Menu of the Day and Chat

The first pic shows Mr A standing in our bedroom, hammer in hand, on the earth beneath our house.

The second pic shows one of the see-through jellyfish that I saw on the beach. There were lots of them, around 20 or so. They'd been stranded as the tide went out.

Last pic shows Gwen relaxing in front of the Rayburn on her rug. The carpet in the foreground was brought back from Tunisia 4 years ago. It's made by a Berber tribe. The selling point was when the trader said that it was so sturdy that it would last at least 200 years!

DINNER LAST NIGHT - A GOOD 'UN

Vegetables sauteed then steamed. Homegrown Courgette, Purple Sprouting Broccolli, Garlic, shop bought Red Onion, n Celery

Side Dish of Homegrown Broad Beans, lightly cooked then gone cold with chopped Red Onion, Olive Oil n Lemon Juice with Homegrown Coriander, very delicious!

Beetroot on the Side

Feta Cheese cubed, Chopped Red Grapes n Jalepeno Peppers

Morrisons Maple n Pecan Ice Cream, huh! I won't say it again, but..........

Oh and I baked a mix of nuts and seeds: Walnuts, Pecans, Pinenuts, Pumpkin Seeds, Sunflowers Seeds.
With a sprinkling of Soya Sauce and Sunflower Oil and roasted for about 20 minutes. I had to check it nearly every 5-10 minutes as they can get burnt very easily. The last batch got burnt and I had to throw the lot away. I guess it costs around £4 for a large amount of mix which will last quite a while. Well, maybe not last that long as it is very moorish.....

LAST NIGHTS DINNER
Pork Chops
New Potatoes
Homegrown Peas - yummy n sweet

Pancakes with Lemon n Sugar

It's been a long time since I made pancakes but what with the disappointing ice cream saga, I thought it would be nice to have something else for dessert.
I've a good cookery book that I use mainly for puddings which was written for Rayburn users. There's a lovely recipe for Banana Cake that I've used.
So, usually the first pancakes's a mess, and by the third one they are circular and easy to flip over.
The knack to cooking good pancakes is to get the pan really hot, like smoking hot and only use a little oil. Also only use 2 tablespoons of mix and that way you get thin pancakes.
Of course the first one was like pitta bread, too thick, the last one was perfect!

I make bread usually every other day in a bread maker, it's quick and easy. This time though, I forgot to add water! It started off as usual, so I left it to get on with it. I checked a while later only to find that it had stopped because there was only dry flour in there. I switched it off, chucked the ingredients away, they'd gone mushy, and started again. This time a perfect loaf.

The bedroom is now minus a floor, you can see the hard packed earth underneath the house.

I went to download the photos from my phone only to discover that I've got loads of pix on there that I'd already downloaded so need to delete them. It's a long process, as I don't want to delete the later photos on there. There's 178 photos on there! Maybe I'll download them all then delete the old ones. It'll still take a while and time's pressing, so no pix today.....

I'll be off to the shops soon, hoping to post the photos later today.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee:

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous” yes".

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favourite passions. And if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life
would still be full."

"The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house and your car."
"The sand is everything else---the small stuff"" If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued,
"there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you."

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with your grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18 holes .There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal."

Take care of the golf balls first - the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, "I'm glad you asked."

"The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem,there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.

Yesterday was plastering day. One wall of the bedroom is being plastered. The plaster boards are on, so now it's the mixing of plaster and laying it on the wall. My job was the mixing. It's like making cake batter really but dirtier.
I had a large blender bit on a drill which would whizz around the bucket to mix plaster and water. I had to hold my breath as I poured the plaster in the bucket as I'm sure the fumes were really bad...
I wore my new boilersuit, it's a pea green and was very hot as it was boiling yesterday. Today it's in the wash, covered with splashes of plaster.

I must have had a surge of energy as after the plastering had been done and I'd washed all the tools, I turned the hose onto the steps in front of the house and gave them a good clean. There was years of gunge and grime to come off and I found it hard to stop, as more moss and grit kept coming off with the hose on jet setting which is quite strong.

We didn't finish till 8.30pm.

LAST NIGHTS DINNER
Spag Bog
Homegrown Purple Sprouting Broccolli
Beetroot

Morrisons Maple Pecan Ice Cream - nowhere near as good as (sob) Walnut Dream

Today the floor of the bedroom is being taken up. There were lots of bottles underneath, dating from the 20's, when the house was built. It's strange, looking underneath the house, seeing hard packed earth, there aren't any foundations on a wooden house.
So after the new floor is put in we can start on painting the walls. I'm looking forward to that part. Mr A doesn't always agree with me on colours, so we shall have to compromise.

In my room, (the music room,) I'm going to go to town though and choose what I want. It'll probably end up like a courtesan's boudoir! I love shades of red, (I have Mars in Aries.) There's embroidered Indian hangings, velvet cushions and a red carpet already.

Minnie continues to grow in her pregnancy, still as nimble as ever. She's on extra rations and as much milk as she wants.
Gwen's toy, 'Doggy,' is now in scraps and she still insists on playing tug of war with bits of it. There's a leg and another scrap which is unidentifiable. The bits are small, so it's hard to get a hold on them....

Last night, from about 11pm, we had the Mother of all storms here. I saw forks and sheets of lightening soar across the sky and the sound of thunder was so loud! The electricity went off with the lightening but came on again soon after.

I heard this morning about Michael Jackson dying in the night. How pleased he would be to know that there was such a tremendous display in the sky when he passed over!
RIP Michael. You were one of the best dancers, songwriters and performers I've seen.

Mr A arrived home around 11.30, having driven through the storm. We stood in the open doorway, lights off to better appreciate the show - and watched Nature at her most powerful.
Gwen was a bit freaked out at first, but after coming out to watch the thunder and lightening she calmed down.
Minnie was as cool as ever, just sauntering around, her swollen belly swinging from side to side, as if nothing dramatic was happening.

DINNER
Chorizo Rissotto. Delicious! With Homegrown Peas, Red Onion, Garlic, Green Pepper, Fresh Dill n Basil.
There were leftovers for Mr A when he got in. He also said it was a very tasty meal.

Guess I'm going to have to put pen to paper to let Morrisons know that they have made a big mistake in phasing out the Walnut Dream Ice Cream - there's no email address for them which would have been the easiest way to contact them.

Minnie is still pregnant. I got her some tinned Sardines, which she loves and make sure she has plenty of milk. If Gwen can get away with it, she'll pinch food from Minnie's dish. Still, Minnie eats from Gwens foodbowl, so I guess they are even.

Telly's crap these past weeks. I've found a new author - and he's good! He's called Bateman, no first name. I've now read 2 of his books. The last one, Mystery Man, is a very funny read. He's witty, droll with a touch of the ridiculous. Recommended.

Right. Time to water the hens, empty the compost bin, walk the dog and think about dinner.

DINNER
Scottish Scampi Tails
Oven Chips
Homegrown Courgette Sauteed in Butter
Asparagus

Some rather dull Ice Cream

It's a very tasty dinner, I thought I'd make the effort and cook something I really like, just for me. If Mr A was here he'd like it too. He's away working, back tomorrow night.

Another blisteringly hot day. I've finally shaved my legs and they saw the sun today, and the sun saw them.

I went to Morrisons web site to email a complaint about them withdrawing Walnut Dream Ice Cream only to discover that they don't have an email contact address, you can either phone or write - so I'm going to write. I've tried 2 other different sorts of ice cream and they aren't a patch on the ol' Walnut Dream.

Instead of the usual 5 Scarabellas, there were 4 of us for our singing rehearsal last night. Brenda is going to be away travelling for most of the summer, so the rest of us decided to learn songs with 4 parts so that we could still do gigs while she's away.
First we had to decide what songs we wanted to do for this one particular gig at the Swansea Fringe Festival, probably just be able to sing 4 songs. We each will bring a song to learn, so that we all get a chance to sing what we want to. Rhiannon's going to sing 'How Sweet It Is,' a classic soul song. Anna's going to learn a Spanish Latin-type song and Carol has quite decided what song she wants. I'm going to sing one of my songs, a reggae rhythmn song called Hummingbird. The others have heard me performing this song with the guitar so they know it.
I got some Sushi before rehearsal rather than the Potato Wedges with Chilli n Cheese. I shared it with Rhiannon who hadn't eaten it before and loved it.

Minnie cat got stuck inside a wall on sunday! Looking for nesting places, she crawled through a small hole in the top of the airing cupboard and fell down, in between the walls. Mr A heard her and realized what had happened. He had to break the wall to get her out. It was plasterboard, so using the hammer he could get her out. Don't know if I could have if he wasn't here.
I can't remember if I've told you all this already.....if I have, pretend I haven't.

The flowers in the garden are stunning. The Sweet Williams are vibrant in all shades of red and pink. Mr A planted them in a long row along the bottom terrace of the garden. They've grown really tall, about 3ft high. I've put some in the front flower garden, spread around, they don't look so good as all together in a row but pretty good. I put in Hollyhocks I grew from seed and the bloody slugs had some of them.
I put some slug pellets down, but Mr A isn't happy about it. I forgot that he hasn't used them for ages, going for organic. Whoops.....The Sweet Peas are just about to flower. Mr A made long tubs and planted them out the front of the house so they will grow up the wall. The Night Scented Stock is still sending out the most delicious fragrance every evening. It opens up at night, becoming a luminous violet colour.

As the rehearsal was on as the same time as I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue on radio 4, I'm listening to catch up now, as I'm writing my post.
Some people can do that, I find that I can't pay attention to the radio while I'm making up stuff for this. They've got a new panel member, Victoria Wood, who is one of our best comediennes, a very funny woman. I keep having to stop what I'm writing to listen to the radio, so this is going to take a while..

.........a while later.......

At the recycling part of Morrisons, they have a Salvation Army bin for clothes. At last, I've cleared out my drawers (yes, really,) and along with Mr A have made quite a hefty deposit of clothes into that bin.
I have a bag full of materials, which I fully intend to use with an old quilt that was my mothers. I want to add squares to it, and it's a project that has been waiting for a while....so any clothes I don't want but are made of nice material go into the bag. I managed to salvage a few bits that Mr A wanted to chuck, including 2 large handkerchiefs, clean and ready to be used. He said that he wouldn't use them, so I've taken them and will use them myself. Another thing he wanted to go was a black velvet bow tie. I thought it might look quite dashing, a la James Bond, but he says he won't ever wear it.

Last night we had another barbeque. As Mr A makes his own charcoal, there's loads of it so we barbie quite often. It was beefburgers. Real ones. At the party, neighbours brought some beefburgers to share. They were crap. Made with a lot of water, they spat and made the barbie smoke a lot so that we had to move it. With the ones I buy, there's no water coming out and they taste far far better than the cheap frozen ones.
Tip: It's always worth paying a leetle beet extra for good food.

Today is the Solstice - Huzzah!

Today is my grandaughter Molly's 16th birthday - Huzzah!

Today is Fathers Day, and I give thanks that I had such a great man for a dad - Huzzah!

DINNER
Barbequed Outdoor Reared Pork Chops
Potatoes with lots of Parsley and Butter
A small Lettuce from the garden

Morrisons Gorgeous range of Ice Cream, Somethingorother with walnuts, not a patch on youknowwhat.

Been busy renovating the bedroom, painting primer on the walls whilst Mr A is plasterboarding one wall.

We went to Focus for supplies, like plasterboard and while we were there I thought I'd see if they had something to clean our dusky pink leather 3 piece suite. It's more like dirty pink after Gwen has made herself comfy on it numerous times. So I got this bottle which said it cleaned and nourished the leather - exactly what I wanted. I'd cleaned it before with normal cleaner and it made the leather go brittle and hard.
It worked perfectly! So Gwen is now banned from the furniture and we bring her bed into the living room for her to sit in and take it into the kitchen at night for her to sleep in.
I also washed all the cushion covers......I always get a buzz seeing how good things look when they are cleaned after being neglected..(bath time soon too.)

My lovely grandaughter Molly is on holiday in Bulgaria with friends and is 16 today. She is one smart woman and seems unphased by anything life throws at her. Very pretty too.

Solstice day. There will be time in the day to give thanks to Mother Nature for all her gifts.

Fathers Day. Although he died in 2002, I am still so proud of my dad. He was a man who stuck to his principles all through his life. A Union man who still went to meetings when he was in his 80's. He always supported me. In all my wayward years, I could count on him, usually for money, when times were hard, and they did get hard. So, for my Dad, Happy Fathers Day.

I've got bread that kneads to be baked, lunch to be got, thanks to give to Mother Nature, so I'd better get on.

DINNER
Baked Aubergine, Potato and Red Pepper Casserole in Spicy Tomato Sauce
Erm....Bits and bobs to make up a Salad, Tomatoes, Cucumber, Onion and Olives. (Can't be arsed to go out to the greenhouse to get a lettuce...)

MOrrisons Walnut and Maple Syrup Ice Cream - I guess I can't really buy another sort till this has all gone, but it's nowhere near as good as the ol' Walnut Dream. I'll keep trying till I find another one I like.

Yesterday a few of us formed an A team in operation 'Fell that dangerous tree.' With Mr A chainsawing the offending trunk, Dave operating the winch, and 4 of us diverting traffic.
There were only 3 cars coming from our direction as the road isn't that busy. One of the drivers carried driving on past us.
I didn't know that he was going to reverse into a side road and yelled 'STOP!' in a very loud voice. It was so loud that Mr A heard me, 50 yards away and over the noise of the chainsaw.....As I've been singing for years, I can project my voice quite loudly. Very handy for singing in noisy places, not ideal for emotional ballads, but there you go!

Made an appointment yesterday to take Minnie cat to the vets. It's like going to the doctors, saving up the ailments till there's a little list.
1. She's defnitely pregnant, how soon will she be birthing kittens?
2. She's had a cough for a few weeks now.
3. Hard little knobs, looking like ticks on her front paws. Mr A spotted these and thought they were ticks at first and put white spirit on them prior to pulling them out. He then discovered they weren't ticks, but built in. He thought they might be warts. I thought they were just part of her paw. The vet said that they were part of her paw pad and normal.

After listening in to her chest and heart, the vet said that she had a slight heart murmer which was making her cough. Because she's pregnant, it's making her heart work harder with all the extra fluid being pumped around her body. It may resolve itself after she gives birth, but they'll check it out on her next visit.
She behaved very well with the vet, minimum fuss made by her and she started purring when I stroked her to calm her when she was put on the examination table.
She may give birth in a week! Her nipples are quite pronounced, so she's nearly due.
I got some medicine for fleas and worms for her. The bill was £37.50. I think £7.50 was probably for the medicine and £30 for the consultation. Well worth it, but I could have bought the medicine in a supermarket for a fraction of the cost. I'll do that in future....probably.

I put her in a box to take her to the vets and put it in the boot of my car, making small airholes. As I set off to drive I turned the radio on. There was a frantic sound of scrabbling from the back so I turned it off, as I thought it might be freaking her out.
When I stopped at the shops before going to the vets I checked on her, to see that she was ok.
She'd got out of the box! That scrabbling sound when we first set off must have been her getting out of it, she'd been sitting on the floor of the boot quietly for about half an hour.
She has to stay in the house after giving birth as she could get pregnant again quickly. As we want her spayed after this litter, I'll take her as soon as I can. I've put the litter tray back in the lean to, where it was when she first came here as a kitten. From the start she used it, never did any toilet in the house, (not like Gwen.) So I'm going to try and keep here in till she has the kittens, as she could have them outside somewhere and I might not be able to keep track of her. She does come in regularly though for food. She's been eating loads, and often eats Gwen's food too.

Yesterday, Gwen was spotting blood, a sign that she's on heat, so she's had to stay either in the house or tied up. Can't risk her getting pregant! I put a white sheet down on the chairs that she lies on. The amount of dirt, grit and blood spots on it showed me just how much filth she deposits on the furniture. So, I've moved her bed into the front room so she can sit in that of an evening then move it back into the kitchen where she'll sleep in it. I'm going try to stop her sitting on the chairs, something I should have done from the start instead of just letting her sit where she likes. The chairs and sofa are made of leather, and it's now quite dirty from where she's sat on it, so she'll have to be trained to the new regime of not sitting on the furniture.
At some point in the day, usually early evening, Gwen wants to play tug of war. She still plays with 'Doggy,' which was given to her as a soft stuffed toy. It is now a scrap of material, which is the bottom half of the toy, consisting of 2 legs. It's quite touching how she's hung on to that toy and treated it as her favourite plaything, even though it's on its last legs, (literally!)

Mr A has gone away to work, back monday, maybe tuesday. I texted him with Minnie's update from the vets. He had a shite drive to Manchester and was late for a meeting. He was knackered from yesterday, hauling a heavy winch up the stairs and lugging lots of stuff around.

DINNER
Sweet Chilli Sausages
Mash with Garden Broccolli Mashed in
Fresh Asparagus

Some other Morrisons Ice Cream, Maple Syrup, no where near as good as you-know-what

Mr A organised a community get together to act as stewards for a big tree felling. There has been a huge branch which has hung off another tree overlooking the road. It's dangerous cos the tree is rotten and could fall anytime, potentially killing anyone underneath. So he hired a winch, strapped up the offending branch and chainsawed it to safety. Us lot had to stop traffic from going past and redirecting it. We only had 3 cars go past. One of them was a bit surly and carried on as if to drive past us when I boomed out, 'STOP!' He was just going to reverse into a smaller road to turn round, but I didn't know that....
Anyway, a successful venture completed. Yay!

I've made an appointment at the vets for Minnie cat. She is obviously pregnant and has a cough which I think should be sorted. So I've got a box to take her in tomorrow.
Gwen has been spotting blood from her lady parts, the dog equivalent of a period I guess. I hope that means that she isn't pregnant. She could have got in the family way the time she went off down to the village on her own.....I hope not as she's only 8 months old.

I picked up some colour charts for the bedroom. It's a bit of a way off yet, there's priming to do, plastering one wall and relaying the floor, but I love imagining all the different colours and what ones to choose. It's a very light room with 2 large windows and a Velux, so it could take a darker contrast round the windows to lighter coloured walls. I'm looking in the brochure and imagining my bedroom looking good enough to be photographed and put in along with the other rooms on show.......

I was supposed to go for training with the WRVS today on the digital switchover, to be able to help people to do it who couldn't do it for themselves. Anyway, it was an early start and I'm not good in the mornings. One problem I have is the tendons on my ankles become inflamed and it's quite hard to walk without looking like Charlie Chaplin. With some Ibuprofen gel and a bit of time, they are ok, but I can't rush round first thing. So I've missed the boat on that one.

Finally, there's nothing on telly worth watching of late. I got into The Apprentice, Britains Got Talent and the other talent show, American Idol. I'm a bit of a pleb when it comes to telly, not like Mr A who doesn't like those sort of shows and prefers Newsnight and footie.

DINNER
Fresh Salmon Steaks
Boiled Potatoes (bit boring)
Salad a la Moi with Garden Lettuce

THE LAST OF THE WALNUT DREAM ICE CREAM - Morrisons doesn't stock it anymore - I'm gutted!

Scarabella had our 2nd video session this morning. We rehearsed the song we're doing last night and I stayed over at BRenda's, as we had to be in the studio by 10am. It went well, 15 takes in all including group, close up and groupings. With lots of prearranged 'casual' interactions, mucho grinning and looking like we're having the best time ever. It's quite hard to pose into a camera whilst miming without feeling a right twat! So, at last we'll have a video of 2 songs that can go on utube and anywhere else that seems a good idea. Watch this space....

Minnie cat is pregnant. Shock - I thought she was getting bigger, but today noticed that she has a bulge out of each side and can feel lumps, kitten lumps. She's just about a year old and we were hoping to avoid this and get her spayed before the patter of little paws..

I've got a training session tomorrow morning. It's organized by the WRVS, training about the digital switchover so we can go into houses of the elderly and others who would find it hard to do the switchover themselves. Start at 10am, another early start! This morning was so gloriously warm it was nice to greet the world early for a change.

I slept in Brenda's attic last night, hoping for the wonderfully scented clean sheets, but alas, I got another duvet that her daughter had used which smelt of nothing. I asked her what she used to get that lovely smell and it's either blue Lenor or Lidles washing powder, so I'm going to get the Lenor. Mr A will just have to live with it.

Library trip today, lots of new books including a new Sarah Paretski book, not a W.I. Warshawski one either. I got a couple of crime novels by a guy calling himself Bateman, no first name, but the reviews are good, so I'll give him a go. Also got 'Forever Odd,' by Dean Koontz. I really enjoyed his other 'Odd' books, so it's the first one I'm going to read.

As I was out shopping yesterday, Mr A rings me and says,

"I've invited all the neighbours for a barbie." So I was given a list of stuff to get, including 30 bread rolls and 30 bottles of beer....Actually the beer was quite cheap. It was £11 for 20 bottles of Grolsch and the same for 18 bottles of Stella Artois.
There were 11 of us who sat out on the deck eating and drinking till the early hours. By midnight I was really tired and went to bed, leaving them to carry on. Mr A came to bed around 2am, and there were still people there. Originally, we thought, a barbie at 6.30 for a couple of hours and we'd have the evening mostly free. We didn't reckon on everyone staying for 8 hours! It's a great feeling to know that a good time was had by all and that we can count our neighbours as friends.
I was asked to sing some songs, which I did, playing the guitar and they were really appreciative, clapping after each song! Tess, of Tess and Dave who live right next door in another wooden bungalow, plays flute and tin whistle and knows loads of Irish songs, so played a few, with me on the guitar and Mr A on drum. Yes, us country folks sure know how to have a good time! Yee ha!

During the week, Mr A came in with a bunch of flowers from the garden, Lupins and Sweet William for me. Ah! Now that's what I call romantic! The Sweet William are everywhere and really tall with all shades of red and pink.
I did some intensive weeding in the front flower garden to discover some of the Pansies had died through lack of light, being shadowed by the larger plants. It's good to see that I now have more room to plant more flowers though. The Forget-me-Nots had grown over most of the garden and now finished flowering, so I pulled them up, they would have seeded and will come up next year so I didn't get rid of them all.

Gwen News. I'm losing count of the number of times she's run off down the road to the garage next door, so she has to be tied up if we are outside and can't keep an eye on her. Mr A wondered if she was coming into season and the running off was about that. She's 8 months old now and the vet said that it looked like she was, so hopefully it will pass....It does mean that it's another job for Mr A to put fencing up to keep her in. I got a capsule which contains our name and phone number to put on her collar. JUst as well, cos about 15 minutes ago I got a phone call from someone who had found her on the road outside the garage. When I went to pick her up, she looked shamfaced, as she knows by now that it's naughty of her to run off. So, again, we said, 'right, she has to be tied up if she's outside.' We said this before but got a bit lax about it.

DINNER
We are going to Mr A's parents for dinner, so I don't know what it'll be. They grow their own veg so it'll be something tasty....
At last I've finished scraping all the wallpaper off the walls in the bedroom, so we have wooden walls, a bit like a Swiss chalet. I can't wait to start painting, then we can move furniture back in and have a brand new bedroom to enjoy.

Mr A is listening to jazz, Dizzy Gillespie, in his office. The music can be heard right through the house, bringing that laid back cool that only really good jazz can bring.

I'm enjoying reading Karin Slaughter's novel, Shameless. She's written a series with the same characters, set in America. She writes really well, and I'm look forward to some me time with my book.

It's a sunny day, I have a good meal to look forward to and some more socialising to do, so see y'all back here soon. Hopefully I'll have time to write a quick post before going to Swansea to rehearse with Scarabella.

LAST NIGHT'S DINNER
Tortilla, Spanish Omlette with Red Onion, Red Pepper and Potatoes
Sauteed Fennel Bulb

Dwindling Supply of Walnut Dream Ice Cream being eeked out in small amounts as it's been 'phased out.'

Fennel is absolutely delicious! I was lucky to get it on the cheap counter at MOrrisons at the end of the day. I also got a large bag of red onions for 19p and they were in really good condition! It's definitely worth going at the close of the day. I usually go earlier, but will try to repeat finding such bargains again...

Funny little episode that I managed to remember to blog...
I heard a strange noise coming from the bathroom, a buzzing sound, so I went to investigate....I couldn't find the source, but suspected that the water was boiling in the pipes, or some other impending disaster, so got Mr A in to check it out.
We stood there in the bathroom with ears cocked, trying the find out where this persistent noise was coming from. Mr A then reached up onto the highest shelf in the airing cupboard and brought out my little sonic cleaning device, which had switched itself on and was happily humming away! Well, I thought it was funny, Mr A didn't even know I had it and wondered what it was...it's for cleaning jewellery and has a battery which makes it shake really fast, using vibrations to clean the stuff.

The wallpaper finally got stripped off last night. It was stuck really hard and took a lot of effort to scrape it all off. Underneath there are wooden boards that we'll paint. Colour scheme yet to be decided. Mr A wants to go for white, but I think it will be too cold and stark. A bedroom should have soft colours, relaxing and helping good dreaming...Next jobs are varnishing the new wooden wall and picking out the bits of polyfiller between the old boards, then on with the painting. That's the bit I enjoy, seeing it coming together....

Gwen had her 6 month check up with the vet and he said she could be coming into season as her volva was enlarged. Ahem. There aren't any male dogs within impregnating distance, so I think she should be safe. She would be very young to have puppies since she's still a puppy herself. She's 8 months old, looking older every day but still has the playfullness of a puppy. Her favourite toy is 'Doggy.' This was a soft, filled toy dog, white with black spots that had belonged to Liberty when she was a toddler. Doggy is now a scrap of just recognizeable material, which she still carries around with her. Her game is to put it at your feet so that you try and grab it before she does. She's so quick that as soon as I even think about grabbing it she's got it. Then comes the tussle. A human can't win against a dog with determination, so usually I give in and try to grab it by means of stealth and cunning. When I do get it, I chuck it across the room and she hurtles after it, brings it back and the game starts all over again.....
The lovely Minnie cat is a skillful killer. She brings little furry animals into the lean to, where Gwen picks them up and plays with them till they are unrecognizeable.

TONIGHTS DINNER
Shepherds Pie
Broccolli

Small portion of Walnut Dream Ice Cream - there's about 3 day's worth left.

The first video session we had went well, it took 15 takes of various angles and shots, but the song is in the bag. The next session is on tuesday, where we'll do another song. We had a green screen before so that she can put other stuff in, this time there won't be a green screen, so we've been told to wear our coloured finery, which we didn't wear last time cos of the green screen. We dress in mainly black with a sequined turquiose scarf and any bit of turquiose jewellery. We have some large feathers, deep blue and turquiose, which is a lovely combination. Actually, I wouldn't mind those colours in the bedroom...I don't think Mr A will go for it though...So I'll stay over from the monday night rehearsal at Brenda's house. Last week I stayed in the attic room. She'd put clean sheets on the bed that smelt divine. I asked her what she used to wash them in as I want some. I've bartered some eggs for a packet of the lovely smelly concoction. I used to use Lenor, but Mr A didn't like it, he's very particular about artificial things, I don't think he'll mind this smell though. It'll be tough in any case, cos I'm using it! Ah, compromise is the essence of a happy marriage...

Right then, I'd better get on with this dinner then. Mr A is painting the trim around the Velux and being busy so I'd better shake a leg and cook up some tasty grub.

DINNER
Debbie & Andrew's Harrogate 97% Pork Sausages (think Tom Archer Sausages)Cooked on the Barbie
Mashed Potatoes
Barbequed Fennel
Salad a la Moi with Oakleaf Lettuce from the Greenhouse

Walnut Dream Ice Cream - a Meagre Portion because ................

..............Breaking news.........Morrisons has phased out Walnut Dream Ice Cream
THE BUGGERS!
I bought my last box last week, the very last one, as when I went to stock up with more, there were none there, so I asked an assistant, only to be told that they were phasing them out. I exclaimed that I couldn't live without my Walnut Dream fix and he showed me another Morrisons Ice Cream called somethingorother Walnut. The picture on the front looked different to the old one, I know it won't be as good, as it was, (and still is, till my last box runs out,) perfection.

So, what have I been doing to keep me away from Blogland over the past week?

Stripping wallpaper. The wallpaper has been painted over so even soaking with soapy water doesn't help. It's taking ages, as I literally have to scrape the wallpaper off the wall, it doesn't peel off.
Still, it's not a bad job, no heavy lifting. All I need is patience.

Mr A has been finishing off the window frames and putting wooden boards on one wall, which I'll varnish. So the bedroom will end up with one newly plastered wall, and 3 wooden walls. It'll be lovely when it's finished. We've been sleeping in the music room to keep the bedroom empty while we are working in there. The new bed is fabulous! Soooo comfy!

Gwen did a runner on sunday. One minute she was beside me in the front garden, the next, she was nowhere to be seen. I did the usual calling, clapping and whistling, which usually brings her running from wherever she's been, but this time - no Gwen. I went down the steps onto the road and walked along, calling her. There were a couple of guys outside the garage next door and they had seen her 5 minutes earlier sniffing at the grass verge on the road. I went up the road where we usually walk, no Gwen. I drove into the village, a mile away, no Gwen. I went to the beach, no Gwen. I went the other direction, no Gwen. This is about an hour since she was last seen. I waited another hour then thought about ringing the police, and thinking that I'd be told off for not having her address on her collar, when the phone rang. It was Jed, from the garage next door. Someone had brought Gwen back from the village where she was found wandering about. It was a big relief to get her back, though Jed said she was happily being very friendly to everyone in his house, not appearing to be phased by being somewhere else for a change.
So, she's not being allowed out on her own after that little escapade. I will have to get a capsule with our address on though, since she'll probably run off again at some point. When she ran off before, she was nearby, so for her to go a mile to the village is quite some adventure. She may have gone over the back road, where we usually walk, though we don't walk to the end of it.
Of course we were pleased that she was ok, but angry at her behaviour.
So, that's the Gwen saga.
I bought one of those extending leads, where it opens out to 16 feet, giving her lots of room to run about whilst still on a lead.

On saturday we went for a walk on the beach. There were dozens of Jellyfish, lying on the beach, looking like an extra terrestrial life form. They were varying in size, from 3 ft circumference to smaller ones. They were clear, like soft plastic with a big circular main body and about 4-6 short tentacles. I took some photos of them and will post them when I get it together to download them from my phone.

Mr A has lit the barbie, so I'd better get on with the spuds. Oooo, it's good to be back!