Duvet Days

It's been raining heavy for what feel like weeks now. I'm sure it's not actually weeks but nonetheless, that's what it feels like. Outside everything is saturated, soggy, sopping wet. The rain is like a relentless morse code tapping on the roof, pausing every so often to catch its breath, showing a glimpse of a blue sky and a ray of sunlight coming through before picking up where it left off. It's the perfect weather for a duvet day.

I managed a solid eleven hours of sleep on Monday night. I woke up on Tuesday my body sore from spending too much time horizontally, but my head fantastically clear compared to my state of mind over the few days preceding that. I blame the full moon, I never sleep right for about a week and find myself wondering what the hell is wrong with me until I realise it's out lunar companion in the sky messing with my sleep pattern.

Lily having a duvet day

I didn't venture far yesterday. Only as far as the shops to pick up a few bits I needed to make butternut squash soup. That was after I had chased one of the cats around the house to give her a tablet. For the first few days I was able to stick the tablet in her mouth and wait for her to swallow it. She soon copped onto this and somehow developed an ability to hold onto the tablet until I let her go, after which she spat the tablet onto the floor by my feet and ran off. My next tactic was to wrap the tablet in some salami. his worked a treat until she realised what was going on, and ate the salami around the tablet and proceeded to bat the tablet around the kitchen floor until it ended up under the fridge out of reach to both human and feline paws. Currently I'm wrapping the tablets in ham. When she sniffs out this ruse, I'm at a loss. What next?

Soon-to-be soup

This weather is perfect for duvet days, lazy days, days spent on the sofa by the fire with a good book. I love cooking on days like this, too. The warmth in the kitchen wards off the rain, and cooking with no deadlines and no time limitations can be very therapeutic. It's proper me-time. Just me and my ingredients, hands in the mixing bowl, measuring ingredients, binding them together, feeding more than just hungry bellies. Yesterday it was meat loaf with hidden boiled eggs inside (I think I got that one from Nigella). Blueberry pie with custard for dessert. All gobbled up by the fire, under a blanket big enough for two. Bliss.

Blueberry pie

I haven't set foot outside today, still waiting for it to stop raining for long enough to put the bin down. The road outside looks more like a river right now, so I have no immediate plans to venture outside any time soon. I have a loaf of bread in the oven, the whole house smells beautiful. I'll make myself a cup of strawberry tea and curl up on the couch beside the cat and read another few chapters of The Fry Chronicles.

Happy, rainy days.

Pottering about

It's my day off and I'm not really sure what to do. Yesterday was spent in a blissful state of do-nothingness and I am starting to feel that I should get off my backside and do something today. I've been to the shops, not sure if that counts?

I cooked awesome bangers and mash last night, garlic and herb sausages with creamy mashed potatoes with little spring onion mixed in. I, typically (another thing picked up from mommy dearest), made enough mash to last two people a good three days. The leftover mash has now been designated for shepherd's pie topping. Shepherd's pie which I'm going to be making for dinner.

Right now I'm trawling through my millions of recipe books to find a quick and simple recipe for peach pie or tart or any sort of baked dessert which includes peaches. I have has that tin of peach slices in the cupboard for too long now and I fear that if it doesn't get used up soon, it'll walk out of there by itself. Hence the mad recipe-browsing.

Mr S showed up yesterday with a wireless router. He bought it for his bar, to offer free WiFi and I am ever so kindly trying it out to see whether or not it actually works. Two laptops and my iPhone, all online at the same time. Talk about multitasking.

Anyway, back to my peaches...