Was Sunday the last day of summer? There was that feel about it as the grey clouds and rain of the morning cleared to leave us blue skies and a sun that still carried some heat as it beat down out of the shadows.

We went for a walk around Caldy Hill, parking the car in West Kirby and then walking back round the back of Ashton Park and up a steep set of sandstone steps up to the foot of a The Sailor’s Monument.

In the park on the lake half a dozen model sailing boats were being steered round a course by a group of serious minded men with remote controls.

Up on the hill and looking out over The Dee the dinghies looked equally small crowding round whatever course they were sailing on.

Back home we lit a BBQ and ate pork chops marinaded in garlic and paprika, potato salad and baby spinach and pitta dressed in pomegranate and sumac sat down and taking in the last of the evening sun whilst it was still there to make us blink

So now I am doing this a new way tapping out the words across a screen hoping they fit together.

I had thought that doing it like this would be awkward and slow but to my surprise the screen works well with the fingers and all of a sudden I find that I can type with more than finger and I don’t have to stab at the keys.

I am looking forward to doing this from a bar in Poland next weekend.v

Somehow I managed to forget to cook the padrón peppers last night but more or less everything was cooked and then eaten

The day started with a trip to Liverpool for coffee and bagels. This was to embolden us to start on the decision making process as to whether we should buy a heron. The heron had been spotted some weeks previously and identified as a potential birthday gift. However it was decided that I should have the opportunity to take a look at it before the plunge was taken.

We found it in 69A Renshaw Street – a sort of junk shop emporium full of things you don’t really need but help brighten up the day – including an old style green £1.00 note (used). The heron, in its wooden case, was on a shelf half way up the wall on the left hand side surrounded by dark paintings and other birds in boxes including a bittern and dove.

Once spotted the only dilemma was over its size and where it would fit. We quickly decided that didn’t matter and the deal was done. There was an interesting five minutes trying to get it into the car. I mistakenly thought it would fit between my feet in the front seat.  With one foot balanced on the gear stick and the other out of the door it became apparent that wouldn’t work and so it was laid gently on its back in the boot.

We found a suitable shelf for it home and it is sat there now. There was a label on the back describing how it had been met its fate in Habestown Reservoir and was then won in a raffle by a girl called Lily. According to the label (which was dated 2012) Lily would now be 134 years old.

The rest of the day was given over to buying food and cooking. From Wards I bought cockles and razor shells and plump cooked pink prawns, The International Store gave me a kilo of lamb chops and most everything else came from the grocers.

So we ate:-

• quails eggs
• Spanish ham
• flat bread
• olives
• prawns & kale
• quails eggs
• baba ghanoush
• beetroot borani
• patatas alinados
• razor clams with garlic
• cockles with garlic
• lamb chops with garlic & cumin
• fattoush

The razor clams and cockles were a highlight. They were both fat and rubbery and full of the sea.

For pudding we had chocolate nemesis. A cake with no flour. The recipe is in the first River Cafe cookbook which was given to me as a birthday present 20 years ago. It is the final recipe in the book and is one of those recipes that is deceptively simple – easy to read but difficult to make.

A few years after I was given it someone made it for as a pudding at a birthday party. I remember now being told that it was impossible to get it to set right.

I had of course forgotten all that when I persuaded Kristen to cook it for me yesterday. It didn’t help that I tried to take it out of its tin too early whilst it was still warm. A dark brown unfathomably sludge spilled over the plate it had been turned out on all over the side in the kitchen. We scraped it back into the tin and put it back into the very low over for another hour. That seemed to work and it just about held its shape when I turned it out a lot later that night.

Most of it got eaten although there is a bit left for me to run a finger through after we have the padrón peppers later this evening.

Almost as good a night as last year.

Some months ago a very good friend presented me with a leg of Spanish Ham.

There was no opportunity to eat it there and then and so it went down into the basement and was hung up to wait for its day to come.

That time has come about this coming weekend and in preparation I set off at lunchtime today to acquire the kit I would need to dispose of it properly.

In truth this meant that all I needed was a stand to lock it in place whilst a sharp knife could be used to take off the wafer thin slices.

We are lucky in Liverpool having a place that gave me the option of three different stands ranging from the fully professional which had the appropriate amount of shiny metal to the more prosaic basic which was two bits of wood that needed to be screwed together with some rudimentary clamps to hold the leg in place.

Tempting though the alternative might have been I went for the basic model and it is now sat proud in the basement leg fixed in place ready for the weekend. There is a strict instruction set down to the family that the door is kept locked at all times so errant cats aren’t lured into temptation.

Needless to say there has been a sampling and it all tastes good with the fat melting properly against the tongue and the basement is now filled with the acorn fresh smell of well hung ham.

Hopefully the knife will stay sharp and I will be able drag back up some of the ham cutting skills I sort of learnt last year.