1 May 2012

It's a nice day to...start again.

I wasn't entirely idle last night. And didn't think it would be seemly for a DI to get the noise squad called on me.

Hence:





"So...?" John said, expectantly, for the third time in sixty seconds.

Greg leant back and sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, if we...I mean, I...we...all of us, planned it, and employed someone who knows about...well, anything, then we could run it as a hotel and do weddings, maybe. I think."

"Well," John nodded. "That sounds...like we should probably have a cup of tea." He stood and headed to the kettle, battling with some matches to light the gas hob.

"First thing we need is reliable electricity," Greg said, watching. "And a way to drag this place into the twenty-first century." He listened the the pipes clank as John filled the heavy old kettle.

"And an accountant," he sighed as he stared down at the scribbled figures all over the margin of the newspaper in front of him, and the papers fanning out from his place setting.

"First thing we need," John corrected. "Is some toast, jam, and to go and watch the beautiful sunset that's going on outside."


A few minutes later they each had a steaming mug of tea and fresh bread thickly slathered in butter and jam. They watched the sun dip behind the trees in a blaze of golden-red glory.

Behind them the castle loomed, windows dark. An owl screeched in the nearby woodlands.

Greg shivered.
......................................


Today, despite starting too early, went well. We hit the target premises perfectly, got in, everything went really well. Five arrests, drugs recovered and two firearms. All before breakfast.

I won't pretend my heart didn't feel like it was going to burst out of my chest as we crept through the torrential rain this morning, hoping and praying no one would raise the alarm, but...yeah.

And it meant I got to get home in time to pick up Sherlock from school - Mrs T is getting someone in to have a lesson on the pond again, so he's very excited. And, as John mentioned, one of the mums took a bit of a shine to me and started chatting me up. She clearly doesn't come to enough of the things we do at the school - all the others know they're onto a loser now.

49 comments:

pandabob said...

You've got to love Greg the Florist ;-)

It did strike me as odd that anybody at school could be in anyway confused as to who your heart belongs to :-)

Do you think you'll be more relaxed next time you're running that sort of operation now you've done it once? (I know it's still weird and scary and important and lots of other things)

Anonybob

John H. D. Watson said...

Now I want bread and butter and jam...and maybe a castle to eat them in. Is it haunted?

Greg Lestrade said...

I don't know if it's haunted! Maybe?

I'll bake you some bread this week if you want. Not sure what I can do about a castle though.

AnonyBob - not sure. I think probably not. Maybe after a few? For a start, next time you'll all know, and that'll make me worse!

Small Hobbit said...

Ooh, haunted weddings - not just the bride who glides around in a long white dress.

And well done once again for the success of the op. We all knew you had it in you. *cue comment from DW*

REReader said...

Well, they say everything gets easier with practice...I doubt it will ever be routine, though. Which is a good thing, I think. (And we'll only know if you tell us! :))

Yay, more Greg-the-Florist!

John, I'm with you (only I don't mind passing up on the castle, it sounds kinda damp)--now I have a hankering for fresh bread!

(Which is a Problem, as I have to lose 10 or 15 pounds RIGHT NOW. ... Because there will be photographers at my nephew's wedding, and I will be lucky if I have as much as a couple of months grace to do it in. O_O)

pandabob said...

I think you know us all well enough Greg to know we might just have had our suspicions about today eventhough we were all very careful not to say anything or ask too many questions. We can be quite good at worrying about you without telling you you know ;-)

I promise to ask no questions or say anything if you ever tell us you're doing this until it's all done (someone might have to remind me though I am a bit forgetful sometimes ;-) )

Baking bread! now thats a good idea for something to do tomorrow :-)

Anonybob

John H. D. Watson said...

I wouldn't want to keep the castle anyway. It sounds like an awful lot of work. Much rather have the bread. You can bake bread too? I am suitably impressed.

Anon Without A Name said...

So glad it went well today, Lestrade, I don't envy you those nerves at all. Let's hope you don't have to do it too often.

You can bake bread too? I am suitably impressed.

John, given that you are master of the understatement, I am now imagining you swooning :-)

Greg Lestrade said...

...Danger. I think most people here will completely understand that you have many, many, attractive qualities, all of which I'm...attracted to :)

And that traditional-kitchen-based-skills aren't exactly one of them. (Apart from tea brewing. At which you are masterful.)

But you do know that pizza base is just flat bread, don't you? Because I'm worrying a little here...

Greg Lestrade said...

(are you mad at me for that? Sorry. Didn't mean to take the piss.)

John H. D. Watson said...

No, I'm not mad at you!

And it's different! Bread is bread. Pizza is pizza. I'm still impressed you can make pizza, to be honest.

Greg Lestrade said...

Mmm. Okay.

Bread is bread, pizza is very flat bread with toppings and cheese...

Anyway, I still want to know about your date! As, I'm sure, does everyone else.

pandabob said...

He promised tomorrow Greg but that was at 12.15 am so I guessed we had to wait till the 2nd to know how much fun he and Sherlock had ;-)

I didn't know pizza base was the same as bread! I always thought it was something else not that I knew what.

Anonybob

Greg Lestrade said...

Ah, well, they don't have to be the same. But the bases I make are just bread. But flat. :)

pandabob said...

I see :-) still feel a bit thick though not knowing you could do that especially when making bread is something I do a lot.

Desert Wanderer said...

We all knew you had it in you. *cue comment from DW*

I hate to think I'm that predictable....

Always a pleasure to see more of Greg the Florist.

all the others know they're onto a loser now.

Did you think you'd slip that in, Lestrade? I think more all the others know that you've been snatched up and can't hope to compete for your affections against Doc Hotson. I don't know why you keep doubting our clearly unbiased opinions about your awesomeness... *sniffle*

Piplover said...

I found a gluten free pizza crust mix, which I'm going to try tonight or tomorrow. I don't know how it will taste, but hopefully not too bad. I've never made pizza from scratch before, but it's nearly impossible to find a gluten free pizza here, so wish me luck!

Any tips, Greg, on how to make a good crust?

Greg Lestrade said...

Piplover - err...make it early, knead it well, leave it plenty of time to prove. Stretch is slowly and carefully :)

DW - I feel like something's been lost in translation... 'onto a loser' just means 'they know they've got no chance'...

John H. D. Watson said...

He promised tomorrow Greg but that was at 12.15 am

Ah, a loophole, excellent! Thanks. :)

Desert Wanderer said...

Ah, like at a horse race. I took it to mean that they were hitting on you even though you were a "loser" in teenage parlance. Which I see know makes absolutely no sense. I rescind my comment.

Doc, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease? Or even better. Sherlock, where did you take Doc on your date?!

pandabob said...

It doesn't mean you couldn't be really nice and put us out of our misery though John ;-)

(nosey? us? never)

Greg Lestrade said...

Sherlock, I'm tempted to let you stay up late just to tell us!

John H. D. Watson said...

Ha! All right, all right. I'll do a post.

Sherlock said...

Can I stay up anyway?

Greg Lestrade said...

Nope. I'll put you to bed and John will write a full and frank account of your date.

John H. D. Watson said...

Nope. You've got school tomorrow.

Greg Lestrade said...

United we stand :)

(were 'mean'. Sherlock is glaring at me with toothpaste foam dripping out of his mouth. Like a small angry rabid badger. With curls.)

REReader said...

Well, you did earn the glare--you put the idea in his head, after all. (He'd never have thought of it himself, right? :D)

Greg Lestrade said...

He's now holding the credit card I gave him hostage.

I shudder to think what I'll end up buying if he keeps it while he's in a mood with me...

pandabob said...

what cute images you paint Greg ;-)

Sleep tight Sherlock, I'm sure there will be lots of nice comments for you to read in the morning if John tells us all about the lovely date you took him on :-)

Desert Wanderer said...

Better a small rabid badger than 100 rabid otters.

Greg Lestrade said...

He's now sulking at me silently, in bed. Which I'm taking as a victory. And going to reward myself with coffee or I'll be asleep before Danger's finished his account of date night.

REReader said...

'Night night, Sherlock--I'm really sorry, but since John won't be writing about the lovely date you took him on until you're in bed, I have to take his side about bedtime. But only because I really want to hear about it!

(And you may as well give Lestrade back his credit card, so that he'll let you use it another time. :))

Greg Lestrade said...

I didn't mention it yesterday - other things on my mind.

But yesterday was the anniversary of the Admiral Duncan bombing.

So...well, I just like to take a moment to think about it all. Feel free to join me.

pandabob said...

I can't believe it was so long ago Greg!

something to be remembered that is for sure.

REReader said...

And here I was looking it up (I'd never heard of it, sorry, L--I don't think it made the news much here) and thinking it was so recent.

Greg Lestrade said...

AnonyBob - yeah, feels like a long time ago. Hopefully something we'll never see in this country again - or, indeed, anywhere else.

For all the tragedy, it did bring the Met closer to the community it serves. Made a few of us feel slightly better about being part of it, too.

RR - I can imagine it didn't make a lot of impact elsewhere, yeah.

Anon Without A Name said...

N'night Sherlock.

Good lord, Lestrade, I really didn't realise that it was 13 years.

*takes a moment*

Greg Lestrade said...

Yeah...Mycroft was only a baby. When I think of that...seems amazing - he's a whole adult human being!

REReader said...

I...guess I read too much history or something, because 13 years ago feels like current events to me.

(And I never will understand sentencing--how does six life sentences come to 50 years?)

pandabob said...

I wasn't old enough to drink when it happened and now I'm a fully grown mother of two so it feels like a long time to me RR.

If some positive things came out of it Greg then at least it wasn't totally pointless but that's no real compensation for those involved.

Greg Lestrade said...

Well in the grand scheme of things it's recent. In my life, it feels like it was far more recent than 13 years. In Sherlock's life it would probably seem like ancient history.

All about perspective, I suppose.

Anon Without A Name said...

ReRe - I think that's the thing; it was 13 years ago, but it feels much more recent. I probably would have guessed at maybe five or six years ago. It - and the rest of the bombing "campaign" - was very much at the forefront of public consciousness at the time.

Also, we don't tend to run sentences consecutively, we run them concurrently. The British judicial system seems to be less retributive than the American system (speaking as a fairly uninformed outsider looking in at the American system).

Greg Lestrade said...

Sentencing...is a whole world of its own.

And life sentences are even more complicated.

Maybe I'll post about it one day.

50 years, in his case, is a minimum sentence, after which he may be eligible for parole, but he may never be granted that if he's still considered a danger to the public.

His six life sentences run concurrently.

REReader said...

Nameless, courts here sometimes run sentences concurrently, sometimes consecutively. What state, what offenses, what charges, which courtroom, etc., etc... (There are 50 separate state criminal systems plus a federal system, really.)

L, go ahead and say I'm old! ;P

Kath Ballantyne said...

Pip lover: Doubt you'll get this as it's a bit old now but GF pizza dough wont stretch like regular wheat dough. We make great pizzas and you can do it with a specific flour mix or just use a bread mix if you want. Usually you add a bit less water.
For bread mixes with yeast you're better off using a stand mixer. You can't really knead gluten free bread properly because it's the gluten that makes wheat dough stretch. Stand mixers produce the best results for GF bread.

We tend to get a pizza base packet that is a mix of flours (no gluten free flour on it's own can really replace wheat so mixes are good) and then just have to add oil, water and eggs. This base can be a bit biscuity in texture but tastes good.
The right bread mix can be pretty good approximation of wheat bases but takes longer with the time to mix it and let it rise etc.

Piplover said...

Thanks, Kath! That does help. I didn't have a chance to make the pizza crust because of work obligations, but I'm off today, so your advise is greatly appreciated!

A from NW (who has had a strange day at work) said...

Greg - Glad to hear that your raid went so well, and I suppose the first time in command is always the hardest. We fret because we care :)

Also, you did manage to get your bank card back from Sherlock, oui?...

Desert Wanderer said...

You can't just leave it at that, AfNW!

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