Ceridwenscauldron

"What would you like for tea as Mum's out tonight?" I asks the Moff

"Curry" she says so on the way home I drop anchor at Mr Sainsbury's Emporium and buy some chicken, chick peas and spring onions.

On the way back to Rancho Collapso I spy through the Dolland glass the unmistakable vessels of Thames Water, their crews valiently standing around scratching their arses ands flicking ash into the flooded manhole by the water leak that had been steadily bubbling up through the tarmac in the high street, for weeks now.

Arriving safely home a neighbour tells me we have no water and won't have any for some time. Apparently he asked the workmen what was going on and why considering Thames Water must have planned this work judging from the blue paint they had daubed the pavement with, they hadn't bothered to tell their customers that they would have no water. They said of we don't do that anymore Cheers privatised monopoly.

So faced with no water to wash them I put the spring onions in the fridge.

So oil in pan add some cumin seed let it pop then add one chopped onion, two chopped chili peppers, four cloves of chopped garlic. Once the onion has softened add a teaspoon of chili powder and two of curry powder and give it a stir to coat everything. Chuck in a glass of white wine to deglaze the pan followed by a small pack of chopped chicken, once the meat has sealed add a can of drained chick peas. then realise you have no water to make the stock so out of desperation use that can of coconut milk you had been saving for something else. Let that bubble away on a low heat for about ten minutes then serve on a bed of rice.

I had to use bloody Volvic Bottled Water to boil the rice!

Woke up on Friday morning and it was still raining, but undaunted we headed off for Tintagel which was just warming up for the Tintagel Festival.

As we approched the town the weather improved and at least it had stopped bloody raining by the time we had parked up.

Now the highlight of the festival is a recreation of King Arthur's final battle where a lot of people in costume batter the hell out of each other while drunk. Unfortunately the battle was on the Saturday when we would be heading home, but it didn't stop the town from being full of drunken enthusiasts!

We headed off to take a look at the castle, but unfortunately took the wrong road and ended up on the cliff tops by the St Materiana Church, not too much of a problem as the church was quite interesting with some nice stained glass windows and we soon found our way to the path down the cliff to the ruins. The castle is connected to the land only by a narrow pathway and then there is a steep climb to the gatehouse.

While legend has it listed as a home to Uther Pendragon and King Arthur the castle was actually built during the reign of Henry III for the Earl of Cornwall. Although rarely used it must at one time have been quite splendid with a number of buildings set within the walls.

While we up there the Sun decided to come out and I was delighted to catch a glimpse of a peregrine diving from the cliffs as well as seeing lots of other birds including a close up encounter with a jackdaw pulling moss from one of the castle walls, never realised what pretty eyes they had.

After a stroll around the island to see the remains of the chapel, cold store and well we took the path down to the beach where we visited Merlin's cave and the Powder Monkey had a scamper on the beach. On to lunch and we all had pasties except for Mab who enjoyed a very nice fisherman's platter at the English Heritage cafe by the beach (with beer and soft drinks about £30) before the Powder Monkey and I took the Land Rover back up to Tintagel town, a special treat for the Monkey as we got to sit in the front.

Back in the town we enjoyed a mooch in the bookshop and a drink in the Cornishman before heading back to the Lodge.

So back to our Cornish adventure.

Woke up late on Thursday and it was still raining. Spent the morning looking for something fun to do and after feeding the ducks on the patio set off for the Bodmin and Wenford Steam Railway.

The Bodmin General station is located right in the middle of the town of Bodmin and has plenty of free parking for visitors. We decided to buy a rail rover for £10, which gives you the freedom of the whole railway for the day and set off on the 2.15 to Bodmin Parkway where the train turns around (well to be more truthfull the locomotive is unhitched and runs around the carriages to be hitched to the other end, a fascinating process you can watch from the platform) and then on to Boscarne Junction.

We were lucky enough to get one of the steam locos for our trip and its worth checking the timetable just to make sure its a steam rather than a diesel service to avoid any disappointment. The railway does have some classic diesel locos and its good to see that part of our heritage being preserved too, but hell you can't beat a steam engine for pure romance.

On the train Old Nick and I enjoyed a pint of Cornish Knockers - a beer that always comes in pairs according to the chap running the buffet car. Actaully the Knockers were a kind of fairy folk who worked in the tin mines.

Back at Bodmin General we had a look around the engine shed where a lot of restoration work goes on by the railway's volunteers.

"Funny" said Old Nick as we were leaving "I remember when you could smoke on one of those with nobody blathering into a mobile, who says things have got better since then."

That evening we fancied an Indian so we headed off for Tintagel where I had been entranced by the aroma emanating from the Indian Ocean (Atlantic Road, Tintagel) where after the poppadoms we enjoyed onion bhajees, vegetable samozas and shamio kebabs followed by a Chicken Vindaloo for Mab, a Lamb Ceylon for Old Nick, Chicken Tikka for the Powder Monkey and Lamb Pathia for me. The Vindaloo was just about right, the Ceylon deliciously creamy while the Pathia was a gorgeous balance of sweet and sour flavours.

All in a very good meal for about £80 even if the Kingfisher and the Cobra came out of the same tap.

So time is all over the shop thanks to a week with no internet access in Cornwall and having the lovely Mira staying with us over the weekend.

Well here is the last of the dishes I prepared while we were away enjoying the torrentail downpoor that is such an important feature of any English holiday.

spalsh of olive oil goes into the pan followed by one chopped onion, six cloves of chopped garlic, three chopped chili peppers and two bruised stems of lemon grass (had to improvise here by walloping with the back of a knife, being without my trusty claw hammer).

As that is cooking off chuck in three teaspoons of Co-Op curry powder and a glass of Soave from the wine box to deglaze pan. Chop up the remaining chicken breasts and sling em in. Let the meat seal and then chuck in another glass of Soave, some green beans, a chicken stock cube and a tub of creme fraiche and let it cook away on a low heat until the moxture has reduced to a lovely creamy texture.

Serve on a bed of rice