Not squirrels - duck

I spent a wonderful twenty minutes this afternoon in the wildlife observation hide in Benmore Gardens watching two red squirrels feeding and scampering from tree to feeding box to rope walkway to ground, while a positive cloud of chaffinches and tits swooped and darted above them, all oblivious to the torrential rain which pounded on the roof and which would eventually soak us as we walked the couple of miles back to the car. During that time I took two videos, which are now on Instagram but will be better in their full format on flickr when I get round to it. However, I somehow omitted to take any still photos, with the result that the only one I had for blipping was of a red rhododendron in the rain, more striking to the eye than to the lens.

That is why, O Best Beloved, you are seeing a blip of my dinner. It's by far the most colourful part of my day, and it was completely delicious. A leg of confit duck, courtesy of the wonderful Donald Russell of Aberdeen (yes - mail order duck legs!), accompanied by a baked potato with garlic and salt flakes, some lovely tender young carrots and some french beans with lemon-infused olive oil. And there was a glass of a delightfully smooth French red, and to finish off some red fruits compote made with ...gin.

Foodie? Moi?