Today I heard the alarm at 7am and turned it off!  Then woke up at 9am (oops that’s 2 productive hours lost).  Went downstairs and dithered about hanging washing out because it had clearly rained a lot in the night and was still overcast.  Had smoothy and granola.  Decided to hand out the washing anyway,  as of now it is dry (3 hours later)!  Made a bran loaf because partner and older daughter like it for breakfast.  There’s another way to make kids eat something that’s good for them – call it fruit cake!  I would spread margarine or butter on it but in fact they eat it without which is no doubt better for you!  Recipe is on another post.

I peeled and chopped potatoes and put into a bowl of water,  peeled and chopped carrots (in water in saucepan) chopped the green beans and broccoli (in plastic bags in fridge).  Partner’s mother comes to dinner most Sunday nights so we tend to have roast chicken or gammon (kids not keen on any other meat) with all trimmings and a pudding/dessert.  In the winter I make crumbles or pies with fruit frozen from the summer but in the summer I tend to buy shop cheesecakes or similar cool desserts.  This is a weekly task so I shan’t repeat every post!

If we have a chicken I tend to roast it early doors in the morning with olive oil drizzled over it and some ground pepper or some bacon it we have any in,  not often.  I cover it in foil and cook it for a couple of hours on 180 degrees (we have a fan oven).  If I remember I take the foil off around 30 minutes before the end so it browns up.  Then when it has cooled I rip it apart and put into a casserole.  I then reheat it in gravy before we need to eat (make sure its piping hot).  That way I don’t have to worry about a substantial chicken being cooked just in time to feed the hungry mouths.  If you have time you can boil the carcass to make stock,  there will be plenty of juices in the tray the chicken was cooked in as well,  I use a heavy pottery tray (like Le Creuset but it isn’t, sadly) which is ok on the gas hob so if you half fill with water and boil it on the hob not only does it make great stock (add sea salt, ground pepper and mixed herbs whilst its simmering over a low heat) but it also cleans the stuck on bits off the tray thus making it much easier to wash up.  You can freeze the stock,  wait until it is totally cool then put it into a labelled large freezer bag.  This can then be used to make gravy another time or to make soups if it is winter.  Do this for any joint you roast its well worth it.

Older daughter crawled down about 10 am and watched Christmas crafts channel which seems a bit early but I suppose one has to be prepared!  (and in fact the pub yesterday we were greeted in the porch with “Ho ho ho book now for Christmas” and they actually have a full Christmas display).  After that she switched to Mary Berry’s favourites so I did have to sit down and watch that (I’m not really a telly person).  Since then the telly has been hopped between the golf and the tennis.  If sport is on the telly then in this house you can bet someone will be watching it.  We have BT Sport (originally for the rugby which I have to admit is brill to have all the time in the season) but not Sky.  So rugby takes precedence over everything else in this house followed by anything else really,  football in the winter and cricket highlights in the summer are probably second choice.  I sometimes try to watch speedway but in fact this year I have not had time to watch any of the Grands Prix at all just lack of time (and lack of telly time,  always someone watching when I would like to call up the recordings).

Queenie teenies crawled down at lunch time,  had cereal then had lunch!  Older daughter went to play cricket (she plays in 2 men’s teams,  one 2nd team on a Saturday afternoon and one Sunday afternoon team,  she also plays in a women’s team on a Wednesday night although that is not a standard game format).  Son and partner have gone to play golf.  Andy Murray game on the telly is now so gripping that I am going to have to love this blog soon and watch properly.  Sun is shining,  maybe I shall go for a walk with the tennis on headphones or updates on my phone.  Or more likely re-tackle that massive falling over pile of ironing and some hovering so that the house is not such a pig stye when Granny comes round later.

I shall see you in the week.  As I work full time maybe not such detail or as often as at the weekend but “I’ll be back”