Day 22 - How time flies

At the risk of upsetting those who only get 25 days holiday a year I find myself strangely disturbed by the fact that we have less than a hundred days left of our trip. Argh, quick, run up mountains, climb things, stare into middle distance and say 'Om,' learn to play the penny whistle, see everything there is to see.I see no answer to this dilemma. 4 months is a long time. It is also the blink of an eye. 'Soon be Christmas' I am oft heard to say ( I LOVE Christmas) but then our adventure will be over. At the risk of repeating myself, Argh!...and......breathe......I should live in the moment. Slow down. Savour every second. Then bore the pants off my readers by providing them with a blow by blow account.So, here goes...Today: Went climbing. A few relatively easy sports climbs i.e. bolted routes. A bit like an indoor climbing wall but real rock and no roof. Most of you will have been shown, whether you like it or not, pictures of Mrs P and I climbing at some point but, for those of you who have not had the dubious pleasure, here is one more.Back at the campsite in the afternoon where Gandalf once again disgorged his contents so we can pack for our next little foray into the big mountains.Spoiler alert: there may be snow

A CULINARY ASIDE

I previously mentioned that I am not a great cook. This is not entirely true. Though I do come from a long line of bad cooks. My mother was to cooking what Adlof Hitler was to World peace. However, I am fortunate in that Mrs. P is easily pleased (in more ways than one). This is good as I do most of the cooking.Cooking in Gandalf is... interesting. We have a double gas burner, the usual pots, pans etc. but no fridge (still). So, I work with what I have. Today I had this...I admit that I didn't use the hat. Our finances have not sunk so low just yet. Anyway, I made a tomato sauce thing. Chopped onions and garlic, fried in a bit of olive oil. Added some 'speck' a distinctly flavoured, smoked, cured ham that looks similar (at least what we bought did) to bacon lardons. It's great because it doesn't need refrigeration. Then added some diced peppers, chopped, dried chilli, about 6 diced cherry tomatoes, the remains of last nights red wine and some red pesto. Sounds delicious eh? 15 minutes later......Red mush.It actually tasted very nice. Once I added spaghetti, but looked almost exactly the same as every other dish I cook. I don't give my food posh names just different grades based on colour. From this the discerning diner can identify, to some degree at least, what they are letting themselves in for:

• Red mush - safe ground here, tomato sauce is involved. There may be pasta
• Grey mush (pre noon) - muesli
• Grey mush (post noon) - rice and pork (we seriously cannot afford chicken out here)
• Grey mush a-la slight hint of red - could be anything but methinks there must be some left over tomatoes
• Green mush - What did you do to this salad!?
• Brown stringy mush - a P family favourite this one; anchovy spaghetti
• Black mush - what the...? Oh, lentils
• Multi-coloured mush - Don't eat this. I think it may be the clothes wash

Seriously, I would be grateful of ANY recipes you might have that don't require any of the following:

Items from the fridge (though we can buy fresh)

Stupid condiments that you buy once, use a teaspoon. Once. Then hand on down the generations as a family heirloom

Anything that needs to boil, simmer for more than about 15 minutes ( we have limited gas - a Bottle lasts about 1 month. I hope)

ANYTHING that includes nattō as an ingredient. I HATE nattō

Here endeth the cookery lesson.