Did you know that........

On Friday, I had to go to Chelmsford to get some fabric for Nickie off the market. While I was there, I went to the cheap magazine stall, 3 for £1.60. I wouldn't normally look at the painter magazine, but thought it might be useful for Kezzy. When I glanced through it, there is an article on silk painting, using Inktense pencils. I bought some after being on a course with Francis Pickering, but didn't know they could be used on silk. Hmmm, something else to try in a spare moment! I did lots of cooking Friday, a special meal for Rhodri's birthday, and then start preparing a meal for four of Alan's friends who came for dinner last night.
The menu was 'Teabag Stew' a.k.a. Beef Carbonade ( it was nicknamed teabag stew by the children when they were young, because they saw the bouquet garni going in it. Root vegetable gratin( this is a tasty meal for a veggie), roast potatoes, peas and broccoli. For desserts I made, Tiramasu, Raspberry Charlotte, and what should have been Spiced Apple and Blackberry Pie but ended up being called Ramsden Mess, because the fruit made so much juice, the pie disintegrated when I moved it from the baking tray to the serving dish. Quickly made a Apple and Pinenut Crumble instead.
I was hoping by doing a lot of the cooking Friday night, I would have some time to do a bit of stitching yesterday, but due to a problem in our en-suite, that idea went out of the window. Luckily Alan was able to sort it out, though I was a bit worried when water started leaking through the dining room ceiling!
This morning Nickie came round to collect a 'doggy bag', as I promised her any left overs from our meal. She ended up with only two puddings, not living up to her nickname of ' three pudding Nick' from when we had a meal at the Hilton several years ago, and she couldn't choose which pudding to have so had three!