Muddy footprints - again. Grrrr!

 I think I might be coming down with something, unfortunately - I've been excessively tired the past couple of days, feeling achy, a couple of mouth ulcers, what feels like the beginnings of a sore throat for the past 2 evenings (it only seems to appear, or I'm only aware of it, in the evening).  Motivation seems to have gone out the window too, I really don't feel like doing anything.  So I'm dosing myself up with Vit C and echinacea and having lots of hot drinks, including honey and lemon.

Off to a bad start this morning....husband came back from his short walk with Betty and promptly trod mud all through the house 😡.  He does this quite often, he always claims he wipes his feet on the doormat but clearly doesn't!  I've asked him numerous times to take his shoes off at the door....but of course he never remembers.  He does clean the mud up himself, as he should.  He sometimes tries to blame it on Betty, bit difficult to believe when the mud prints are shoe shaped 😒

I really must get a menu plan done today, not having done one recently (despite saying I must, and then forgetting), every day I'm having to trawl through the freezer, fridge and cupboards around lunchtime, wondering what I'm going to make for the evening meal.  I know what we're having tonight, when pulling the larder surplus store box out from under my bed this morning, to get out some of my long life oat milk, I found a pack of spinach and feta tortellini which is a week out of date.  I'm sure it'll be fine, it's vacuum packed.  I'll make a tomato and veg sauce to go with it, and I think there's some garlic bread in the freezer.

It's 3 weeks today that husband's bro and SiL arrive, by themselves, for the weekend.  They're hoping to arrive by lunchtime I think, so husband and bro can make a start on cutting the yukky yucca down in the afternoon.  So I'll need to provide lunch and dinner on that day.  It'll be a buffet lunch and I might make a quiche to have with chips or wedges and salad for dinner.  I expect they'll be here all day on the Saturday too, finishing off cutting up the tree and taking the dumpy bag to the tip, so lunch and dinner to provide that day too.  Although we might have a fish & chips takeout, save me cooking dinner again.  Sunday they want to take us out for lunch before they go home, that'll be nice, it's quite a while since we had a meal out.

Mixture of sunny intervals and showers today.  I might persuade husband to take us to Blue Anchor for a walk along the prom and a coffee in the coffee shop later, he's been vegetating in his armchair or in front of the computer (he even nods off sitting upright there) too much lately.

Feeling the cold, another sign of ageing

 Thank you for all the lovely comments, yes we're looking forward to our girlie sleepovers!  Brenda, you asked about us eating out.....a couple of the relatives have quite limited incomes which don't run to meals out in restaurants, and both of them refuse to hear of the rest of us paying for them, even though none of us would mind at all.  So we'll be eating all our meals in, that way people can pitch in with their own foodie contributions and nobody will feel awkward.  And it's fun anyway.

Husband's brother, who is 8 years younger than him and in better health (he's a builder by trade, although recently retired now) has said he's happy to help husband cut down that blimmin horrible yucca tree in our garden when they come down next month.  We had asked a team of tree fellers who were cutting down trees in a garden locally to come and give us a quote for removal of it, they said they would.  Only they didn't turn up.....why say you'll do something if you have no intention of doing it?  I've asked another couple of local gardeners, both of whom advertise tree felling as one of their jobs, but both said they're far too busy.  A neighbour who wants some gardening done said they've had no luck in finding a gardener either, they all claim to be booked up for months ahead.

I felt freezing cold this morning when I got up, I often feel the cold nowadays.  It's 11 deg outside according to the thermometer, but feels so much colder, probably because there's a strong wind....again.  We've had the heating turned up to 21 deg and I've only just begun to feel warm, so have turned the heating down now.  Fortunately, I rarely feel cold in bed, having a big chunky dog pressed up against my side is like having my own big furry hot water bottle.

The new neighbour was telling us yesterday that although she's mostly unpacked and is settling in quite nicely, there are a few frustrations.  She currently has no TV, internet or landline phone, the company she's having are dragging their feet with an appointment.  Also, her mobile doesn't work, no signal (we have the same problem, although my phone does work in the back garden, she has the same mobile provider as us).  And yet she says she had full mobile signal in her previous home in a rural area, so is surprised not to get signal here.  She's going to change to a different provider, she says she can't live without her mobile.

I'm feeling a bit under the weather, beginnings of a sore throat and aching joints....perhaps feeling cold is part of it too.  Having done my jobs for the day, apart from a menu plan for the next week or so, I think I'll curl up with a good book this afternoon.

Oh, I had a routine nurse appointment yesterday, during the course of which she said I need to book in for an ECG.  I asked why, she said it's routine with diabetic patients.  "Oh really?" said I, I've been diabetic for about 12 years and have never been offered an ECG before!  🤔

It's all coming together

 After discussions with the families who are coming to visit, we've all come up with plans for meals that will suit everybody.  They are all coming down for 3 nights, so we've decided between us that we'll take it in turns to cook the evening meal, one day each, to be hosted in our respective homes - each of their two holiday homes are big enough to host all 8 of us at once.  We will all provide buffet or picnic type foods for lunches, we'll liaise about the details nearer the time.  Breakfasts we'll all eat by ourselves....people all get up at different times and not all of us eat breakfast anyway.  So that's all the meals sorted.

The other exciting thing is that, as sister and friend's holiday cottage is literally just 5 mins walk from us and is 3 bedroomed, I will go and sleep there every night.  Husband (and Betty) will be such a short distance away and at the end of a phone, so I'll be able to easily nip home in the event of a problem.  Which I'm sure there won't be.  So it'll give me a little break and I'll have plenty of time to catch up with sis and friend.  We've known sister's best friend for about 25 years, she's just like one of the family, an honorary sister, so the 3 of us will have loads of fun and laughs each night!  We're so looking forward to it.

I've already planned what I'm going to cook....cottage pie, will make and freeze it in advance, so just some green veggies to prep on the day.  I'll also do a rice pudding in the slow cooker.  For picnics, or buffets indoors if the weather's not good, I'll make a load of sandwiches and freeze them.....plain filled sandwiches, e.g. cooked meats or cheese with no salad fillings, freeze well, I've done it before.   

It's all a bit early yet of course, but I do like to be organised, I feel less stressed when I'm organised and know exactly what I'm doing.

Just hoping the weather will be fine so we can go out and about.  The big car boot sale at Blue Anchor starts up again next month, we're all boot sale fans so that'll be one good thing.

Nice sunshine today, although a bit windy - it often seems to be windy here.  So washing on the line and gardening being done.

Lovely surprise, and some aarrgghh moments

 Yesterday I had a lovely surprise - sister WhatsApped me to say she and her best friend were hoping to come down to see us, at the same time as husband's 2 sisters, brother and sister in law are coming in April.  It all hinges on sis's friend, who is the car driver as my sis doesn't drive, being able to get the time off work. **  Sis has provisionally booked a cottage just 5 mins walk from us, husband's relatives are staying in an Airbnb place at Blue Anchor bay, a few minutes drive away.  I should add that both my sis and friend and husband's relatives all know each other well, they all live close to one another up in the Midlands.  It'll be so nice to see them all, catch up and enjoy meals together here....if somewhat noisy and crowded!  Betty will be beside herself with excitement.

I'll suggest we all muck in with foods for buffet type meals, which I know they'll all be happy to do.  The thought of me having to cook meals for that amount of people brings me out in a cold sweat nowadays, although I'd have thought nothing of it years ago.

I'm doing a lot of tongue biting the past few days, husband is driving me nuts.  Yesterday I'd put washing on the line, husband took it upon himself to bring it all in after just 2 hours....he thinks he's being helpful but he's really not.  It wasn't yet dry, waistbands, collars and cuffs were all still wet, I had to put it all on the airer and in the airing cupboard to dry off.  I could have put it back out on the line, I suppose, it was just easier to do it indoors.  If only he'd ask me or even say what he intends to do first - but he never does....and I do mean never.  It's not the first time he's got washing in off the line without asking me first, he's done it several times.  Why he thought it would be dry after just 2 hours I don't know, he didn't even consider the time I expect.  And he seems incapable of telling whether something is dry or not by feeling it.  The day before, he'd wanted to order something on the Argos website, some kind of exercise equipment, a set of hand weights or something.  He rarely uses that website so didn't seem to know how to actually buy the item for click and collect, I showed him what buttons to press.  And then had to show him again a couple of times - I asked if he wanted me to do it but he insisted he was fine, he could do it.  But then somehow he ended up adding some other (unwanted) things to his virtual basket - when he came to checkout, the total said £145.99 instead of the £30-odd he was expecting to pay!  So I had to sort that out for him - it would have been so much quicker if he'd have let me do it in the first place.

Speaking of the washing, I have 2 washing bins in the bathroom - one for dark stuff, the other for lights, to make it quick and easy for me to sort a wash load out.  Husband always puts the wrong colours of his stuff in the wrong bins - don't ask me why, he's not colourblind🤷.  I often think it's a bit pointless me having the 2 separate washing bins, since I nearly always have to sort through the washing anyway.  

He also somehow managed to delete his Disney+ subscription off the TV, again not the first time he's done that, so muggins here has to put it back on for him each time.  Just think, if I didn't have to do all these things for husband, I'd be bored stiff with nothing to do!!!  Aaaarrrgggghh!

** Sis has just messaged me to say her friend has booked the time off work (she works nights and has just finished her shift), so it's all systems go!

A bit chaotic

 Yesterday the new neighbour moved into her bungalow, she'd been popping to and fro all last week, bringing boxes, bags and small items in her car.  We assumed she'd have a removals van to move the rest of her stuff, most people do.  But no......yesterday afternoon a horse box (well she did live in a rural area) pulled by a very large 4x4 arrived, along with a flotilla of 6 cars, plus the neighbour's car, all containing furniture and boxes.  They all arrived at once into our little cul de sac, it was all very chaotic and blocked the road up, I did go out and tell one of the helpers they could park on our drive, to ease the congestion a bit.  For a couple of hours it was mayhem out there, with cars having to move backwards and forwards to allow other residents and delivery vehicles in.  Nobody minded though, we're a small friendly community, it was a one-off and everyone knows there'll be a bit of disruption when someone moves in.  As all this was happening right in front of our large picture window in our lounge, we had ringside seats, so to speak.  Husband and I were surprised at the sheer amount of furniture and boxes going in (she's moved from a small 1 bed rural bungalow into another small 1 bed bungalow here), husband said "That place must be a TARDIS inside!".  They all departed after 2 or 3 hours though, apart from a couple of people who were obviously helping the new neighbour unpack and get settled, and the normal peace was restored.  I hope she'll be happy here once she's settled down and got everything to her liking, moving home is so stressful and I'm glad it's highly unlikely we'll ever have to move again.

It's supposed to be sunny, warm and dry today, although at the moment it's grey and dismal following a bit of early rain.  We really want to get stuck in to some garden jobs today, and I've got washing to go out on the line.  I woke up with a raging headache this morning, it had been another restless night following a pretty stressful week so I was half expecting a migraine.  Thankfully it's not, just a pressure headache and is wearing off now.

I need to do a freezer audit and menu plan, I'll save that for tomorrow when the cleaner's here, I always like to have something to do in the kitchen or outside to keep out of her way.  The weather for this coming week looks pretty good (whispering it so as not to jinx anything 😉😁), so hopefully we can get more outside jobs done.  I'd like to make a start on the new rockery, for one thing.

A week and a half ago I applied for a refund of our council tax, apparently we've overpaid by a couple of hundred pounds and I don't see why the council should have the benefit of our money earning interest for them.  How we've come to overpay I really don't know, we only paid the amount they asked for!  I've just looked on the council website and apparently refunds can take up to 28 days to come through....isn't it funny how we're expected to pay things instantly, yet refunds always take ages 😒

Nothing doing

 Although it's warmer today, I'm still feeling chilly - probably because there's a strong cold wind again.  A bit of sunshine coming and going but now it's clouding over again and more rain forecast.  Have to keep telling myself it is actually still wintertime, so can't expect good weather just yet.  Spring starts next month though, hooray!

Went out early (to beat the crowds and tourist traffic) to do a small fresh top up shop.  Whilst in there I thought I really can't be bothered cooking anything tonight, so bought a pizza....halloumi, sweet roast peppers and hot honey, sounds nice.  We'll have it with salad.

Husband decided he doesn't want a roast tomorrow.....fine by me.  He wants pork (he's got the remains of a roast pork joint in the freezer) with stir fry veggies, noodles and sweet chilli sauce, he said he'll cook it himself.  Even better, although I'll have to wipe down the kitchen surfaces and appliances after he's finished stir frying everything at a blisteringly high heat, splashing juices everywhere.  Him doing his own dinner leaves me free to have what I want - so I shall be having very cheesy cauli cheese and crisp roast potatoes, yum.

Nothing much going on today and I'm feeling a bit knackered after a run of low sleep nights, so I'm just relaxing and reading in my room this afternoon, husband will be watching the rugby and doing lots of shouting at the TV.

Tomorrow looks like being a much nicer day, spells of sunshine, no rain and less wind, so hopefully it'll be a garden day, washing on the line and more jobs done in the garden.

Boring post, sorry, nothing to report 😂.  (I've noticed I certainly get lots more page views when I'm annoyed or frustrated and venting my feelings!  Human nature I suppose! 😁).

About time too! Problem sorted, and some wartime cooking

 So that arrogant entitled nasty piece of work and waste of space has been arrested - and released, oh well.  All I will say is it's about bloody time.  I just feel so much compassion for the King - however irritated and angry he must feel, the man is still his brother, he must be so conflicted.

Anyway, moving on.....

Yesterday I was stood outside for an hour with my next door neighbours and the surveyor from our Landlords, discussing the fence issue.  It was blimmin freezing!  Even though Kath and I had jackets and scarves on, we were both shivering with cold....the men didn't seem to be affected much, hardier than us weak females I guess!  I don't know what the temperature actually was, must have been around 0 deg - I know that's not really cold like it is in some countries where some of my readers live....Canada eg....but for us southern English softies it felt like we were in the Arctic.  Once back indoors it took half an hour sitting with a fleece blanket on my lap and my hands wrapped round a hot mug of coffee before I started to warm up.

So, the surveyor.....he went in the neighbours' garden (they were out at the time and there's no gate there anyway, just an open driveway), had a good look round and took loads of photos.  He then came back round to us and looked at both our fences from our gardens, asked lots of questions and listened carefully to us.  My neighbours had lots of photos they'd taken themselves over the past few months, the surveyor was interested to see them and actually took them away with him.  He agreed that the neighbour is in the wrong and has no right to damage or remove property that doesn't belong to him, which he already has done.  The surveyor said he and the legal team are now on the case and they will write to the neighbour, telling him to immediately cease removing our Landlord's property (the fences) and to reinstate the part of the fencing he has already removed.  The surveyor told us not to worry ourselves any further about it and not to get involved or engage with the neighbour, just leave it in their capable hands and they will deal with it all.  He's given me his personal work email address and said to get in touch straight away if the neighbour tries anything else, he said he'll deal with it immediately.  So that's it, I've removed it from the basketful of worries in my mind, it's no longer my problem.  I didn't really want to get involved in the first place, it was my next door neighbours who were more involved and kept pushing for me to become involved too.  At that time though, it didn't really have any impact on us.....until it did and I could no longer ignore it.  Anyway, job done.

This week I've cooked a couple of wartime-type meals, we enjoyed both.  The first was a bacon and onion rolypoly thing.....I made some suet pastry, rolled it out thickly to a small rectangle and topped it with a small amount of chopped smoked bacon and some sliced onions and a leek, all of which I'd gently fried first.  I rolled it up like a Swiss roll, cut it into slices and baked in the Ninja.  We had it with green veg and some parsley sauce.  I think I overbaked the slices by a couple of minutes, the pastry was a bit crunchy....I expect the roll would have been steamed during the war years which would have made the pastry nice and soft.  Next time I'll put the slices in a dish with a lid (I have an enamel lidded baking tin), the lid should help it to steam and stay softer.

The other thing we had yesterday, it's called Mudajara, it's a Middle Eastern dish that would have been eaten by European and American troops stationed in the Middle East during the war.  It's basically rice and brown lentils cooked in stock or water, and a pile of thinly sliced onions fried with warm spices and added to the rice/lentils.  The recipe said white rice and brown lentils - I used brown basmati rice and puy lentils, as that's what I had - I never use white rice anyway.  The recipe calls for the onions to be fried until crisp - I just gently cooked them in olive oil and butter till soft, I didn't fancy them crisp.  I used cumin, chilli powder and powdered ginger, I found the dish also needed a good sprinkling of salt.  I had it as is, husband had a couple of roast chicken thighs with his.  It would be nice with frozen peas added next time I think, and maybe even some sultanas or chopped dried apricots.

As I said before, the trouble with a lot of these wartime recipes is that they're quite carby, which doesn't really suit my guts, joints or diabetes.  I suppose the answer is just not to eat them too often, maybe just once or twice a week.

Thankfully, it's much warmer today, although showers again along with brief bits of sun.  Next week is forecast to be warmer still - and a bit drier, yay!  We'll get the garden work done soon....hopefully.

Bread Pudding -v- Bread & Butter Pudding

 There seems to be some confusion over what is meant by Bread Pudding/Bread and Butter Pudding, not only among my readers, it seems to be a pretty widespread thing.  They are actually two distinct and different things.  My Mum made both of these regularly when we kids lived at home, as did her mother before her.....probably because they were pretty cheap, easy and quick to make.

This is Bread Pudding, which I made yesterday morning, obviously minus the bit we've eaten:-

It's made by tearing bread up into pieces, putting it in a large bowl with dried fruit, sugar and mixed spice, pouring a mixture of milk, eggs and melted butter over and leaving it to soak for a couple of hours, then squidging it up with your (clean, obviously!) hands and putting in a lined tin and baking.  It sets firm and is eaten sliced in squares, usually cold although can be warm with custard, it's just like a fruit cake, albeit quite a different texture, being somewhat stodgy, certainly very filling.

Bread and Butter Pudding, on the other hand, is a dessert not a cake:-

(image taken off the internet)

This is made by buttering slices of bread (Mum often used to spread the buttered bread with marmalade) and layering them in a dish with dried fruit and sugar.  A jugful of milk with beaten eggs is poured over, some more sugar (Mum used demerara) sprinkled over the top and then baked.  It's served warm usually with pouring cream.  At home Mum used evaporated milk in place of cream.  The top is crunchy and golden, the underneath soft and luscious, it's delicious.  The egg custard is often flavoured with vanilla extract, Mum never bothered with that.  She did sometimes use some cream in the custard instead of all milk, if she had any.

I've only ever made it once - husband had never eaten B&B Pudding, it wasn't something his mother ever made.....he tried it and didn't like it at all, so I've never made it since.  It would be easy to make a smaller quantity, just one or two portions though, but I'm not really a pudding eater, I just have a piece of fruit after dinner if I want something sweet.

I do make Bread Pudding (the cake) reasonably often, it's one of husband's favourite cakes.

Nice new neighbour, bread pudding and please make the weather garden friendly!

 We met the new neighbour yesterday, she came over to thank us for the Welcome card I put through her door.  She's around mid-70s, very sprightly, seems really nice, I think we'll get on fine.  She's moving in on Saturday, coming over every day this week to bring a few things in her car.  Yes she's got a little car - but says she wants to give up driving!  Where she currently lives (in a property also owned by our landlords), she said it's quite rural with no public transport or amenities - sounds just like our old house.  Hence why she wanted to move here, closer to amenities and with support as she's getting older.

We nipped to the supermarket yesterday evening, I needed a couple of things I'd forgotten to put on my last shopping list, to go towards meals this week.  They'd reduced a lot of their bread, I got 3 of my favourite Jasons's sourdough loaves reduced to 1/3 of their original price, they'll be useful to keep in the freezer for days when I don't feel inclined or have the time to make my own bread.  I also picked up one of their instore bakery small brown sourdough loaves, reduced to 50p.  It was already going a bit stale but I immediately thought it'd be brilliant for making a bread pudding.  So that's what I've done this morning, the bread is all torn up in a bowl soaking with dried fruit, mixed spice, some orange zest, a bit of brown sugar, milk, melted butter and eggs, the kitchen smells like Christmas.  I don't follow a recipe for the bread pudding, my Mum used to make it often and I just more or less copy what she did, throwing in unmeasured amounts of this and that until it looks the right consistency and quantity.  Actually, I think bread pudding is one of those things that is very forgiving and is pretty much impossible to get wrong.

Well, the forecast for all day sunshine didn't materialise yesterday, we had an hour or 2 of reasonable sunshine early morning, then back to brief glimpses of sun through the clouds, bitterly cold with spots of rain...yet again.  My washing didn't get dry on the line, had to put it on the airer in the hall and in the airing cupboard.  So irritating.  Dull, rainy and cold today, but hopefully some sunshine tomorrow.  We really want to get on with the garden, even husband is currently quite enthusiastic so I really want to harness that before it wears off!!  (Which it will).

Thanks for all your comments on the possible wartime ration experiment, especially Chinadogs, very interesting.  I'll give it some more thought and google a bit more, I'll definitely post about it if I do decide to do it.

Wartime rationing

 When we were kids at home, mum and dad didn't have a lot of money.  Mum didn't go out to work, she was a housewife with us 4 children to look after.  Dad was in the RAF initially, not as glamorous as it sounds, he worked in catering - I think possibly in the officers mess.  He liked to make out he had a responsible high-up job, he even showed us his medals - they meant nothing to us kids, but he liked to show them off to us.  He left us to go and live with another woman, leaving Mum alone with 4 young kids, I was the eldest at 13 (he buggered off 6 days after my birthday, and on my brother's birthday), my youngest sibling was just 18 months old.  Some years later, I asked Mum what he got the medals for - he'd taken them with him when he left.  She gave an ironic laugh and said he hadn't earned them, they weren't even his - he'd bought them off a market stall!

Anyway, Mum did find life hard after he left, she/we survived on Social Security.  The house was quite often cold - no central heating, just a coal fire in the lounge and paraffin heaters in the bedrooms, but we all had hot water bottles for our beds and lots of blankets and wore jumpers, gloves and hats knitted by our Nanna.  We never went hungry - Mum cooked from scratch - well, ready meals and processed stuff wasn't really a thing back then.  She wasn't an adventurous cook, I don't think she even really liked cooking, but we had good, filling meals and if we were still hungry, there was always bread and homemade jam to fill up on.  I think Mum made similar meals to what her mum had made - mum was a child during WW2 so obviously her mother cooked meals according to what was available on rations.

I recently joined a FB group dedicated to living on WW2 rations, just because it interests me.  It's been said that people during the war were actually very healthy (and not fat!), the rations were carefully worked out by the Ministry of Food scientists to give people just what they needed in terms of nutrition to stay healthy.  The woman who runs the FB group (she's called Carolyn Hyland) also has a website called the 1940s Experiment, she tries to live on wartime rations to both lose weight and save money.  She's quite an authority on wartime rations and is currently writing a book, which will be published next month.  

I'm thinking about giving a wartime diet a try, for a couple of weeks initially.  There's not much meat in it, which suits me just fine actually, although husband won't be quite so keen.  There's plenty of vegetables, fruit is a bit limited as so much of it comes from abroad and it won't be our soft fruit season for a few months yet, and of course apples and pears not till the end of summer.  The only thing that concerns me though is that the rationed diet did contain quite a lot of carbs, and I don't do well eating too many carbs.  But I expect I could get round that, with a bit of thought, eating wholewheat carbs would be better for me and I've read that cooking, freezing and then reheating carby foods makes them less likely to cause glucose spikes.

Have any of you tried a wartime diet, or actually lived through rations (I know rationing of some things continued for a few years after the war)?  I'd be interested to read your experiences.

Garden supplies ordered, new neighbour, baking

 We went to our little local garden centre this morning, so I could order the compost we need and have a look at their bags of gravel and mini slate, I chose gravel in the end and also ordered a bag of grit to mix with the soil for the new rockery we'll be constructing soon.  The garden centre deliver to us, the next day usually, and whilst their goods are a little more expensive than some places, it's worth it to me in terms of saving time getting everything in the one place.  Plus I like to support small local businesses.  Husband though kept wittering on all the time about how we could get things cheaper in some of the other big stores on the trading estate.  I expect we could, but we're only talking a couple of pounds, it would mean going into several different stores, and they're all big national firms, not little local ones that need the money and support more than the big firms do.  He wouldn't let up until I asked him to stop.  The thing is.....it's my money, I'm paying for all this myself so it's up to me what and how much I spend.  It's coming out of my legacy money, when I first received it I gave husband a share and told him he was free to spend it on whatever he wished, as was I.  I reminded him of that, so he shut up.  Everything I've spent or bought out of that legacy has been a carefully considered purchase, I haven't (nor would I) frittered any of it away on frivolous things.

The further down the line husband gets with his steadily declining cognitive stuff, the more petty and money-grabbing he becomes.  He's always been a bit of a miser and always goes for the cheapest of anything - cheap is the first, well the only thing he considers.  And we all know that cheap is not necessarily the best value....as evidenced by most of the very cheap tools he's bought in the past that break on the 2nd or 3rd use.  😒  It seems that some of husband's worst, shall we say, traits are becoming exaggerated as his cognitive decline goes on.

Our new neighbour is moving in within the next couple of weeks, it's a single lady, I've only seen her from a distance.  Our Housing Officer told us her name (she apparently knows her from also being the H/O at the estate where she currently lives) and said she's very nice indeed.  Now that I know her name I'll put a Welcome card through her door.  We got a warm welcome from 2 or 3 of our neighbours when we moved in, so I'd like to do the same for her.

Mixture of sunshine and showers today, with a strong bitterly cold wind so no garden work today.  It's meant to be bright sunshine (and no rain!) Tuesday and Thursday this week, so hopefully we'll be able to get on with more garden stuff then.

I've made another double quantity of oil pastry this morning, half has gone in the freezer.  I've used the first half to make a butternut squash, leek, cheese and sage flan, half of which we'll have for dinner tonight with beans and homemade coleslaw, the remaining half to have cold for lunch with salad tomorrow.  I'm now about to mix up another half white/half wholemeal seeded loaf dough, it'll have an overnight prove and I'll bake it tomorrow.

A good film

 Both of us have aching muscles and back twinges after yesterday's garden efforts, so it's a day of rest for us today....besides, it's raining again.😒  Looks like Tuesday will be the next dry-ish day, so more gardening work then.  I'm so pleased we're able to start working in the garden now, it's been such a long - and very rainy - winter.  If the rain eases up this afternoon, which it should do, albeit briefly, we'll pop to the garden centre and order the bags of compost and slate or gravel for delivery.

Oh, and I forgot to say.....the service provider thing has been settled to our satisfaction and we've been given a refund, so all's well that ends well.

We watched a very heartwarming film last night, called The Great Escaper.  A true story about an ex-serviceman who wanted to attend the 70th anniversary D-Day remembrance service in France, but he'd missed the deadline for the organised trip.  So, instead of giving up and watching it on the TV, he decided, at the age of 90 and living in a care home with his poorly wife, to make the trip to France by himself, with his wife's blessing.  Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson were the old couple, they played the parts really well.  The media got hold of the story and he was welcomed back as a hero by loads of press, much to his surprise (pretty unwelcome surprise at that).  The reason he'd wanted to go was so he could visit the grave of his best friend who had died in the D-Day landings, he was blown up on the beach.....he'd always felt terribly guilty because his friend had died and he'd survived, plus he'd told his friend that it would be ok, adding to his guilt.  He stood in the middle of the Commonwealth cemetery in Bayeux, Normandy, looking out over the sea of around 5,000 graves and cried in despair over the complete waste of young lives, very moving.  Upon his return to England and the care home, his wife told him that he'd had nothing to feel guilty about, his friend getting killed and him surviving was basically a case of bad and good luck, and she'd always been grateful that he'd survived and they'd had a wonderfully happy life together.  I shed a few tears, there were some very poignant moments in it, and it showed the utter futility of war and the massive amount of people killed for no good reason.  He never spoke about his experiences during the war, and nor did my Granddad, who was in the army during WWII, he wouldn't be drawn to talk about any of his war time.  Those men (women too of course, but mostly men on the frontlines) who survived those terrible experiences must have been haunted by those memories to the end of their days, it's a wonder they didn't all go mad.  And still wars go on.

A good and productive morning

 We've had a really productive 4 or 5 hours in the garden today.  Washing hung out, tree planted, husband fixed a fence post that had broken.  I did lots of weeding and pruned 3 large rose bushes.  I dug up 2 clumps of succulent type plants that had appeared in one of the raised beds out of nowhere and put them in pots - free plants for what will be our new rockery.  Picked up loads of dead leaves and twigs blown around the garden and swept the paths.  Pulled up around a dozen or more leeks that hadn't grown properly or were split or had gone to seed.....dug up 4 or 5 useable ones - we needed that raised bed clear for new veg seed sowings from next month.  Two of the raised beds have been topped up with fresh compost, levelled out and then covered over to warm the soil up ready for seed sowing.  We've half filled a dumpy bag with all the prunings, weeds, leaves and twigs.  Bit more to do when the weather is next dry enough, then the bag will be loaded in the car and taken to the tip.  We calculated how many more bags of compost we'll need - probably 6 or 8 - plus a couple of bags of small slate or pebbles, we'll have all that delivered by the local garden centre.  We also need to get a couple of planks or sleepers for husband to renew the edging on one or two sides of the gravel beds.

I'm hoping - well, planning - for all of the garden works to be completed this year, so it's just a question of maintenance after that.  My little legacy is helping to buy all that we need, that windfall has covered lots of small jobs and some small and larger purchases.   

We've stopped for the day now, both of us have aching backs and sore muscles.  We should both sleep well tonight.  Betty was out in the garden with us all morning, she didn't do anything much except follow us around and sniff everything but it's worn her out too.

I see there's nothing much we want to watch on TV tonight, not all of us are sports fans!  I expect we'll look for a film to watch.

If he wants a fight, he'll get it

 Husband's just left to go to the gym (his self-imposed payment suspension starts from 1 March), so I've got an hour to myself and the sun is shining - so it's a good start to the day.  I'm going to pop outside after I've posted this, to have a look round the garden with my notebook, to make notes of what needs doing tomorrow.  Forecast to be sunny all day tomorrow, albeit cold, so I want to take advantage of the sunshine and get the garden ready for planting, the tree we bought last month to provide more privacy between us and the overbearing neighbour needs planting too.  

On the subject of the neighbour, husband had a chat with him yesterday, it seems that building work (he's having his dilapidated old single-storey barn converted to a 2-storey holiday home) will start at the end of next month.  The neighbour then said to husband that he thinks the best thing to do is for him (neighbour) to remove all of our fence and replace it with his own fence, which he says will be 5ft high.  Only it won't be 5ft high, as the ground is lower on his side of the fence, so it will actually only be around 4ft high on our side.  This shows the neighbour's arrogance - 'the best thing' is what HE wants, with no regard whatsoever to what WE want.  Husband, I'm pleased to say, stood his ground and told the neighbour firmly that no, our fence is staying, it's not to be removed.  Husband also pointed out that the existing 3ft high fence doesn't belong to the neighbour, it belongs to us - well, our landlords actually - so neighbour cannot remove it without permission.  Which he's not getting.  We know he wants to put his new fence where our existing fence is, giving him an extra few inches space on his side - land grab in other words.  I've already emailed our landlords to tell them of the neighbour's plans and reiterate that we do not want our fence removed - I have plants growing up it, for a start.  On Monday when our housing officer comes, I'll get her to take photos of our existing fence which she can pass on, with our wishes for the fence to stay, to the appropriate department.  Meanwhile, I shall keep a close eye on what the neighbour is doing and if he shows any signs of starting to remove our fence, we'll be straight out there demanding he stops.  He's a bully and, like all bullies, backs down when confronted, we've already found this out on previous encounters with him.

It's a pity, we really don't want to fall out with neighbours, we just want quiet peaceful enjoyment of our home and garden, particularly as it's our forever home.  But I'm not having him ride roughshod over us, so if he really wants a fight, he'll get one!

Right, off outside whilst the sun is still shining - more showers forecast later.

A stressful shop

 Been to Aldi this morning to do our monthly store cupboard stock up shop, it was quite stressful with some of husband's obsessions and compulsions in full flow.  And when we got home too - I have repeatedly asked husband to leave the unpacking to me and not to put anything away.  The reason being, he just grabs things and shoves them away anywhere, in any cupboard where there's a space, having no regard for like going with like, or putting new stuff at the back and pulling older stuff forward.  Drives me nuts, I spend ages looking for things and having to sort out the cupboards after he's done.  I went to the loo when we got home, only to find he'd already unpacked and put away 1 1/2 bags whilst I was in the loo.  And this was after I'd asked him, once again, as we arrived home to let me put everything away.  It's a compulsion with him, he just can't seem to help himself.  Or he could be doing it just to annoy me!!  (I don't think he is, although it does annoy me!).  I'm relaxing in my room now with a coffee to calm my nerves 😂😒

I buy enough store cupboard stuff each time to last a full month....for the next few months I'm now buying a few extras on top of the normal amount, in order to build up an extra stock for when we get rid of the car in summer.  All the extras are going in 2 large plastic lidded boxes under my bed.  I was pleased with the amount I spent - £89 for 6 bags worth of goods, a month's stock plus the extras, I'd expected it to be around £100.  I wish there was an Aldi in Minehead - there's a Lidl instead, which I'm not so keen on, although I do buy a few things in there from time to time.

We stopped off at the garden centre on the way, I got 2 bags of early potato sets.  No banana shallot sets, although they did have some round ones which I didn't want.  They had banana shallot seeds though, so I got a packet of those instead.  It's forecast to be sunny and dry (hooray!!) on Saturday, albeit colder, so we'll be able to get that tree we bought last month planted.  We'll cover up the beds where the veg seeds are going, to warm up the soil before we sow the seeds next month.

My cleaner popped round yesterday afternoon to say that the next time she's due, she'll actually be on holiday (she'd forgotten!), so she's arranged for a colleague to come and do the job instead.  I've already met this colleague, she cleans for one of our neighbours, she's also very nice.  On the subject of neighbours, we've been told that new neighbours, a married couple, are moving into the empty bungalow across the road within the next couple of weeks, that'll be good (hopefully).

Oh dear (oh well), lovely pastry and losing weight

 Husband came home from the gym yesterday and announced he'd suspended his membership for 4 months - seems they're allowed to do that once a year.  He said he just doesn't feel like going at the moment, which I'd gathered anyway.  Hopefully, he'll have his interest renewed when the weather is better.  He needs to continue to be active - as do I, although I'm certainly more active than he is - so on good weather days I'll suggest we take Betty and go to Blue Anchor bay for a walk along the prom, followed by a coffee in our favourite cafe there.  The only thing is we have to go by car, the bay is only about 2 miles away but it's down a long and winding road that's narrow and single-tracked in places, with no pavement, so not very safe when vehicles go past.  In any case, 2 miles of walking there and the same back is too far for both of us with our various ailments, Betty would be none too keen either, she's not fond of long walks now she's in her dotage.

I made the apple pie with the oil pastry yesterday, it was lovely, nice and crisp and a lovely taste.  The pastry was very easy to roll out, very soft, it did tear in a couple of places but was simple to patch up.  So I'll always make pastry with oil from now on.  Six portions of the pie so some will be frozen.  

My sister has now finally shaken off her respiratory and chest infections and feels well again, she said yesterday it almost feels like she's just woken up from a coma.  She lost a stone in weight whilst she was unwell, poor thing, now she's got her appetite back she'll no doubt put some of that back on, but says not all of it hopefully!  I'm pleasantly surprised to see that I've lost 8lbs since just after Christmas - no diet as such, just good healthy homecooked food, having cut back drastically on UPFs.  I've also been eating smaller portions.  Husband is bemoaning the fact that he hasn't lost any weight, but then he's got an appetite like a horse and isn't very active, so what does he expect?!  He buys himself big bags of nuts from the Grape Tree shop, he claims they're healthy snacks and good for you.....well, yes, but not in the quantity he eats of them, between meals.  But, again, there's no telling him, he's a law unto himself.

I'm starting to think about meals and things to do when husband's relatives come for a visit - his brother and sis-in-law for a weekend next month, then the same bro and sil plus two more sisters for a longer weekend in April.  They're staying in Air BnBs locally but will be having most meals with us.  I think I'll suggest we go out for at least one meal each visit, and probably do buffet-style meals the rest of the time, the guests can bring some of the food.  I'll have to plan a couple of trips out too, these things are always down to me, husband never has any ideas.  We haven't seen the two sisters for a few years, it'll be nice to catch up.  Husband's family are all very loud, it comes of being a big family (10 siblings) and so having to shout to be heard above each other.  So, whilst it will be lovely to see them, with lots (and lots!) of chat and laughter, it will be equally lovely to enjoy the peace and quiet once they've gone!

So nice to see the days getting longer, we opened the curtains at 7.30 this morning and have been closing them around 5.30 pm.  And more of my Spring flower bulbs are opening up, wonderful!

Cleaning, kitchen jobs, washing and gym (another boring post haha)

 I like the new pillow, it's got a firm memory foam middle but a soft outer layer.....however, that and my current top pillow together are too high, I woke up in the early hours with a crick in my neck so discarded the new pillow and just slept on the current one.  I thought that just using one pillow would be too low but, surprisingly, slept well for the rest of the night.  So now I'll probably rotate my pillows, using just one and changing them around every week or so.

Hayley, my cleaner, comes today.  I usually do a few jobs in the kitchen whilst she's here, to keep out of her way, today I'll be making an apple pie, chopping some veg to go with the rest of husband's lamb stew from yesterday, and some coleslaw to have alongside a jacket spud with cheese for me tonight.  Hayley doesn't do the kitchen, at my request, I prefer to do it myself.  Husband, predictably, sits in his armchair watching TV, but does take the dog out when Hayley hoovers, Betty doesn't like the hoover, she follows it around barking at it.

Bit of a gloomy start again, grey sky and we've already had some rain.  It's been so hard getting washing dry these past few weeks, I think I've only managed to get it out on the line 2 or 3 times, and each time I had to get it back in quickly when it started raining.  I'm fed up with having washing on airers indoors, getting in the way and having to walk around them or keep moving them.  I've had the airer out in the car port a few times but when it's cold it doesn't even dry out there.  Roll on Spring!

My DAB radio in the kitchen is affected by the weather too, it's all crackly when the weather's bad.  And my bread dough takes so much longer to prove.  Right, enough moaning.  Husband's just gone to the gym, he didn't go at all last week, he seems to be losing interest, he comes out with a range of fairly feeble excuses not to go.  I've just reminded him that he's paying a direct debit for the gym use every month, so is effectively wasting money if he doesn't go.  I think it's good for him to go, he doesn't over-exert himself, just uses the treadmill and the bike, occasionally a few minutes on the rowing machine, he has been told by GP and cardiologist to keep as active as possible.  If he doesn't go he just sits around doing nothing, he's not active at home and doesn't do any exercises, although he says he does (I've not seen him doing any!).  And of course if/when he goes to the gym, it gives me an hour to myself so another reason why I'm quite keen for him to keep going.  If or when he feels he can't manage the exercise anymore, then of course it'll be best for him to stop.

New pillows and sunshine (not a lot to write about!)

 Thank you for the comments, I'm so pleased I've got the transport issues sorted, such a relief.  Husband seems to have fully accepted that he'll be giving up driving in July (when his car insurance period ends) - however, in view of the way he changes his mind about everything all the time, I wouldn't be surprised if he objects nearer the time.  If necessary (in the event of him refusing to listen to me, e.g.), I'll ask the GP for help in persuading him.

Husband is also now beginning to show an interest in veg growing for this year, he's busy looking up online where to buy banana shallots.  Every search he makes starts with ebay 😒 - his favourite site.  When we go to Aldi later in the week, we'll drop in to the garden centre on the way, it's bigger and better stocked than our little garden centre in Minehead.  I'm sure we'll be able to get shallot sets in there, as well as potatoes for chitting.  I'll have a look at their veg seeds too.

When I bought my new mattress (which is so comfortable) and new bedding a few weeks back, I also bought a pair of pillows - one for husband, the other to replace one of mine.  I've always had 2 pillows, a medium memory foam middle one on top (I've had the present one a year or 2 and it's lovely and comfy), with a thinner firmer one on the bottom, that one I've had several years and had seen better days.  Well, the new bottom pillow is awful, supposed to be medium firmness but in reality it's like soft cotton wool, no support at all and the filling quickly ends up bunched up by the headboard.  I noticed that our local Lidl have bedding in their middle aisles from today, so went to have a look this morning and bought a lovely pillow, which I think will be just right, from the selection of half a dozen that they had.  The test will come tonight, of course.  Husband also has 2 pillows, from a choice of 6 or 7 in his room - he complains about all of these pillows and regularly rotates them.  He's really hard on pillows, he thumps and shakes them about before he gets into bed and several times during the night (one of the reasons why we sleep in separate rooms), he reckons he can never get comfortable.  I'm not surprised his pillows are uncomfortable, he thumps them so much they're all misshapen and lumpy.

This morning it's been lovely and sunny, still cold but it's so nice to see the sun....showers are forecast for this afternoon and the sky is already clouding over.  The forecasters have apparently said there'll be further rain for the next 14 days.....how comforting! 😂😒 (not).  On the bright side, I've got hyacinths blooming in a pot in the front garden, some narcissi in bud that look ready to open in the next few days, and pale yellow primroses in the rockery outside the kitchen window, so signs of Spring are appearing at last.

Husband's having lamb stew out of the freezer for dinner today, I'm having the normal roast dinner veg, with some stuffing.

Things are looking up!

 I spent time in the kitchen yesterday, firstly I made the oil pastry, it was so simple and quick.  I made a double quantity, halved it and froze it for use sometime next week, probably for a homity pie and maybe an apple pie for next weekend.  Then I made Prof Tim Spector's pecan and chocolate cookies, the ones he made on his What Not to Eat programme, the recipe is here Tim Spector's Pecan Chocolate Cookies | The Doctor's Kitchen.  They're very nice but I think need baking for longer than he says....they were very soft indeed and fell apart when picked up, even when cold.  They're very rich and satisfying, you couldn't eat loads of them at once, they'd fill you up!  It's because they're made with almond flour (I just whizzed up 200g of skin-on almonds in my little processor, not having any almond flour to hand), so lots of protein and healthy fats.  Husband really likes them too, although he claims not to like almonds and wouldn't have even tried them if I'd told him they had ground almonds in.  He actually thought they tasted of walnut, which he does like.

I made more bread dough, this time along with the strong white I added 100g fine oats and 50g dark rye.  It rose nicely overnight, I've briefly kneaded and shaped it and put it in a bread tin for the final rise before being baked.  I've got back into the swing of breadmaking now and aim to make 2 loaves a week.

There's a door-to-door minibus scheme run by the local council, I've discovered, you have to register with them and then ring to book your travel giving 24 hours notice.  The costs are very cheap, costs no more than £2.70 with a concessionary bus pass (which we both now have) for a return trip.  A very nice man rang within minutes of me signing up online, to check a couple of things - did either of us have any mobility aids (not yet!) and as I'd said Yes to husband having a carer, was it me or someone else?  I took the opportunity to ask him if they accepted dogs on the minibus, he said they positively welcomed dogs, as long as they were well behaved and on a lead.  So now we have transport in place for trips to the GP or local hospital once husband gives up driving in July, and we know we can get Betty to the vets when necessary.  And door-to-door service, how great is that?!  It's such a weight off my mind.  We'll try it out soon, just to see how it works.

We've had a few heavy showers (surprise surprise) this morning, but interspersed with beautiful blue sky and sunshine - how lovely it is to see the sun, makes me feel more cheerful straight away.  Our local weathermen said yesterday that we've had some quantity of rain every single day since the start of this year - don't we know it!!

I'm writing a shopping list for our monthly trip to Aldi next week, I buy lots of store cupboard staples in there.  Husband is happily settled in his armchair watching a lot of sport, with the Winter Olympics and 6 Nations rugby it'll be hard to prise him out of the chair to do anything.

My BB (Beautiful Betty) is completely back to normal now, thank goodness, it was hard seeing her so poorly at the start of the week.

Thanks!

 Thank you all so much for your oil pastry comments and recipes, very helpful and I now feel confident about giving it a go.....possibly for a chicken and veg pie on Sunday.  Watch this space!

The bread I made yesterday following an overnight prove is blimmin lovely, even without the seeds.  I'm going to be making bread once or twice a week from now on, trying to get husband out of the habit of buying mass-produced sliced bread.  The one habit I would really like to get him out of is adding salt to everything he eats - as a heart patient on loads of meds, he's not supposed to eat loads of salt.  I'm flogging a dead horse though, he's done it all his life (even without first tasting the food, which has always struck me as a bit of an insult to the cook) and won't be told, he even adds salt to tinned baked beans, frozen chips etc, things which I have reminded him umpteen times already have salt added.  Well, it's his body and health, if he doesn't want to keep himself as fit as possible and prolong his life, then that's up to him I suppose.

Well, the tree fellers didn't turn up yesterday, despite saying they would come and give us a quote, they finished the job they were doing nearby, packed up and left.  They obviously don't want or need our business then, perhaps just one tree wasn't enough for them, they were cutting down 3 or 4 in a neighbour's garden.  

Horrible rain all day again today, so grey and dreary.  It is supposed to be better at the weekend though, I really hope so.

Betty is almost back to normal, she was wanting to play a bit last night and even barked when she saw the postman through the window this morning - that's the first time she's barked in several days.

Growing veg list made, and oil pastry anyone?

 Betty's not entirely back to herself, although is certainly much better.  Hopefully, she'll continue to improve over the next couple of days.  No sickness today and she's drunk a little lukewarm water.  She's even started showing some interest in food, standing in the kitchen staring up at the shelf where her food and treats are stored, so I might chance giving her a tiny food portion later.

I tried talking to husband about veggies to grow this year, he showed very little interest - the TV wasn't on, for a change, and he wasn't on his computer so it's not like he was distracted, he just didn't seem interested.  So I've gone ahead and made a list of what I want to grow, and planned where to sow or plant the veggies, making sure I'm not growing them in the same beds as last year.  We're only going to grow tomatoes (2 types), mini cucumbers, carrots, shallots, courgettes (green and yellow), potatoes in bags and climbing French beans, all things that grow well here and we eat a lot of.  I shan't be bothering with butternut squash, aubergines or leeks this year - the first two didn't do particularly well last year and we don't eat enough of them to warrant trying to grow again.  Leeks are cheap enough to buy and I wouldn't say there's enough of a flavour difference in the homegrown ones.  Husband grew far too many last year, we've still got loads in the raised bed.  The carrots and French beans we'll grow from seed, everything else we'll buy as mini plants.  We won't make the mistake of last year when we bought some of them too early, they mostly rotted away and we had to buy more later on, they soon catch up.  We'll get some seed potatoes tomorrow and have a look for shallot sets, I like the banana ones (easier to peel and chop).

There's a gang of tree fellers cutting down some trees in a garden nearby, husband's been and had a word with them to see if they'll cut down and take away the horrible yucca tree in our garden, if the price is right.  They'll come for a look and give us a quote when they've finished their present job.  I hope they do take the yucca away, that'll be one garden job crossed off the list.

I made a chicken mince risotto yesterday, using pearl barley instead of rice - really nice and I think I preferred the barley to rice, a nice chewy texture.  Very filling as well.  Tonight we're having cod poached in a little milk with parsley and dill, and a veggie bake thing out of the freezer made with some of the cheap Christmas veggies - grated potato, parsnips and carrots, chopped onions, herbs and spices and an egg to bind, with some grated Parmesan and breadcrumbs on top.  I baked the loaf that I started yesterday, it's come out better than the last one I made, more oven spring so a bit taller.

I want to have a go at making pastry next, using oil instead of butter/lard.....I'm not brilliant at pastry making, never have been, think I probably handle it too much.  I'm hoping using oil means I'll be stirring instead of rubbing in the fat, so less handling and a less tough pastry.  Have any of you made oil pastry?  There are plenty of recipes online and I know Thrifty Lesley always makes it this way.  I'd like to avoid buying readymade chilled pastry packs from now on, they have an alarming list of ingredients including palm oil, preservatives and emulsifiers.

Poorly Betty part 2

 We took Betty to the vet this afternoon, she was still being sick this morning, not eating, hardly drinking much water and still very listless, she wasn't herself at all.  I didn't give her anything to eat yesterday, but offered her a little plain scrambled egg at lunchtime today - she wouldn't touch it.  I was also a bit worried about her hardly drinking, and being so lethargic and quiet, most unlike her.  She hardly even had the strength to wag her tail, which she always does when I talk to her.  

The vet, who's a lovely man, questioned us about her sickness and poo and general demeanor and gave her a thorough examination, checking her gums, eyes and running his hands all over her, especially her stomach.  He said in his opinion it was a simple case of gastritis, probably caused by her ingesting something which didn't agree with her - she can be a bit of a scavenger when out on walks, or even in the garden, she does like digging and nosing around in the bushes.  I mentioned my concern about her becoming dehydrated, due to not drinking much water - the vet said actually she shouldn't have any water for at least 12 hours after the last time of being sick, which surprised me.  He said a dog of her chunky size wouldn't become dangerously dehydrated for around 72 hours, so not to worry.  He also said when we do give her a drink, make it lukewarm water (cold water could upset her stomach further) and just a few sips to start with.  And no food for 48 hours, and then only 1/4 of her normal portion.  She's not been sick anymore this afternoon, vet said if she starts being sick again after we reintroduce water and food, to take her back to him.  Oh, he gave her an anti-emetic injection so she shouldn't continue being sick.

It cost me a lot for a 10-min consultation and 1 injection, but it's put my mind at rest.  She's currently fast asleep in her own bed beside my chair in my bedroom.  Hopefully, she'll start to pick up tomorrow, I hate seeing her so subdued, I love her to bits.

I've made bread dough this afternoon, it'll be having a long overnight prove before being baked probably late morning tomorrow.  I'm going to try and get in the habit of making bread once or twice a week.  I use 300g strong white flour, 100g strong wholemeal and 100g brown rye flour, with a couple of tbsp of mixed seeds.  Except I've just realised I forgot to put the seeds in this one!  I could knead some in tomorrow morning....

Added this morning:-

We all had a good night, no sick to clear up this morning and Betty seems much better - tail up and wagging, much brighter.  What a relief.

Poorly Betty, and another CI development

 Woke up this morning to the sound of Betty being sick, it transpired that she'd thrown up a few times in different places indoors sometime in the early hours of this morning.  She was also sick a couple more times outside a bit later on, although it was more or less dry heaving by then, her stomach being empty.  She doesn't appear to be in any pain, although is quite subdued, she's had a few mouthfuls of water 2 or 3 times and has wee'd normally.  She's currently asleep on my bed (on a double-folded fleece blanket), where she's been for the last hour or so.  I'm not overly concerned but will certainly be keeping a close eye on her for the rest of the day, hopefully the sleep will do her good.  If she's hungry later I'll give her a scrambled egg, if she manages that ok and doesn't throw it up then I'll do her a little bit of plain cooked chicken mince with plain boiled rice this evening.  She's not been sick for about 4-5 hours or so now, so hopefully it was nothing more than a stomach upset and she'll be on the mend.  Bless her, I don't like to see my baby feeling unwell.

I've noticed husband has been getting a bit verbally abusive lately - not towards me, well no more than usual, but shouting at or being insulting towards people on TV.  I don't mean specific people such as the USA president (although he does have a few choice words to say about him!), it's just random actors or even normal people being interviewed on the news - if they're saying things husband doesn't agree with or considers stupid, or even just some aspect of their appearance, he'll say something very insulting or rude about them, or swear at the TV.  Hopefully, it's just a phase which he'll soon get past, like his other random obsessions.  I hope he doesn't do it in front of visitors (we're having some visitors in March and April) - but then again, if he does and as they're family members, some of whom we haven't seen for some time, it might open their eyes as to just how much the cognitive impairment is now affecting him.  And me.

A bit less rain forecast for this coming week, although heavy rain and wind due overnight and all day tomorrow, but Wednesday looks much better, possibly even sunshine in the afternoon.  More showers Thursday and Friday though, but drier over the weekend.  Not so cold now, so that's good.  If the sun does appear on Wednesday, I think we'll go out somewhere, it'll be nice to have a walk along the promenade.

My new chair is lovely and comfy, very back supportive as Cherie said, and with it being higher than a standard armchair, it's much easier to get up from.