So the only son is upstairs packing his stuff away in anticipation of a trip down to London over the weekend when we will get rid of him and he will start on an immersive journey into the world of art at Camberwell Art School. We may never see him again.

It is going to be a wrench to lose the only other meat eater in the house.

By way of a farewell a lump of beef was roasted last weekend.

It went into a hot oven after we had been for a walk along the marshes at Parkgate where the sky seemed to fill with cloud against the last sputtering heat of summer. There was even time for a pint in a pub.

The beef was smeared with olive oil before being rubbed in a mixture of sea salt, pepper and crushed black mustard seeds.

It lasted barely an hour in a very hot oven.

In the meantime a pan of Kilcrohane potatoes went onto the boil and were rescued a few minutes before they fell apart.

They were quartered and went into the oven to roast. I finished them off with garlic, salt and parsley.

There was enough left over for us to have a second round on Monday evening.