The little things will mean even more this Valentine’s Day

IF I had to pick a favourite book (and please, don’t make me), it would probably be one with John Steinbeck on the cover.

His masterpiece novella, The Pearl, is now on many school curriculums, and is a morality tale of being careful what you wish for.

A poor Mexican fisherman finds an enormous pearl, enough to make him and his family wealthy beyond their wildest dreams. But when treachery, greed and jealousy take over, things don’t go well. Battling thieves, bandits and envious villagers, it ends in tragedy.

But as is so often the case, truth can indeed be stranger than fiction.

A fisherman from a poor village in Thailand discovered a rare orange Melo pearl last month while collecting seashells with his family.

Hatchai Niyomdecha (37) now wants to sell it for the highest price, and was immediately presented with two offers for one million baht each, which is about €27,000.

Given the average household income where he lives is just over €8,000 a year, you’d imagine he’d be picking out a new boat.

But he told reporters he wanted more. The money wouldn’t just change his life, he explained, “it will change my destiny”. So, on the advice of, ahem, well-meaning neighbours and friends, he secured a third buyer – from China – who is apparently willing to pay up to 10 million baht (€270,000) but wants to check it out in person before committing.

Unfortunately, Covid restrictions mean he has to undergo quarantine for two weeks before he gets to the Niyomdecha hut.

Let’s hope the movie version doesn’t end up a lesson in hubris.

Leave me to stew in my hearty comfort cooking

ONE of the nicer things about this cold weather is the urge to cook warming stews, casseroles and roasts, which I’ve been doing rather too much of recently.

The problem is it’s hard to cook such meals just for the two of us and I feel miserly if my big, cast-iron casseroles aren’t filled to the brim with hearty dinners, enough for … oh, at least eight. Consider it a Pavlovian response to missing having the place full of family.

And with every day merged into one, long, groundhog 24 hours, there’s something comforting and familiar about putting on a simmering pot for hours and having the aroma wafting into the home office.

I’ve given up on the baking, having always had what my mother calls a “heavy hand”, and the pasta machine is back in the cupboard after its singular outing. So, I’ll put up with the extra portions for the joy of a slow-cooked shoulder of lamb, pulled apart with a fork resting on caramelised veg. Yum.

Little things will mean even more this V-Day

VALENTINE’S Day in Covid times means no fancy restaurants, supermarket-only flowers, and a romantic trip to the jewellers to pick out a ring is off the menu too.

But I wonder will most couples agree to ignore it altogether, or make a special effort instead?

The little things, rather than an expensive gift, can be more meaningful.

Taking the kids off for a few hours while she has a spa treatment (yes, well… in her own bathroom with her own potions and lotions obviously, but we’ll take what we can get at this stage), a break from chores, or him finally getting around to fixing that leak or shelf.

A subscription to a gentle podcast, a holiday read (well, we can dream), or just not having to cook for day.

We’ll be just as grateful, honestly … at least until life opens up again.