Saturday lunch time and its it lamb chops again. I bought them in the international Store and despite the wind and grey skies the barbeque is lit to cook them on.

I was asked to wait a few minutes before I bought them. There was a man standing in front of me and he appeared to have bought most of the rest of the sheep.

The carcass lay on the stainless steel work bench. The butcher pared away fat from the legs and the shoulder and then with a long sharp cleaver he quartered it.

In the corner there was an electric saw. The blade ran vertical and there was a high pitched whine he he started it up the blade shaking up and down. He took the pieces of the animal and with quick dextrous fingers ran them through the blade, turning the pieces again and again until the bone and meat was cut down to the right side. As he was done the pieces were pushed into a cardboard box.

When he was finished and the lamb had been all cut up he emptied the cardboard box into four white plastic bags, tying the up the tops and double bagging them all. He printed the price ticket and stuck it to one of the bags.

The man in front of me went round the counter to pick the bags and took them to the front to pay.

The butcher then put my chops through the blade.

The chops have been marinaded in garlic, olive oil and crushed cumin seeds. I have a yogurt, green chilli and coriander dip to go with them.

I will have them with a bottle of Cain’s lager I found by itself on the supermarket shelf. It could be the last bottle I have.