Yesterday, All my troubles were so far away.

We enjoyed glorious sunshine yesterday, washing done and line dried, ironed, aired and put away. Lovely. A spot of gardening, some ambling around with Ben, it was far too nice to hurry, a few jobs done around the house and a cheap, tasty dinner.

This was taken early afternoon, the sky was even bluer than on the photo. Then within a couple of hours this happened.

We did not get rain but the temperature dropped alarmingly and by 6.00 it was dark and the heating was on for a couple of hours.

Dinner was less than £1.50 for two, I had a cheaty moment and bought some chicken kiev from Lidl, half price offer and did a tray of roasted veg to go with them. I chopped up a carrot, a parsnip, a large sweet potato, half a smallish squash and 2 red onions, I also added a head of garlic separated into cloves but not peeled. I tossed these around in a splash of oil, some balsamic vinegar and a good pinch or salt and pepper. The garlic head was huge and would have pushed up the cost but was free. I went out one day last week to a "do" (also free) and bought a raffle ticket, I won a food hamper, fresh and tinned which will all be used.

I did take photos and loaded them onto the lap top which promptly hid them from me. Take my word that it was colourful and delicious. The Kievs were very tender but not so garlicky as I would have liked, I did expect this though and that was why I put so much into the veg mix. It was very filling and some veg was left over, it will become the base for soup with some stock and a few of my cherry toms and a tin of cheapo baked beans with the sauce washed off.

My new to me front door curtain is in place and looks good, I will repeat some of the photos that are awol and post later, It cost me £4.50 and is good Sanderson fabric, fully lined and still had the hooks in place.

My new crafty idea is about to commence so again I will take some repeat photos.

The rain that was forecast is here, but I care not. I have lots of things to do and only need to go out to walk Ben and we both have raincoats. I just wish he had wellies as well.

I had a very good enjoyable and productive day topped of with a delicious meal that cost very little ans cooked itself. Today I am going to cook some Lamb Chump Chops in the slow cooker, just as Frugal Queen and Karen of Chelmarsh Chunterings do. I bought a pack of 11 for just over £4 from Lidl, 3 of them will become Scotch Broth at some point, I normally use scrag end or breast for this but the celebrity chefs have promoted those cuts and pushed the price up, just as they did with Oxtail and pigs trotters.

 I do like winter food, a dish of something steaming hot with little dumplings swimming in a lake of rich gravy, heaven.

 Soup made with all the odds and ends of veg from the fridge bottom served with toast or a handful of rice or pasta added during the cooking time.

Chicken noodle soup, a stew more than a soup, made with chicken bones saved from roast dinners and hoarded like gold in the freezer.

All of these make my heart sing and put little strain on my purse.

That,s it, I am now in dire need of breakfast, oats cooked the Scottish way with water and a pinch of salt is my favourite, but as I need the calcium I will use skimmed milk.

TTFN                                                           Pam