WE have a lazy morning then enjoy breakfast outside in the sunshine.

I get straight onto some merch prototyping – some stuff for both myself and local gift ideas – I’d like to have some Balmaha/West Highland Way/Loch Lomond souvenirs ready for the expected increase in visitors as lockdown relaxes a little.

Wherethe these are available online, in the village shop, a pop up outdoor stall or other outlets will remain to be seen.

Our pals Maggi and Joel drop by for a coffee in the garden then I carry on with some prototype merch. A couple of epic fails!

We have a late lunch then I gather my gear for a photo job that’s part of a website revamp for some local pals. I jump on the bike and cycle the four miles to their place, spend a couple of hours talking pix then ride home along the West highland Way.

back home I fire up the kamado – not for smoking, but to attempt Neoplitan-style pizza. The kamado works as a wood-fired pizza oven..and for Neopolitan pizza the temperature needs to hit 700 degrees.

I made the dough yesterday and it’s looking good. The ingredients all ready -I don;t want to assemble any pizza until the Kamado’s ready.

When the temp has gone above 700 degrees I carefully open the kamado – ‘burping’ it first to avoid a huge intake of oxygen. Despite my care, the thing lets. Huge fireball erupts and slight panic ensues. I close down the vents to try and let the fire calm down a bit, but by the time it’s relatively safe, the first pizza has started to get a bit soggy – our ‘peel’ has slats in the bottom and the pizza’s kinda sagged through waiting to into the heat.

Fuck sake.

So, it’s a bit of a performance and the once hot kamado has cooled down a bit by the time the mis-shaped pizza hits the stone. it takes a little longer than two minutes to cook!

The first pizza is a little unorthodox, but despite the fracas and panic tastes really good. the second is better, but clearly I’ve a lot of learning to do!

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