Don't forget your passport

  At the end if yesterday's post I mentioned flying sparks and that is because of what I've been up today. It breaks down like this; a while ago I met and engaged the services of a top fellah who has a workshop at the end of my street. Seriously, his business is the closest commercial operation of any description to my house so it's no more than a spit away.

  You may remember that I needed some metal brackets for the swing bench I made for my garden? Well he let me make them in his workshop. He specialises in high end, architectural metalwork and while I was bending said metal I said to him that as he is incredibly busy and as I fancy learning how to do welding and metalworkingy things, I could come and help him out.

  Today was my first day but it was only a trial so he could see if it was worth it for him to have me around, which I understand to mean that he can give me things to do and leave me to it instead of having to watch over me in case I wave the muppet wand and inflict chaos.

  Fortunately, my fastidious, OCD nature came in handy and my services will be required in the future. The main thing I noticed by way of comparison with the frenetic pace of a kitchen is that things in a metal shop happen very slowly. I wondered if it is a reflection of the eternal nature of metal compared with the fresh and quickly decomposing nature of food. I'll leave you to think about that.

  After a day of getting physical with metal, I said a cheery goodbye, dashed home for a lightning shower and change before saddling up and zapping off through the space cadets queuing to leave London in their near stationary cars. I'm still in shock! The queues I rode through were absolutely MENTAL! I'm utterly flabbergasted that people do that to themselves. Astonishing!

  I have some friends who live ridiculously close to the eurotunnel so it's a great excuse to pop in to say hello, spend the night, then scarper smart-ish at the crack of dawn to meet the posse in time to escape to France while we can. And on that note, I'm off to enjoy a peaceful evening in a very English country garden overlooking the beauty of Kent. Lap it up while you can, today's the longest day so it's all downhill from here.

Tomorrow, mischief.

Kirk out

Chefsebastian.com