A few of us ladies decided to go to Callender one night to the Indian restaurant for a meal, and as I like Irene, I suggested to the others to ask her with. I was as usual the designated  driver, as I did not drink as heavily as the others, who would have a glass of red as a starter, then about three reds with their meal, usually another with their puds, and to end the evening they would all opt for a dram of whisky with their coffee, and another dram to finish everything off. They were usually as drunk as bally skunks by the time we had to leave, and as the new policeman was always on the look out for drunken drivers, the inhabitants of Strathyre had become very cautious all of a sudden since he came.
About three quarters of all Strathyre men were at this moment without their licences for a few years after they had been caught, and the poor law enhancing policeman was shunned by most of these, but I liked both him and his wife, as they were such friendly and outgoing people.
We had a lovely meal, as this restaurant was well known for their quality and service, and when it was time to leave, the waiters were told by the owner to help me get the others safely to the car.
The next day I was in stitches when Irene, who is not really the merriest person walking the earth, told me how she misled the poor Jim into believing that he had a hearty meal the night before.
She had ordered a take-away from the restaurant where we dined, but as she was nicely sozzled by the time we left, she forgot to pick it up. She found Jim fast asleep, but as she knew that he would be very cross when he found that she had not brought him the promised food, and scared that he would wake up and demand food, she got onto a brilliant plan!
She boiled the kettle, and after making herself a coffee, she actually hit on this plan, and that was to take some brown gravy thickener which she then dissolved in the boiled water, then smeared a plate with that. To make it look realistic, she then arranged a few pieces of rocket leaves and iceberg, also a slice of tomato, and then splashed some ketchup onto the plate, smearing that also as if Jim had smeared his food through the gravy and sauce!This plate she then put on the table in front of the snoring Jim to make him believe that he had actually eaten!
Jim woke up during the night, and as usual, went up to his bed at about three am, believing that he had eaten, but in the morning he told Irene, who struggled to keep a straight face, that for the life of him he could not remember polishing a whole plate of food the previous night! We women giggled a lot thinking of poor Jim who walked around for a few days with a frown on his face, I suppose wondering if maybe he was losing it!