Sunday Bliss

I love Sundays, I always have. When I was a little girl, I used to go to Sunday School with my big sister. We wore our best clothes, and a lovely old (to me then, probably not more than in her 50s really!) lady used to collect us and take us. We used to do lots of lovely colouring, then have a sweet from a jar for being good, before going into church just in time for the blessings. The air was scented with incense, which I love, and sometimes there was a Teddy Bears Picnic, or we would make an Easter Garden or Palm Crosses. When we got home, we would watch The Waltons while Mum cooked one of her amazing roast dinners...usually chicken, with a roasting pan of gravy bubbling on the hob.

Sundays now are different, we don't really go to church anymore unless it is Harvest Festival or a special service. It is the only day of the week I never have to work, and lately we have started going for a swim together, and then having breakfast in town, perhaps buying a newspaper, or taking a gentle wander through town. This Sunday, for a change, we went to Hylands House which is a short drive away. It has huge gardens and woods and although it was cold it was dazzlingly bright, and it was a joy to wander about. I am rather scared of dogs so ended up having to jump behind poor Carl once or twice, but other than that it was lovely. I took some photographs which I will download soon to share with you.

When we got home I was really chilled through, so I had a wonderfully long soak in the bath. Alas, Boots have discontinued it now, but they did a Clary Sage and Bergamot bubble bath for a while, and I had some of that, and a hot cup of tea. I love afternoon baths!

I put in the slow cooker a dish which turned out to be delicious, but when I make it again, I will put it in a slow oven instead. I cut up 300g of lamb into bite sized pieces, and threw it in with a chopped red onion, a tin of tomatoes, a diced red pepper, half a cubed aubergine, some cinnamon and oregano. We let it cook for ages, and threw in some fresh mint and diced feta at the end, and ate it on a bed of rice. I put it in the oven to bake for a bit, and it reduced down and went all thick and sludgy, just what I was hoping for...as now I can use the leftovers to fill pitta breads with! Carl says that if I make it again I should use a bit more lamb, and to be honest I probably agree....but it is nice to see how far you can stretch these things!

I was hoping to settle down to a nice long post, but a lovely friend has invited us to dinner tonight, and in an email she mentioned cinnamon and chocolate meringues, so I must away! Wherever you are tonight, I hope you have something delicious awaiting you...and a big thank you to everyone for your lovely kind comments!