarious, and I’m here wholeheartedly for salads with aggressive amounts of feta! 😋
Delightful! I shared the snippet about buying the sheep during Covid and thought I'd share again here what I got up to during those tragic days. I decided to turn the bathroom right at the top of our house – miles and miles up kind of like the Swiss Alps because we do live in Switzerland – into an indoor greenhouse. I ordered loads of packets of seed and lined up tiny little pots in the shower bottom, filled them with soil and planted seeds. I watered them with the shower head, as one does. And promptly clogged the pipes...but it didn't really matter because it took weeks for the water to get even vaguely tepid up there, so we never used that shower. Anyway, my seeds grew successfully as there was a window in the roof, and the weather was phenomenal. I had loads of flowers to plant in the garden later on! We sold that house a few years later, and I sometimes still wonder whether the new owners had pipe issues!
Also, we had a pond in that garden, and bought a rubber dinghy, and my husband rowed around in it to record a birthday message for my father! Oh the giggles!
Oh Alex, thank you, thank you, thank you for the duck egg incubation man. I may watch that forever.
All of that was lovely. Thank you. 🙏
The sea monster painting almost made me snort my iced coffee! As did the image of a chicken head first in a watering can.
And I love a bean salad. Will have to try your recipe, esp as I have an avocado on my counter crying out to be eaten today. My fallback combination is white beans-cherry tomatoes-cucumber-crisp halloumi-pickled red onion-soft herbs.