Monkeys Fist

I’m currently absolutely bossing Christmas dinner prep- Turkey crown with cranberry and orange butter under the skin, streaky bacon weave over the top. Roasties in goose fat with thyme. Roast carrots and parsnips in honey and wholegrain mustard. French beans wrapped with Parma ham laces. Spiced red cabbage Sprouts with pancetta and chestnuts ( with a few chestnuts left over to roast for “garden visitors” tomorrow with a bit of mulled wine). Pork stuffing with lemon, garlic and thyme. Buttered Spring greens ( Mrs. F’s request). By prepping this today, I’ve got it down to 45 mins kitchen time on the day, after the Turkey is done. If I don’t die of a heart attack I’ll see you on Boxing Day for the steak.

Please don’t speak Garlic here, we’re a stand-alone self sovrinty dontcha know.

Funnily enough, I was also “in production” when I made the post.

Merry Christmas chaps. It’s been a weird year, and it’s going to be a strange Christmas for many of us. Hope you all make the best of it, and enjoy a break from the relentless shite. To all who’ve lost friends, family and loved ones, my thoughts are with you- it will get better. On a cheerier note, here’s Salma tossing a bit of salad.

I was watching it thinking “ He reminds me of something…” Couldn’t put my finger on it, then… Lego Gimli

You’re giving him way to much credit.

Already been sorted by the super-efficient Mod Team.

That makes two places I’ve never bothered with because I thought their name sounded a bit “meh” turn out to be amazing. The other one being Utrecht.

Go back to bed you lunatic.

Missed the first half- was defrosting an Iceland Prawn Ring.

Just done the Christmas food shop- it was remarkably chilled with no shortages that I could see. Still eye-watering at the checkout, but it did include “refreshments”.

A record of his past successes…

Mmmm, Bacon Frazzles…

This is the one, so it is.

So sorry to hear this man, I can’t imagine how you must be feeling. I’ll repeat ewerk’s very good advice though, It helps put all the emotions- guilt, anger, despair, sorrow, in context and helps enormously.

They could put a bid in for this.

It’d be par for the course if this fat mess somehow flukes us a cup.

If you look up his hometown on Wikipedia, apart from the dodgy name, he’s not even listed in the “people of note” section. population : 3436

She’s coming up, though.

Milton Nunez was special.

Fuck. Send him my sympathy. Doesn’t matter how old you are, losing your old man hits you hard. Totally understand him taking a timeout from online shite.

The point about K2 in winter, as well as all the points mentioned earlier, is just the ridiculous, energy-sapping cold. -47. That’s not even factoring wind-chill, plus the effects of altitude. It also mentions that in winter “all the snow will have been blown off it”, which sounds like a good thing, but it’s not. It increases the difficulty by a huge amount- where certain parts would be a relatively easy slog up snow fields or “easy” ice climbing, the lack of snow makes these parts way more technical and risky. Also, with more rock and ice pitches, the risk from rockfall ( caused by daily freeze/thaw actions), is hugely increased. Whilst the above increases the likelihood of accidents, it also makes the possibility of rescue significantly less viable. I really hope they manage it- it’d be one the greatest feats of modern mountaineering. I also hope that they have the nous to call it a day if things look dicey, but the very fact they’re attempting it tells me their risk aversion doesn’t make this likely.

I’ll be very surprised if this ends well- up to 24 people to make a winter attempt on K2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-55341778 It’s a brutal mountain at the best of times, but this is just asking for it.

I’m sure Trooper is retired?

Is that @The Fish’s Tinder persona?