Some of you might remember the last time we went to a ‘do’, with an auction, we returned home with a painting. Two years on and it is still sitting in our garage. And so it was that on Saturday night we headed off to our boys’ school bi-annual fundraising Ball, with no intention of bidding for Things We Didn’t Like. I now wish I’d added Things We Didn’t Need to the list. Because we are now the proud owners of a trailer-full of pony poo. We live in the New Forest. I can get this stuff FREE if I bothered to stop the car on the way home from school. Except I don’t because we don’t have anything in our garden that needs it. So, if you need pony poo, let me know. Collection only, obviously.
Current white in the fridge: Porcupine Ridge Sauvignon Blanc 2011, £7.99, Last Drop Wines
Someone bought this round last week, and luckily (for me) it didn’t get opened, instead getting tucked away in the wine rack. So it was opened last night and has pepped up two suppers now, including our grilled chicken with creme fraiche and mustard sauce tonight (thanks, Nigel, and your lovely Real Cooking book that is now positively ancient). It is delicious, quivering with lime fruit and cheek-sucking acidity. I could have sworn Waitrose sold this but can’t find it on their site tonight, so have found it here instead. If you live near the King’s Road, you are in luck. If not, you’ll have to wait until Waitrose have some more. I’ll try not to clear the shelf in the meantime.
Current red in the rack: Pillar Box Red 2008, £10, Tesco.com
It is raining outside, leaves are beginning to create their own particular patchwork on the garden and I’ve got jumpers out of the cupboard that I haven’t seen for months. This makes me happy. I do like winter, not least because of the jumpers. But I love it too because of the wines, and the almost natural return to big, cuddly reds. This one tastes like crushed blackcurrants with more than a tickle of alcohol. It is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz from the Padthaway region in South Australia, and a great example of how sometimes the sum may just be better than the parts. Lovely, lovely stuff.
Pip pip x
Can't believe you bid for poo! I'm always under strict instructions to keep my hands firmly by my side at these events after nearly winning a signed shirt by Wayne Rooney when I waved to a pal across the room.
Love that! The poo was in a silent auction, so just wrote a bid on a piece of paper, not thinking I'd win it! Obviously everyone else realised they could get it FREE.
Always a risk to be the first bidder on a dodgy lot in a Silent Auction, I find… But still, you got one of the best titles for a post that I have EVER seen out of it, so it's not a total #Fail…
ayethankyou x
In a fit of bonhomie and more than a bit tipsy, I won a flight in a small plane over Blackpool in an auction a few years ago to the tune of a couple of hundred quid. The following year when the same guy offered another prize in the auction I was able to very generously donate my unclaimed prize back to the cause.
Lovely stuff, this is all making me feel much better.
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I never win anything, and I thought that was bad. I now realise I'm lucky! Phew. Just imagine all those lorry loads of poo, terrifying flights etc that I've missed out on. Lucky escape.
Lucky indeed…!