Cooked My Goose

Shopping Trauma


It's tradition, albeit a new one for me to leave the shopping for a Goose until the absolute last minute when there may be only one left in the cooler at Marks and Spencer's in order not to have to worry about trying to stick such a large bird in the freezer. It followed our first goose ordered 2-years ago, which went to the dogs at a local butchers that folded on us with only 1-day to go.

In the past we've left any big Christmas bird in the garden shed in the cold and protected from foxes but this warmer spell of late, well... The tradition was meant to be repeated today, if a little more last minute than normal - but I forgot until reminded by text as I was distracted trying to shop for the Christmas presents I should have bought a month ago but I've been too busy. It was already 3pm.

I had to visit a number of stores to find the bird and paid a hefty price, too: far more than we did in last years. I ended up near Southampton, too.

Anyway, I'd taken a back-pack lest the foul couldn't be rammed in a pannier but in the end it fitted fine and with room to spare (a good review point?) Then I rode home via a couple of equal priority errands to stock up on specialist "Destroy It Yourself" gear to keep me occupied during my meagre couple of days off.

The exhaust runs close to the base of the panniers. The panniers can get quite warm. It may not have been quite such a clever idea to stash it in there. Luckily it hasn't discoloured, or anything. Maybe it could be cooked over a decent ride? This would be an excellent facility on a touring trip.

I'm making light. I could have really had my goose cooked if I'd spoiled the thing in the heat despite actually managing to hunt one down. (Two phews!)

Merry Christmas!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Picking up Sherbert

Image
To recap, we'd been awake and travelling to Offenburg, Germany since 2:30 am. Bikemoto's offer of a free coffee felt overwhelmingly generous while we waited for Sherbert's paperwork to be readied. There was a hire agreement to cover our ride back to Ireland, the ownership documentation, Certificate of Compliance, manuals, sales agreements, and more. It all took time. All the time I was taking stock of the enormity of the day and second-guessing the plan. Self doubt I'd not ridden for nearly 5 years since fixing Arod's speedometer sensor and finding his fork seals were leaking. COVID 19 and working from home were little motivation to set things right. Now I am about to ride a new-to-me model of bike I've not ridden before. Sherbert is heavier than an ST1300, a weightier insurance liability, and has a dual clutch transmission (DCT). He's extra expensive to buy and more-so to fix. I'm riding on the right side of the road in Europe and with my wife rid
Read more

28 February - Jammed Screen Blues

Head Trauma The LHS winder for the screen is jammed. I’ve had the screen at a medium-high stetting for the cold and rain but this really gives some buffeting in some conditions – especially at speed on the M-ways. It was so bad on the way to Stoke I had to stop and hand-force the screen all the way down for some relief. It needs either another overhaul (gave it a good oiling when symptoms first appeared) or replacement, which is just so expensive. Even a knackered one from a ‘brakers seems to command an inflated £100+ tag. Daft greedy b’stards. Anyway – the jobs waiting for a quieter moment. Too much going on to rip the plastics off Shadowfax just now. We both have a job to do.
Read more

To Offenburg from beyond

Image
Offenburg is a couple of hours south of Frankfurt.  Initial plans were to fly to Frankfurt, catch a train to Offenburg, and then a taxi to the bike shop. Unfortunately, RyanAir fly to Frankfurt Hahn airport and don't hint at the fact Hahn is two hours west of Frankfurt. We discovered that gem after booking the flights. No plan survives first contact, right? So we adapted and hired a car to drive the 3 hours to Offenburg. Adapt or fail We learned that RyanAir will only allow helmets on spare seats–one helmet per seat by the read of it. Otherwise your life-saving equipment needs to go in the hold to be crushed, battered, and invisibly compromised by damage. Our new Shuberth C5s had arrived only a couple of days ahead of the flight in two smart boxes within a single purpose sized box. Mrs G called RyanAir and confirmed a 'suitcase' can be a box and what the maximum dimensions can be.  The box fitted the bill. Into Hahn Typically, the Friday flight out was at around 6am and w
Read more