Another lovely day

I have had another lovely day today which started off with me going to another good friend's home this morning to spend some quality time with her.  The sun was lovely and warm and we spent sometime in the garden and then it got a little too hot and so retreated to the shade of the kitchen.  Had a lovely lunch of seeded bread, Greek salad and smoked hummus  It was delicious.  Very simple but delicious.

I then returned to the land of the living this afterno7on.  I needed to stock up on veggies and came back with a cauliflower, courgette, red pepper, yellow pepper, cherry tomatoes, red onion, white onions (a whole net) some garlic.  I then fetched broccoli, carrots, kale, leeks, from the Co-op oh and frozen peas.  We are well stocked up for the week now on veggies.

OH in the meantime had paid a visit to M & S and come home with a tagine, some Quinoa, sweet potato chips and a couple of lamb shanks.  We had the tagine for tea this evening with the Quinoa and also some Cous-cous which also went down very nicely.  I had aready got out for dinner tomorrow a whole leg of lamb to be served simply with the veggies so the lamb shanks have gone into the freezer for a later date.  The tagine was not too bad.

We then went for a walk down to Ferry Meadows  - not our usual walk.  The sun was shining, the air was balmy and we walked for quite a distance.  Missy was panting a little and we tried to get her into the edge of the lake for a dip but the Swans kept coming up defending their territory. In the end OH found a spot and chucked her in.  We spent some time throwing a stick out for her which she kept retrieving which was a novelty because on dry land she does not bother too much with the stick.

Whist we were out I came across a large patch of wild water mint.  I have since made some home made Wild Mint sauce to accompany the lamb.

I am hoping to go down to Ferry Meadows again over the weekend to see what other wildings I can find to turn into something for the pantry shelf.  I shall hopefully get some more of the water mint and dry it down for a mint tea and possibly a long keeping mint sauce to use predominantly during the winter months and mint oils for cooking and also as a muscle rub.  I am also trying to root a couple of pieces to grow in the garden.  Will see what happens.

We have since ben invited out to have a spot of lunch with our friends tomorrow so it looks as though the lamb will be cooked on Monday.  I think OH is working on Monday so it will be a good meal for him to come back into.

The next door neighbours are having a bit of a party.  I do hope that they are not too late.

So all in all it has been another lovely day.

My friend who I went out with last night has also organised a little London trip for us both in December.  I love ballet and have never ever been to a live production. LJ is my oldest friend and I had not realised that she loved the ballet or that indeed she had been to a live performance.  She has booked for us to go to the Sadlers Wells production of the Red Shoes.  Something to look forward to and I feel very privileged and very very lucky.

I am also hoping over the weekend to get out into the garden to do a little work.  I actually love gardening and getting stuck in and making things look good again.  I have some brackets and shelves I want OH to put up for me in due course so that I can put some planters up out of the way.    I will shortly need to get the herbs started up and also do a re-stock of the herb garden in particular.  I love using fresh herbs during the spring and summer months as it adds so much extra flavour to simple dishes in particular.  I also want to get some baking done and also some simple cheese made.  

I still have a lot to do in the sorting out stakes but slowly ever so slowly we are getting there. However I need to get back to the grind and get some more stuff sorted out.  It has been lovely to be out and about again.

We seem to have worn Missy out as she is quite grumpy tonight.  The slightest movement and she is growling at us and voicing her displeasure.  She will get over it.

Right am off to get my clothes ready for tomorrow. Enjoy the Easter Holiday.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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