A dram of Glen Serotonin please barman.

Starting a new job in early December has lead to a somewhat marked drop-off in my contributions to the blog. The increased hours may play some part but the greater portion of the blame (if it can be called such) is the glacial connection speed of the internet at my new place of work. This obviously makes it quite tiresome to read the online newspapers, other blogs before even considering logging on and composing a blog entry. All in my lunch break of course.
My hat is raised and doffed in the direction (northwards I think though I can't think why) of berenike from this delightful but somewhat esoteric blog who seems to be keeping an eye out for my occasional posts. Perhaps it is the Internet equivalent of a neighbour knocking on the door of a neighbour who they haven't seen for a while and are beginning to wonder if it really is the drains that are causing *that* obnoxious odour.
Now that I am on holidays of sorts, I am looking forward to establishing the ingredients for a recipe I received a week or so ago from a Polish acquaintance. This was a recipe of his mother's for pickled mushrooms and the mushroom ingredients are all listed by their botanical Latin names which while not immediately useful, is still much more promising than their Polish names. In between times I shall be at the fino sherry and Marcona almonds whilst reading "From the Holy Mountain" by William Dalrymple. Before anyone should fret about my succumbing to an epicurean excess, I declare my black cocker spaniel an excellent antidote to such dangers.