Yes, we’ve got it all down here in Dorset. Not, obviously, to the same extent as places that aren’t protected by our big wide shallow harbour here in Poole, but my excuse is that I’m not used to it. The cat-cast is in, snuggled up and quite exceptionally cute and endearing, and that’s never a good sign, is it?
So, what’s a woman to do when she can’t go out for a long walk? Go out for a shorter one, and then get out in the garden for a good sweep up so that she can clear all the earth that’s been washed out of flowerbeds and pots in the heavy rain and strong winds and then head back indoors, get warm and cook appropriate meals. Today, was poached eggs on home made brown toast for breakfast as I continue my experiments to find a way to make a seeded brown loaf in the breadmaker that doesn’t look like moon craters. Today was much better, so I’ll try it again another day and add some extract of malt to get a richer flavour.
Lunch is in the slow cooker and is shin of beef with onions and Guinness and will be served with Yorkshire puddings, roast parsnips and potatoes and mixed steam vegetables. I do my Yorkshire puds the way I was taught by our lovely next door neighbour, which is you weigh your three eggs, add a spoonful of melted butter and the same amount of flour and then add milk until it’s right, by which she meant sort of like pancake batter. This makes enough for 4 greedy people and I cook it in non stick silicone muffin cases so I don’t have to grease it. Come tea time I'll make proper Welsh rarebit with eggs and milk and cheese and a dash of mustard and a little bit of Worcestershire sauce and it'll puff up on the brown bread toast and make a cold winter's night into an indulgent treat.
And on top of this, I’m researching ready for the next Amy Hammond which I hope to start writing this time next week, so I’m going to spend some of this afternoon huddled under a home made quilt and reading about a period of time in my beloved Poole that I don’t know very well. I also ‘have’ to make a crazy quilt because it’s a key part of the plot So yes, I miss my long walks, but indoors is good too.
Which brings us on to this week’s special offers, which are three Christians Cross books - Sword and the Stone, Away with the Faeries and No place like Gnome. Why not give them a try if it’s cold where you are too? They’re fun, especially if you like cats, handsome policemen and sarcastic heroines. Which I do…
Have a good week till we meet again and today's picture is of my Christmas crazy quilt to give you an idea of what will cause Amy and Peter trouble this time.
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