CATRIONA and the kids Arte coming at lunchtime, so I need to finish the wee present I’ve made for Freya – the jigsaw is finished, but for some reason the slipcase/box has been causing me grief.

There’s also some merch orders to be packed up and taken to the postbox before last pickup.

I get the bike ready, cycle to the postbox then go for a ride, mostly off road, for an hour or so.

Off course the bike – and I – is covered in mud, so there’s a cleaning and lubing job to be done. I finish just as Catriona arrives with the kids. Margaret goes a walk with them while I have a shower then we all congregate in the garden for coffee and scones.

I get the smoker fired up for tonight’s short ribs. They take a good six hours and I should probably have got things going before cleaning the bike. Och well, they should be ready by 9pm!

There’s a load of chicken thighs needing prepped and a rub for another smoker session tomorrow. I’m making a load to be frozen for jambalaya and we’ll have some for dinner too. I make a batch of Alabama white BBQ sauce ready for tomorrow night…and some ‘regular BBQ sauce e for tonight.

The short ribs turn out really good and I serve them with steamed broccoli and spring onion mash….

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