Wednesday

Welcome to Wednesday.  Wet, dark (well, it would be at this time of day) Wednesday.  It's obviously been raining for a while and still is.  What a change from the last two days.

Borrowed from Google Images

Yesterday was a glorious Autumn day filled with sun (once he decided to put his hat on, come out and play) and drifting leaves.  I love this time of year when, for no reason, a shower of leaves flutter down around you, like snowflakes but warmer, leaving behind them on their twig a promise for next spring.

I did mean to get dressed early but ended up lazy with the justification that it would normally be my working day so I was entitled to take things easy.  Ha!!!  I managed to get the pigs in blankets made and into the freezer and I nicked a few slices of bacon for my breakfast.  It was going to have a bacon sandwich but there was some quiche mixture left over from Monday so I added some flour to it and fried dollops in the bacon fat to make mini pancakes - very nice they were too!

I have long promised myself a day at Hyde Hall on a sunny Autumn day but, somehow, all half terms so far have been packed with Things I Had To Do or raining!  That's the nature of half terms - they are called holidays but, in reality, you work harder than usual, just on different things.  Assessments and planning take a fair chunk of the time, plus all the usual 'must do' things, family visits and a goodly chunk of Christmas planning.

So yesterday was the day my long held wish was fulfilled and I was delighted to have a friend with me to share.  Nicer than going by oneself.

When we got there I was surprised that the car park was chockablock full and the overflow park was open - not that it affected us as we were able to park in the disability parking area (legally!!!) which is close to the cafe and shop.  We had lunch first and the soup was sweet potato and red pepper.  Absolutely delicious.  You also get a hunk of beautifully fresh bread, white or something else, and yesterday the something else was walnut bread.  MUST make some, it was wonderful.

After that we headed off up the hill and started exploring.  J is as bad as I am at continually taking photos so it was stop, start, stop, start which suits me down to the ground!  It was glorious.  The sun set the autumnal leaves ablaze with rich, glorious colour and I am hoping I will have a few good photographs from the rather-a-lot I snapped.  We chatted, explored and admired, visited the vegetable garden which had an amazing squash, gourd and pumpkin display (and which has been changed somewhat which is why it was closed last time I visited, I guess), meandered down to the lake and then headed back to the car in order to get past the Army and Navy roundabout before the rush hour started.  And all the while the sun smiled on us apart from one very short spell when he sulked behind a cloud.

I slept well last night!

By the way, it was very busy because they had specials for children all through the week.  Art sessions, woodland walks, the pumpkin patch, etc.  Good for them.  The children were all, without exception, great.  They politely made way for J's wheelchair when necessary and noticed when we were taking photos so stopped so as to keep out of the way, they were noisy but not raucous, they were friendly and were quite obviously having the time of their lives.  Fantastic.

Today, amazingly, I have absolutely nothing on my calendar.  I might have gone down to the allotment for a short while but not in the rain, being a fair weather gardener!  I will probably do some Christmas meal and shopping list planning, sort out the freezers (long overdue), make some bread and - er - well, whatever grabs me at the time.  How lovely!

Yesterday I asked for advice on quiche ratios - meaning what ratio of eggs to milk/cream is the best.  Different recipes have different suggestions/instructions and, assuming they all work, I am starting to conclude that actually, withing a fairly broad framework, it probably doesn't matter all that much.  However, I want something that I can remember easily.  One recipe suggested 3 eggs to half a pint while another said 2 eggs to 300 mls.  Another suggested a 1:2 ratio in weight but neglected to say whether the eggs were shelled or unshelled and what size they were and that does make a difference!  I shall continue exploring and see if I can come to a general sort of conclusion.

I find my bread recipe so easy to remember and the all in one cake recipe I use is great - weigh the eggs in their shells and add the same weight of flour, sugar and butter/marg.  Easy peasy!  Something like that's what I was wanting really.  Any ideas?

Today's food:
Breakfast:  toast and marmalade
Lunch:  corn chowder, bread and butter
Dinner:  Jacket potato with cheese, salad, ham, apple