A Misty Mellow Day.

Welcome aboard Sandra Sews, I hope you enjoy the chatter.
The day dawned, well nearly, it may have been dawn but it was so foggy that it may as well have been midnight. 
Ben wanted a long walk, I wanted a long scarf. 
Ben thought it was wonderful to dilly,dally and dawdle along just smelling the smells and scent marking every 3 steps, I thought longingly of the sofa and hot strong tea.
Ben won hands down. 
We had a little breakfast, when I say we I mean Ben, I settled for tea. A little light housework and a little food prep for later then we went out. Their is a farm shop/ garden center/restaurant/gift shop/foodie hall just through Wisbech and I have been thinking of paying a visit for a while. A neighbour was going so I hitched a lift, first impression, was Ooh this will be costly and I wasn't wrong. Having said that I picked up some cinnamon sticks at a very good price and a bottle of Maple Balsamic Vinegar at a giveaway price. Total spend £4.97 happy happy.

I came back in time for a quick cuppa before taking Ben out with Greg. Once home it was action stations, 2 spiced apple cakes into the oven and a batch of Lentil soup on the go. I had every intention of following MFin3's recipe but lurking in the fridge was a bit of squash, 1/2 red onion, a few sticks of celery and a big slice of red pepper. i took 1 stick of celery along with the rest and chopped them up quite fine and sweated in a tsp olive oil with 2 tsp ground cumin, while that happened I took half of 2 different dried peppers Chipotle and Poblano (bought in a Deli in Tenby) chopped them up popped in a bowl and poured on a splash of boiling water to rehydrate. Once the veg were soft I tipped in 1/2 cup of red lentils and around 1litre of veg stock drained the peppers and added them. I brought this up to simmer plopped the lid on and left it while i washed up and tidied round. By that time the lentils and veg were cooked so I seasoned and added a little finely grated lemon zest. it was very tasty and for pennies made 3 good servings. I had 1 for lunch with a slice of granary bread.

The cakes turned out well and I used the residual heat to dry out some bread for crumbs.

These will go into tins and will be gifted to my neighbours tomorrow, they are quite moist and will keep in the fridge for up to 10 days, I should say that they could keep 10 days, they may last 4, if they are lucky.

Cooking and lunch done I got the ironing out of the way before Ben and Greg went out for their second and final play for the day. Since we have been doing this Ben seems much happier and Greg is losing his um fat.

Reasons to be grateful.

1. Bargains for the pantry.

2. Lovely smells wafting around.

3. A happy pair of dogs, all wagging tails and bouncing around.

4. A successful repair to my wall.

5. Playing some of the CD's that I "found" again in my decluttering. 

Tomorrow I am off to work to see the Occupational Health Nurse. It will be interesting to hear what she has to say. I still have to take all my discarded stuff to the charity shop, I ran out of time today because I went gallivanting this morning.

I will be glad when the cottage is straight again, I can see the space that I have gained but can't enjoy it.

                               TTFN                                     Pam