Thursday 19th January 2017

The fridge is looking a little bit bare these days, as we work our way through the cheese mountain and home brew lake. THere is just the cranberry Wensleydale, Stilton and a family sized block of super-strong cheddar left. As for beer, about 20 bottles I guess, and because of the different amounts of sugar put in each, each bottle is very different. A beery lucky dip if you want. Anyway, the reason I mention this is that there were some cold Yorkshire puddings left in the fridge, would it be downmarket to have them for breakfast?

Apparently not, but with a huge cup of coffee, three cold and dried so crispy puddings were made to vanish. And very nice they were too. I mean, people have cold pizza for breakfast, and fish curry, so what's wrong with that? Just don't think less of me....

Anyway, with such a fine start to the morning, and another spanking day outside, things should be going my way. And the work I put in the day before paid dividends as the problems were sorted, and I could get on with the job I had planned for yesterday.

I was working at ten past seven, and with meeting after meeting until half eleven, it vanished and thoughts soon turned to lunch. And looking in the barer fridge, I saw some butter and a jar of mincemeat, so mince pies it was. I mix up some pastry, plop in the mincemeat and pop their tops on, into the oven they go, and twenty minutes later there were ready, all golden and lovely. But they did have to cool.

So, with another hot brew, I make two of the pies disappear, and they are lovely, a mix of buttery pastry and spicy filling. Very Festive.

Anyway, the day passes into afternoon, I do my travel expenses, never as bad as feared, and so at three, with another update crashed my work computer, I give up for the day and watch an episode of Time Team on TV before popping in some spuds into the oven to make jackets.

The house filled with the smell of baking potatoes, and so was glorious, and all ready, deep and crisp and even by six, ready for when Jools come back home from work. I make brews, take the spuds out and plonk them on plates, cut open and fill with butter. Perfect.

We watch a documentary on fungi, we had seen it before, but now with our own collection growing in the garden, we are very eager to learn about them.

And that was the day, really.