Albondigas

Offended.  Well slightly!  When I wrote a short post in early August announcing I was taking a month off from my weekly blog it received triple the number of views over the preceding three months!  I can take a hint.  I will make them shorter, crisper and will slowly transfer to vlogs.

For all those who read my previous post, The Magic of Meatballs, I can confirm we did have Ikea meatballs but not in the conventional way I originally thought.  A family relative went to Ikea to pick up a home desk (the dining table finally became too much) and brought us back meatballs and, more importantly, the sauce.  They were as equally delicious at home as they are in store – and a lot cheaper as you don’t end up buying things you seriously don’t need!

They were not the only meatballs eaten on our family staycation.  We could not go away, so away came to our home. At our Spanish themed day, we made Tapas including Albondigas, smoky Spanish meatballs no less.  Very different but equally good.  With my relatively new iPhone I was put in charge of the music for the day.  After four increasingly louder renditions of La Viva Espana (the Rioja helps!) and La Bamba (not technically Spanish, I know), my Mum asked me to find ‘I met a man on a bus to Barcelona’ and preceded to sing along having learned all the lyrics for the occasion.  It is actually more catchy than might appear from the title!

In a poignant tribute to Grandad  we had a Cornish day with Nana as it was their favourite place in the world.  We plotted all the places we want to visit in what we hope will be a ten-day tour next Spring.  We ate Hog’s pudding for breakfast, sardines on toast for lunch, afternoon scones and Cornish tea, followed by Cornish pasties for dinner – washed down by a surprisingly vibrant Cornish red wine.  We all watched a Cornish based film ‘The Kid who would be King’, which is a modern story based on King Arthur at Tintagel and had an Art competition.  My harbour vista of Fowey came a long way last, beaten by stunning Tin Mines and cliff top views where Poldark apparently once roamed.  It was a shuddering reminder of being 15 and my Art teacher strongly suggesting I focused my time on other subjects.

For Italian day we made pizzas from scratch and of all shapes, sizes and taste.  The Chianti was nice!

We got out a couple of times with Storm Francis providing a timely and wet reminder of childhood British holidays.  Our ham and rain drop rolls at Colchester Zoo stand out as memorable! Southend seafront with a double buggy and wheelchair in the teeth of 40 mile an hour winds defeated us after just 10 minutes!  We then defeated 10 sugary donuts in the car within a further 10 minutes!

It was great to have a family break.  Very different but very needed.  It is also good to be back.  Like my transition to vlogs my family are now experiencing change.  My son, last week, moved to a new school (not knowing anyone and with Covid restrictions), the twins start nursery this week (lockdown meant we didn’t even visit and no settling in days), and Kristine returns to work from extended maternity leave (which included four months home schooling) at the end of the month.

Purple is changing the disability conversation and in spite of Covid-19 restrictions my diary is full until Christmas.  There is a lot of work to do.  Farewell summer.  Adios meatballs.

Mike Adams
CEO, Purple
8 September2020