Strange Meeting?

The photo above shows one of the compensations of having meetings in this part of the world - the sun setting in a sudden blaze of glory above Loch Fyne took us by surprise after a fairly grey day, making me regret that I didn't have the Leica with me. Not bad for a phone pic all the same. But it was after two days of meetings, of sitting round a table struggling to come to agreement over what should happen at an event, or shuffling through piles of papers and balance sheets while the seat grew harder and the room stuffier, that I realised what a great job teaching is. Actually it was when I saw on the news a feature about a firm of receivers, and saw them sitting shuffling papers and talking about balance sheets that it burst upon me that no matter how frustrating or exhausting life in the classroom was it was infinitely more suited to my temperament, and I knew that life in an office environment would have driven me mad.

And there was a pleasing moment before the meetings began, when the wife of one of my Twitter followers turned up at the Diocesan Centre in Oban announcing that she was here to pay for some olive oil. She didn't know who I was, and she didn't seem to know her man's online name, nor the fact that the oil was actually for a third party, also one of my Twitterites, also a complete stranger. And so I have introduced Zaytoun Palestinian olive oil to Oban, recouped some of my outlay, and been confirmed in the knowledge that I chose the right job after all. Can't all be bad, huh?

Oil for life

I'm halfway through the last bottle - I had six - of some of the best olive oil I've ever used. Last night I transformed mashed potato with a good slug of it; I use it in cooking , salad dressing and on bread just because I love it. Best of all at this time, though, is the thought that in indulging my tastebuds I'm helping Palestinian farmers - and the reflection that when I'm enjoying a civilised dinner party while Palestinians are being bombed and shelled I'm at least identifying in a tiny way with their need to own their own land, their own lives.

So now I'm thinking of the next step. My six bottles of Zaytoun olive oil came through the initiative of a Cursillo member, who placed a bulk order in the hope that people would buy it. She may do this again - but the event at which it is sold isn't till May and I'm about to run out. So I may do the same - buy a case or two and see if people want a share. In the meantime, though, this is my recommendation to any blethers-reading foodies: the site is here and you can download an order form. And if you buy it, you'll feel good in all sorts of ways.

Plug over. Go and take a look.