Tuesday 9th August 2022

Back to work. With no appointments at least until Friday.

And again, there is to be a heatwave. Starting either Wednesday or THursday, peaking on Saturday and Sunday and breaking on Tuesday.

Maybe even rain next week.

Maybe.

There is going to be a hosepipe ban from Friday, and most of England is now burnt brown to a crisp. Photographs from space shows just Snowdonia in Wales as being green. Water companies have taken £72 billion out of the industry and paid themselves or their shareholders withat. THat was the profit we were told their economies would mean we would not have to pay for new infrastructure. Butthey failed to do this, and bled the country, literally, dry.

I was going to cut the lawnmeadow this week, but no point now until it rains, and rains a lot. Until then flowers beds are parched and plants are wilting.

I make sure the cannas are watered and the two ponds are topped up. The four frogs in the small pond at the top of the garden were shocked at the sudden deluge.

But, to work.

I had a day's mails to deal with once I logged on, and once I had dealt with both of them (ha!), I made breakfast, had another coffee, and had a call with two of my colleagues to catch up on the latest news and/or gossip.

That done, it was done to the task of the day: reviewing a presentation cost of poor quality, which raised more questions than it answered, but some answers were good.

Now, I have to say, that despite the number of steps I do on a weekly bais, I have been putting weight on. I put this down to the damn fine bread I make, so this week I tried something different: vegetable chilli.

So, through the morning I make the sauce then add a can of black beans and a can of baked beans. And a whole can of chipotle chillies. And then let it simmer for a couple of hours.

I had it at lunch, and blew the back of my head off. I looked in the fridge and the only yogurt I had was the flavoured one, but one that hadn't been mixed yet. Even still there was the hint of sweet jam in with the now passible chilli, which was yet more veg, and the only carbs the rice I added.

I mailed Jools with a request to buy some soured cream on the way home

It was too hot for a walk, even a wander round the garden was hot. I took shots of the sunflower that had grown from the birdseed.

Not much else to tell. I lay on the sofa after finishing work, having drunk a pint of squash. Until cats woke me up reminding me it was dinner time.

I rustled up a small focaccia load, and prepare caprese, which I planned to have with the rest of the red wine from Monday.

It pays to have a plan.

For the evening there was football to watch, and then to follow Norwich via the magic of Twitter. That went to penalties, as it was the League Cup, beating Birmingham 4-2 after the game ended 2-2.