Journal Mon 11th August 2025

Up at 6.00am today with a grumbling bulldog, (not a euphemism). I did the usual carry him outside, plonk him on the grass, wait for his legs to wake up, a good 5 minutes after the rest of him, and then help him up and hope that the scent of a passing fox or badger might entice him to have a pee. He will usually have one first thing, but you’re never sure if it’s the need to pee or the grumbling tummy that he wants you to address first. Always err on the side of the bladder for obvious reasons. Now is a good time to write, because my beloved gremlin will then sleep for a couple of hours until the next round of grumbling, which we’ll then run through the checklist again to decipher. Has it been more than 2 hours since a pee?, has he had a poo yet today, can he reach his water bowl, has he got stuck (ie slipped off one of the many rugs we put down for traction, because the shiny floor is hot lava for a little man), is it within say 40 minutes of his dinner, or a carrot time? Usually, one of these will fix the grumbling, sometimes he just wants a cuddle, and then we repeat this checklist again in a few hours time when the grumbling commenceth once more. This morning bless him, he was inconsolable. Had his morning pee, had his breakfast, I moved the water bowl and he had a big drink, but he still wouldn’t settle and kept clambering out of his bed. Only on the third attempt of putting him back to bed did I discover the cause, a 2 inch thorn had found it’s way into the cushion on the bottom of his bed and must have kept jabbing him as he tried to get comfy. Thorn removed, he’s now happily snorting and snuffling away in his sleep, which I have to say is the best, most comforting sound in the world to me.

The sun has yet to impart its full glare on the front of the house. We get a slight lag between the apricot tinge of dawn, and the need to close the shutters, because of a line of tall trees in the middle distance, but it’s coming, and with a 37 degree day on the horizon, vigilance is key. It was 20 degrees at 6.00am which sucks because the house can’t factory reset before the next onslaught of heat, so, knowing the temp will drop a couple of degrees right before sunrise, I open every window that I can, and pay close attention to the little thermometers I have dotted around the house. They will immediately start to drop, and I get about an hour before they then start to slowly tick up again. The sun is creeping and now at 7.25, the familiar sound of chainsaws and strimmers thrum in the distance, which I don’t begrudge because later in the day that kind of thing will be impossible as we all retreat into the dark shuttered wilderness once more.

I really need to cut some dahlias, they are flourishing in this heat, and I need to water my lovely new hydrangea which really isn’t. I might also pop some washing in. One thing these days do accomplish is a pretty speedy drying time. This afternoon is likely to involve complete retreat to the bedroom where our little portable air con unit will take the strain. This old stone house remains pretty comfortable until the temperature hits the mid 30s, and the dogs need the cool as much as I do.

The sun is now square in my eyes, so time to shutter up at the front of the house, and go cut the flowers I think.

10.30am – The one thing about a 6.00am start is you can accomplish a fair amount by mid morning. The house is shuttered up, and even the back windows are closed now, pointless having them open when it’s 23 degrees inside and 25 degrees outside. The neck fan is is now on, (for the uninitiated it kind of looks like a pair of over ear head phones but you wear it round your neck and the air blasts upwards onto your face). It’s a re-chargeable thing so it’ll give me a couple of hours before it needs to be plugged in again. Maybe it’ll limp on until lunchtime. Tasks accomplished, one load of washing done and hung out, dishwasher emptied and re-loaded, kitchen surfaces tidied and wiped down, dahlias cut and arranged, home made chicken burgers made and rested in the fridge for speedy cooking later so as to avoid heating up the kitchen more than I can manage. Brambles cut back that were starting to impinge on the clothes drier outside, and quite frankly getting sick of my towels catching on them. Feeling OK about the imminent retirement upstairs this afternoon to try and keep cool.

For anyone interested, this is the rough recipe for my chicken burgers.

Take a pack of 4 chicken breasts, as a high a welfare standard as you can afford, and slap them in the food processor. I find this works best 2 at a time. Pulse until the meat is roughly minced, you don’t want a paste here so try to keep some texture. Tip this into a bowl and add a tablespoon of garlic powder, a really good grind of black pepper, the zest of a lemon, and about a tablespoon of Herbes de Provence (mixed herbs works, or dried oregano, whatevs). Crack an egg into proceedings and add a good handful of breadcrumbs. It’s a great way to use up a bit of stale baguette, but today I used panko from a packet. I don’t put salt in now, because I want to keep the moisture in, and usually whatever sauce I decide to add later (and cheese) deals with that, but please season with salt if you feel you need to. Now get your hands in and give everything a good scrunch together by hand, for just long enough to combine the ingredients and ensure the egg is well distributed. Don’t over work it or your burgers could end up being tough, and you don’t want that. I have a trusty little Lakeland burger press, a plastic plunger style thing that you put little waxed paper disks in and they look dead professional. You don’t need one though, just shape them into patties if you don’t have one and pop them in the fridge for a good couple of hours (longer if possible) until you’re ready to fry them. Give them a few minutes a side on a medium high heat, when the outside is lovely and brown (feel free to cut into the middle to check – it is chicken after all), you’re good to go. I’m sorry to say this but French burger buns are utter toss, so while I would never usually countenance a brioche bun, the Trader Joes Brioche buns from Aldi are your friends here. Soft, and not so massive that your burger to bread ratio is all out of whack. Today I think they’ll be topped with lettuce, tomato, sliced pickles, a cheese slice, and Sriracha mayo because we went to the Asian Supermarket at the weekend.

They freeze well, so if you have too many (before cooking), open freeze them on a baking sheet, and once solid, pop them in a freezer bag for later use.

Let me know how you get on.

TTFN x

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