 Ho, Ho, Ho, and the most warm and multifarious welcomings, to lord, page and piteous muleteer peasants. Well here we are partway through the first third of this winter season. Where already, some parts have seen snowy blizzards, icy roads and trapped gritting lorries. And no for once this was not Sheringham's car park! So much for global warming! Well there's one thing for certain that will add a little warm glow to your little cotton socks and that is the Christmas lights around town have added a bit of winter cheer. Yes that wonderful gleeful lot up Lawson way has yet again surpassed themselves with winter wonderment and all for good causes too. However well intended, the town centre didn't quite make the mark though, with, to my mind several shopkeepers being confused as to what Christmas lights actually meant. Some put them up right enough but then turned them off at closing time. Not quite in the right spirit is it lads? Unfortunately the switch on evening was in all fairness a bit of a sleet out. And although poor old Aladdin couldn't make it I'm told it was left to Widow Twanky to do the honours. Obviously Aladdin had the foresight that gas was going to be in short supply and going up in price on a daily basis, so getting cosily tucked up in a lamp with his Genie seemed to be the best and sensible option. After all we wouldn't want him catch flu now would we? Now then talking of that, I see that our very own special VIP Glyn opened the Sheringham surgery and health centre. What can I say? All they need to do now is enlist him to practice manager and together with Aladdin they could hand out fleecy thermal vests and liberty bodices to the poor and needy whilst they visit for their flu jab before it runs out. Just as long as you remember that you have to be as sick as a Parrot to get the bird flu jab and then you have to be as lucky as a survivor to receive an out of hours GP visit at home. And moving swiftly on. Now that we have the shortest day looming ever closer, rather like the pension none of us are ever going to live long enough to see, I think it is time for Celebrations. But not of the Christmas sort. No we must be jubilant that spring is around the corner and that the days are soon to become longer and that Easter eggs will be sprung onto the shelves on Boxing Day. Not forgetting of course that it's the perfect time to buy this years belated Christmas cards at half price, then send them to all your nearest and dearest and blame the late delivery on the shocking state of the post office, and or inclement weather. Oh the money you'd save! Talking of saving money, you may have noticed like me that the whole of Sheringham this season is a wash with special offers on dining out. You know what I mean Buy one get the second dinner for a quid Buy one get one dropped in your lap you know the sort of thing. Well to be honest it's become a bit of a chore to decide which one to chose. What with that and the later opening hours. At last, Hooray! For common sense and liver surgeons! Actually, if you haven't guessed it already I am a trifle under the influence of Christmas cheer myself. Or to be more precise Auntie Nora's splendid over indulged Christmas cake, she must have had one or two too many helpings of her own sherry trifle when quite literally quantitative quaffable measures of brandy accidentally (or not) meandered their way into the mix. That is one of the reasons why we eat out most of the time. Although this year's encumbrance has made it more difficult than ever to chose an establishment, such is the multitudinous culinary excellence that is on offer in such a small town. My goodness me, if we tried to munch our way through even a quarter of the menus this month my waist size would increase to such an extent that Santa would look positively diminutive in comparison. And that's another thing, what happened to good old-fashioned Christmas dinner comprising of Turkey and Christmas pud. With a generous dollop of brandy butter if you were feeling adventurous? Nowadays what you get is positively unrecognisable. If you don't know what I mean, just take a glance at some of these special menus around in the pub and restaurant windows. Is it me or don't I get out enough? I mean what is rosette salmon or langoustine and crayfish parfait? Or here's a good one Assiette of Lamb, Asparagus feuillette, red currant Dauphinoise, roasted roots etc. And that's just the meat dishes, needless to say the deserts aren't much better. E.g. Meringue roulades, Lime bavaroises, and apple and pine kernel chutney, what in Gods name is that? Still I expect they've chopped down enough young pine scrub at pretty corner to be able to serve that one for decades! Oh and before I forget there's even an apricot farce. Farce! you're telling me! That about sums it up. I'm telling you now they're only doing it to confuse us, dressing these dishes up with fancy unpronounceable names so as they can get rid of the left -overs no one would never naturally marry, on the same plate during a natural culinary moment at the same time. Sorry folks but I still haven't gotten my head round the curry phenomenon, pigs in jackets and stroganoff yet alone fancy sweet tarts (of the pudding variety before I get any letters thank you) let alone parfaits and roulades. My old mum used to say you can't go wrong with the good old belly full of stew and dumplings; Put hairs on your chest, I don't know about that but it might well account for the more than a inch pinch around the old waist. Anyway it matters not. Wherever you do decide to eat this Christmas I am certain you will feast and enjoy beyond all reasonable doubt the many wonderful talents our eateries have to offer. And if you scoff too much? Well not to worry there's always those little New Year's resolutions to start you off. A most pleasant Christmas, and a most happy New Year to you all. See you next year, God bless, Take care now, Vic.
Yet again the supermarket issue has raised it's ugly head and yet again we
are getting the 'we don't want' comments. Well for once it seems that 'we' are going
to at least be asked. I shall send in my comments if I get the chance, but I feel
that once again it will be a very big IF! Personally I DO WANT a supermarket in
Sheringham and I really don't care what it is, Tesco, Budgen, Morrison, Somerfield, they
are all the same to me! It is alright for those who argue against one to say that it
is easy to pop to another town. Try it when you don't drive and have trouble with
your mobility. Also, don't tell us to take a taxi, those of us who need a
supermarket with a decent choice at reasonable prices can't afford a taxi. I do not
have one single friend who does not agree with me on this and I have lived here for high
on forty years, so I know a lot of people! The idea of building on the car park
horrifies me, how can the traffic problem be any easier if it is there, unless they are
going to build a flyover which starts at the top road. Can you imagine the fun and
games trying to cross the road if there is a supermarket there? The snarl ups there
in the winter are bad enough, but come summer, what then? I agree that we do not
need a hypermarket in town, but to say that if Tesco builds on the Community Centre site
it will turn our town into a ghost town with nothing but banks, building societies, estate
agents, cheap shops and charity shops is just scare mongering. After all, if you
take those places out of our town centre and then take away all the shops there for the
holiday makers, what exactly are we left with? Butchers, bakers, greengrocers and
newsagents all of whom would survive the arrival of a decent size supermarket. So I
say give us the choice and when we show that most of us do actually want one, let us have
it and be done with it. SWK |
