Friday Food: Salted Spiced Choc-Caramel Slice

I was tossing up between the caramel slices in the new GoodFood Australia and Better Homes & Gardens magazines, but my lack of a cooking thermometer sealed the deal. (Oops, I used the BH&G recipe RoseRed!!)  I know I have time to faff about with one, but people who have a real life probably don't. I have put a cooking thermometer on my birthday list!!!

The recipe calls for an Earl Grey tea bag, and though I had one, I am glad I made an executive decision and left it out. When stirring the caramel it was tricky enough avoiding the cinnamon stick and I'm still not sure the caramel doesn't have a little bark in it somewhere. I am not a vigorous stirrer, but a tea bag wouldn't have lasted five seconds, I could just see tea leaves being spread all through the caramel.

I also decided not to spend $8-75 for a whole box of sea salt flakes, I just used some coarsely ground sea salt from the pantry.I tasted the caramel and the base and it was certainly interesting, quite pleasant, but I think you need the whole slice experience with the chocolate and salt as well. I'm giving it the thumbs up!!!

The front cover is a little deceptive, what you actually make with the recipe bears only some resemblance to the photo they have used. Some careful reading inside informs you that you need to use a square pan and double the filling to make the thick caramel, so bear that in mind.

Other than that, this was an easy and fun slice to make and it would make an ideal Easter Gift!!

Next week I am planning some Easter cooking, so there may be a post or two extra: easy fudge, caramel easter egg slice, coconut cherry eggs, two kinds of bunny biscuits, chocolate melting moments and hot cross cupcakes.

 

Salted Spiced Choc-Caramel Slice   makes 12-16 pieces

For the base:

• 3/4 cup plain flour
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 120g unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/2 tspn ground cinnamon

For the caramel filling:

• 50g unsalted butter cubed
• 1/4 cup golden syrup
• 1 tspn ground cardamom
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/2 tspn ground cloves
• 1 Earl Grey tea bag - I omitted this
• 395g tin of sweetened condensed milk

For the topping:

• 220g good dark chocolate, chopped or broken into pieces
• 30g unsalted butter
• 1 tspn salt flakes

Preheat oven to 160*C and grease and line a 20cm round springform cake tin or a 20cm square tin.

Make the base by whizzing the flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon in a food processor until it is combined. Or you can just rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers.

Spread evenly onto the base of the tin, it will be thin, but since it will be covered it need not be overly neat.

Bake for 14-16 minutes, turning half way through. It will still look too soft, but it will be fine. It sets a little on top if cooled for 5 minutes or so.

While it is cooking, make the caramel filling. Put the butter golden syrup, cinnamon stick, cardamom and cloves (and tea bag if you are using it) into a saucepan over a medium heat and stir till the butter is melted. Then boil for one minute and remove from the heat momentarily. (Discard the tea bag if you used it)

Pour in the condensed milk, return to the heat and stir well. Bring back to the boil, cooking and stirring for 2-3 minutes.  I took the cinnamon stick out early as it was disintegrating.

Pour the caramel over the base and return it to the oven, baking for 8-10 minutes, turning half way through to ensure the caramel cooks evenly. Cool until the caramel is firm.

Make the chocolate topping by melting the butter and chocolate in a glass (china) bowl over some simmering water. As soon as half of the chocolate was melted, more or less, I took the pan off the stove and the residual heat finished off the melting. When the chocolate topping has cooled a little, pour it onto the caramel, spread out smoothly and then sprinkle over the salt flakes.

Refrigerate for at least four hours and use a knife dipped in hot water to cut cleanly and make nice slices. It will keep for about a week in an airtight container in the fridge.

That's When Good Neighbours Lead To Good Ends

Today is a day to remember Harki-Parki-Parker-Posey. It's been two years since she died and I don't know where the time has gone. Harki was the most wonderful Labrador, and we still (in the style of The Waltons), say good night to Harki, Vundy and Tori every night.

Today is also Neighbour Day.  The idea behind The Day and how it began is explained on their website. In our little part of the street three of our neighbours came for several hours and cut down the branch that had fallen over in the garden, and some other branches and ivy and things and took two ute loads to the tip.

Here's the before:

And here is the after where it is too sunny for Peri, but Gilly's young eyes are working really well.

Good neighbours do make good friends!! I baked Chocolate Stout Cake, Sticky Gingerbread Cake, Banana Caramel Muffins and Raspberry Brownies for each of them: to say thank you. And I made scones, jam and cream and sausage rolls for morning tea. It will be a sunny, open backyard in Winter and the wire strung across near the house, that we use for a clothesline, will get so much more light and air.

Thank you Neighbours!!!

The mornings have been very cold, so cold that we had a frost and The South had the coldest morning for fifteen years.

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the technology. We have the technology to build the world's first bionic hut. This hut will be that hut. Better than it was before. Better, stronger, faster. Well maybe not faster, but the steel is definitely stronger than the old treated pine supports which were destroyed by vandals.  I think the new picnic hut at the dam will be a good one and so do Peri and Gilly. They have given it The Sniffs of Approval.

This morning we went outside the back door to discover water was cascading through the garden, down the steps and through to the next house. It was barrelling down the garden.  The water is still running in torrents, thankfully down the drain outside the gate once I moved the leaves, nine hours later and it is a horrid brown colour. We have a reduced water flow to the house as well. There has been a big digger excavating parts of the road. Who knows what happened???

Knitting? Sewing?? Any kind of craft?? No. Nothing at all. I'm just not feeling the craft 'love' and I have no idea why. It is very strange, especially as the weather is lovely and cold.  Maybe this week the 'love' will be back and I will be motivated? I've been thinking about Me Made May. It's not Me Made March or Self Stitched September this year. May is just not a good month for me to wear things I have stitched. Basically I wear jeans/ trousers, a long sleeved t-shirt or top and a cardigan. The cardigan is the only thing I have 'stitched' and it's going to be pretty boring seeing the same five cardigans six times. I think I will give it a miss.

North By Northwest is on TV and it's become a film I must watch to the end. Each time I see or hear something new. I'm addicted to it!!! So The Labradors will have their dinner, and we will watch Roger and Eve wend their way through the twisty-turny plot.

Friday Food: Chocolate Stout Cake

The first cake I baked yesterday was pretty much a full blown disaster and I wouldn't feed it to my worst enemy. I opened the new April 2012 Delicious magazine with such great excitement and decided to bake the Chocolate Guinness/Stout Cake. I read the instructions, which were a bit vague, but decided to follow them as written.

Use the Force, dear Reader, use the Force. I should have trusted my instincts. I emailed the Delicious Magazine late yesterday and they have just emailed back. The Delicious Magazine Lady says that you should indeed try to mix all the sugar and flour into the eggs and cream. Believe me, I tried, but it is just not possible!!

So I did follow my instincts and the second cake turned out well. The mixture was glossy,and not a lumpy dry mess.

I didn't have to resort to using the mix-master to try and incorporate the flour and sugar.

And the cake itself was a lovely deep chocolate colour and it rose nicely and was not as flat as a pancake.

So here is my recipe for a Chocolate Stout Cake!!! I plan to use some chocolate ganache to ice it later on. I am glad the Chocolate Stout Cake is done and dusted.

 

Chocolate Stout Cake  serves 8-12

• 250g unsalted butter,
• 250ml of stout, or other dark beer (1 cup)
• 75g cocoa, sifted
• 2 eggs
• 150ml creme fraiche or sour cream
• 1 tbp vanilla extract
• 275g plain flour
• 2 tspn baking powder
• 350g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180*C and grease and line a 20cm round spring-form tin or a 25 x 18cm (or as close as possible ) rectangular tin.

Put the butter, stout and cocoa in a pan and gently, on a low heat, melt and stir till it is smooth and combined. Cool for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, beat the eggs, creme/cream and vanilla in a large bowl. I just used a fork.

Whisk in the cooled chocolate mixture till it is well combined.

 

Then stir in the sifted flour and baking powder. Fold until there are no lumps. Finally add the sugar and stir that in too.

Pour into the tin and then bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until it is done. It will have risen, the top will spring back when touched and it will have come away from the edges.

Cool on a rack and then serve with a chocolate ganache and/or cream.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are Shoe??

Peri didn't sleep a wink on Tuesday night. In the afternoon she spent a lot of time lying on her back, but the weather was warm and humid and she likes exposing her belly to the cool air.

She was very restless, couldn't settle, and wanted to be in and out, in and out, all night. We were very worried the Pancreatitis might be back, because she couldn't get comfortable then either. So we locked Lorelai Gilmore inside and went to The Vet to see Dr Alison. She is such a lovely, gentle doctor and Peri loves her. Dr Alison discounted pancreatitis and said Peri is so slim she could feel her very small stomach and everything was fine. She checked for ticks, fleas, arthritis or joint pain and then spotted that Peri's skin was a tiny bit pink. Looking at her lying on her back photo, I can see that clearly now.

You can see Dr Alison really checking Peri"s spine carefully and Peri is wagging her tail like all get out!!  She gave her some low dose cortisone tablets and said she should start to feel better in an hour or so. And she did!! I was going out for a few hours and I felt quite happy to leave them both home. Peri slept like a log last night and I check her skin all the time to make sure it is still pale and she is happy!!! Dr Alison is so clever and we are so lucky to have so many good doctors and nurses at the vet.

Last night I went to Sewing. We don't actually sew any more, but in the olden days people made embroideries and cross stitches and did all sorts of fun things. Now we mainly have a glass of bubbly, some nibbles, and a jolly good chat - but I usually do some knitting. It's very relaxed and comfortable and I always take off my shoes.  The Renos have a lovely dog called Jubbly. He's a fluffy small dog, like a Pomeranian. When it was time to go home, I could only find one shoe, and much to my amusement and MrsReno's horror: Jubbly chewed my shoe!!!

That is the photo with the least Gilly. The shoe must smell of Jubbly's chewing and she was fascinated and wouldn't get her head out of the way. East or West.

These are the shoes I bought on The Ebay for $29-99 and MrsReno insisted I take some money and buy myself a new pair. She is very kind, I hope she has recovered and Jubbly isn't in the dog box!!!

Gilly and Peri are very slim. I have kind of lost the ability to judge. I thought Peri was putting weight on, but on the scales at the vet yesterday she was 29.9kg and I know Gilly is 23kg. Gilly is so very cute. I love looking at her funny expressions. I was asking her if the postman was here. Obviously it is night time, you stupid boy Pike she is thinking, and so the postman is not here!!!

There has been a bit of a cooking disaster this afternoon. I ended up emailing the Delicious magazine but there was no-one there. Still I soldiered on for my Friday Food.

Tonight I am going to sort out some of my embroidery threads and put them in my thread box. I was in an embroidery thread whirlwind when I was making the Star Trek Book. I don't mind the winding though, it's very therapeutic.

Some people have a Wordpress blog, and at the moment the entire Wordpress refuses to let me comment, whether I am logged in, or out, or in and out, or out and in. I am reduced to emailing tit-bits of comments because I usually forget to copy the comment and when I go back it has mysteriously disappeared.

Margaret Whitlam died on Saturday. I think The Whitlams were my first Federal political memory. She was a woman of substance in her own right and made a difference to people's lives. The It's Time ad makes me wistful for days of yore.....

You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Treks

The Star Trek Felt Book has boldly gone where no Felt Book has gone before: on an aeroplane to Singapore.

The WeeBoy officially loves it, as does his sister and I believe his mum had thoughts of keeping it for herself.

Thank you, MrsDrWho, for transporting it!! All I have done since yesterday is sleep, sleep, sleep and play around with the iPad MrsDrWho lent me.  We don't have The Wifi at our house and so I am just playing games, saving Babylon mainly!!

So, here in all it's glory is the Star Trek Felt Book:

The Cover. I am a poor hot glue gunner and it wasn't till nearly at the end when I had burned all my fingers that I thought to push a pin through each small piece of felt and squirt the glue onto it. Damn.

The Star Trek Motto.

Meet the Crew, where they are in the lift,

and then they are out of the lift, on the Bridge I expect. I made a Deanna Troi. There is no pattern but the lady who sells the Star Trek Book pattern has a Deanna on her shop and so I looked and was informed.

Meet Deanna Troi, Jean-Luc Picard, Worf, Geordi La Forge, Riker and Data.

The Vulcan Salute. It's Spock's favourite, so Live Long and Prosper.

Train with Worf and his Bat'leth. It spins around.

Help Geordie see. He is blind and so wears a VISOR which is said to stand for Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement.

Detaching the saucer section means that unlike the first Enterprise, the families of the crew are safe and the small Bridge section can go into battle.

Set phasers to stun, which I preferred to 'Set phasers to kill'. When you pick up the phaser you can see where it has been fired.

Pilot the shuttle through space, around the stars and the planet. It is attached by Happy Birthday ribbon to the 'shuttle bay'!!!

And finally Make Picard Human, or Borg. This one made The WeeBoy's mum laugh a lot apparently. Picard was assimilated by The Borg and turned into a cyborg. Luckily he was saved and made human again. Note the red velcro undies!!!

I am particularly chuffed with the binding as I had to sew through twenty-two sheets of felt. The instructions say to use eyelets, but they are my natural enemy. Instead I used buttons and six strands of embroidery thread. I made a template and marked three spots on the side of each page and sewed up through the dot, then a button and back down slightly to the side of the dot and then tied the thread off with another button at the back. It worked like a charm!!

Thank you for indulging me with all my felt bookiness.

I have been a Star Trek fan since I was about nine and saw it on the TV right here in The Northern Capital. Back in the olden days the North and South, where I lived, had different TV stations playing totally different programmes. One look at Mr Spock and I was hooked. I also hold the same sense of fan-ishment(??) for Star Wars and that will be my next Felt Book.

While I was out delivering the book, Peri and Gilly had a nice time with a kilo of plain flour in the lounge room.

I have no idea where the flour is from, as I usually buy two kilo bags. Maybe they had it stashed somewhere?? Maybe it was in a bag on a chair in the dining room I had forgotten about?? I don't know.

Luckily it was mostly on the quilt Peri has commandeered but I knew something was going on because this met me at the gate: a walrussy Gilly.

And then both of them, content in their flouriness. Peri still manages to look angelic,

and Gilly looks as if flour wouldn't melt in her mouth!!

It was easy to shake off outside and vacuum up. Thank goodness.

And now, a cup of tea and perhaps some more saving Babylon on the iPad.

Friday Food: Carrot, Cumin, Feta Fritters

This recipe for fritters comes from Australian Good Food Magazine April 2012. Strangely, they omitted the amount of cumin needed.  I 'Binged' and lo and behold, it is a recipe straight from BBC UK Good Food or whatever it is called. Just a slight variation in the amounts and the same photo.

So fritters it is, with a cucumber raita of sorts. I have to say, these are so moreish that I could not stop at two. I ate four, but it was breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea all in one!!

It's such a simple recipe and would also make 24 or 36 smaller finger food sized fritters. I used my ice cream scoop, which is 1/4 cup, to measure the fritters into the pan.

A cup of self-raising flour can be substituted for the plain flour and baking powder, it's just that I only buy plain and make my own self raising. It's easier that way, I never run out of plain flour!! (Unless some Labradors steal a bag. But that's a story for tomorrow!!)

 

Carrot, Cumin and Feta Fritters   makes 12 large

• 1 cup plain flour
• 2 tspn baking powder
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated (about 250g)
• 1 brown onion, finely sliced
• 1 or 2 tspn ground cumin
• 1 clove of garlic, grated
• 100 crumbly feta cheese
• a little oil for frying

For the raita:

• 2 or 3 Lebanese cucumbers
• 1 cup plain natural yoghurt
• juice of half a lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• finely chopped mint, if you remember to buy some, which I did not!!

 

Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, make a well in the centre, add the eggs and milk and whisk till smooth.

Stir in the cumin, garlic, carrot and onion and finally gently fold in the crumbled feta.

Heat the oil to medium and then scoop 1/4 cups of the mixture into the pan. Gently level out and then cook for 3-4 minutes. Flip over and cook for 1-2 minutes on the other side.  Drain on paper towel if needed and keep warm in the oven.

To make the raita: peel, deseed and then finely dice the cucumber. Mix with the yoghurt and lemon juice, season to taste. Add the mint too, if you have some. Serve with the fritters.

The Cows And The Chickens, We Went To Hear About Dickens

I loved listening to Miriam Margolyes much more than a bushel and a peck!! MrsDrWho and I sat this far away from her in the front row in the foyer, as she entranced us with tales of her life and career for an hour. Afterwards MrsDrWho said I should go up to speak to her and so I did. I said how much I enjoyed her TV show Dickens in America. She said something back, but I was so in awe I forgot to remember what it was!!!

The aqua intrusion into the photo is me!!

A posh local restaurant was, foolishly, snooty towards Miriam and she gave them what for on the radio!! We all applauded as we think said restaurant is snooty too!!

This afternoon I went to visit Toddler Lucy and Baby Zoe. Zoe slept through almost my whole visit, but I had a lovely time with Lucy and her family. I took The Dutches part of their Christmas present!! I am always late. It's a small reindeer, about 25cm tall, and not a cushion as described in the pattern at all. Still, it is inordinately cute!!

When I came home I found that a branch had broken after all the rain and fallen into the garden. Both Labradors were fine. My stomach turn over and I felt horrible for a minute or two. Last year when I was feeling depressed and anxious I would have had to go straight to bed and have a cry. Instead, I checked the fence was OK and I will worry about it later.

Peri and Gilly met Sandy and Jetty on their walk, and Peri had a lovely swim. Peri and Gilly love to run, just for the fun of it. They are so happy, their ears fly in the wind and they go like the blazes.  Peri has a great big smile, but I think Gilly is just checking there isn't going to be a lane change.....

I have completed the Starship Enterprise, detachable saucer section and all,

and I am one phaser into the five needed.

Just the shuttle and Jean-Luc to go and then an awful lot of hot glue gunning and some press studs. I think I my meet my deadline.

Thou Speakest Visor Than Thou Art Ware Of.

Here, As You Like It or not, are three more Star Trek felt book pages, almost complete. There's Geordi with his visor to help him see, a glove to help you Live Long and Prosper and Worf and his Bat'leth. I am very pleased, and about to start the Enterprise with the saucer section that detaches. I have made a hole in my right middle finger pad from pushing the needle through layers of felt. I am not a very nimble stitcher with a middle finger thimble though. All my life, apart from appointments and pre-determined outings, is about The Star Trek felt book.

Peri and Gilly have had some lovely play times with Sandy. At first, Peri and Sandy were both running after Gilly, but she is quick and agile and soon turned the table on them!!!

MrsHouseOf came to visit for her birthday and I gave her the skirt,

and a black top as a present and she really liked them. I'm glad she liked them!! MrsDrWho, Mrs HouseOf and I ate out. It was all very delicious. I didn't have any dessert, though I did have the Endless Cup of Green Tea.

I have some new wool. I have 10 balls of Damasco for Heirloom. It is Merino and acrylic, and I am in love with it. I am not sure which pattern to knit: I am thinking of either this, or this. I want a longer length cardigan, surprise, surprise. Twenty-three years ago when I came here to live I knitted a long sea green/teal mohair cardigan with a v-neck, pockets and a cable down each front beside the button bands. I don't plan to start right away ( Star Trek felt book anyone??) so any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Then there's a skein of Ella Rae Lace Merino 4ply. I am in love with it, it is soft and has a beautiful twist. I am thinking of a scarf or a longer narrow shawl type affair.

MrsDrWho and I have caught up on February's Craftsy BOM blocks:

March's blocks use left over strips from all the fabrics and so we have decided we will be able to whip them up after blocks 19 and 20. Bear in mind it took us 2 1/2 hours to make Block 4. We are very optimistic!!

I am feeling very tired. This morning I walked with Peri and Gilly, went to the Hospital for blood tests, came home, fed The Labradors, went to Leukaemia Support Group came home, went back to The Library as my DVD was overdue, and then came home again. I had to sleep for three hours and it was 27*C.  I have to go back to see my specialist at the Holman Clinic tomorrow. I am always nervous and worried about what my results will be. It will also be 28*C.

And then (lots of elbows of excitement) in the evening MrsDrWho and I are off to the local ABC Radio station to be the audience when Miriam Margoyles is interviewed live, right there!! Somehow we both managed to NOT book tickets to see her show on Dicken's Women so this is a sop to our hopelessness!!

Is it wrong to be looking forward to a big rest next week?? I think not.

I went out the front door to get the letters and there was a parcel on the table. My mum does the That's Life competitions and every Monday when we talk I help her out with the ones she doesn't know. She put my name on the entry form and she won a prize!!!  I think she already has good outdoor lighting and I could really use these to light the path down all the steps from the car to the back door!! Mum has been on a holiday for few days on the East Coast with one of the ladies from Probus. The weather is wonderful so they will be doing lots of touristy things. It's a poor photo. Again. The new energy saving light bulbs just don't produce enough light for a proper picture when it is dark, even with a flash.

Now I need to cut out all the parts of The Star Ship Enterprise before I go to bed.

Friday Food: Little Lemon Puddings

We have lemons coming out of our ears, which is a good thing. I usually freeze the zest and juice separately, but most everyone I know likes a lemony dessert. This is Nigella's recipe from the March 2012 Delicious.

I used Yackandandah lemon curd, because it is just easier sometimes than making my own, and I find it to be very lemony and made in Australia. It try to always buy local (or national!!)

These are quick, easy and very delicious, but next time I would line the base of the ramekins with a little baking paper, rather than just greasing them. They are a nice alternative to little steamed puddings and you could really whip them up at the last minute with little notice.

I juice my lemons using a hand held citrus press. Sometimes if a lemon is being difficult I cut the base flat before I put it in. The trick is to putting the lemon half in with the cut flesh side facing the curved part with the little drainage holes. I used to put in in so the lemon fitted the shape and wondered why the juice ran everywhere!!

I squeeze very gently, but with even pressure, and all the juice comes out easily and most big pips are strained out. Nigella says that a few little pips are a sign something has been home made with love!!!

 

Little Lemon Puddings   makes 6

• 1/2 cup good quality lemon curd
• 125g softened butter and a little extra for greasing
• 125g caster sugar
• 125g plain flour
• 2 tspn baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• cream, custard or ice-cream to serve

Preheat the oven to 180*C. You will need 6 one cup ramekins.

Process or beat together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs and zest until they form a smooth batter.

Add the lemon juice and beat again till combined. Grease and line the ramekins and then smooth 1 tablespoon of the curd over the base of each one. Place the ramekins on a  heavy baking tray.

Spoon the batter evenly over the curd and then bake for about 20 minutes. The puddings will be golden on top and come slightly away from the sides. Run a knife around the edges and turn out onto a bowl or plate.

Serve warm. We had runny cream with ours.

Trek or Treat??

It is MrsDrWho's Nephew's birthday anon: WeeZombie. He will be five and he likes Star Trek and so I am making him a Star Trek Book. The pressure of a birthday made me open the PDF I bought in October last year and make a start yesterday. I have completed Pages 2 and 3. Page 1 was left in its ziplock bag at Sewing last night. Page 2 has the iconic Star Trek TNG line: To boldly go where no one has gone before... though my photography is at its usual low standard and you can't really see it at all.

Page 3 is not what you think. It's a lift and inside are finger puppets: there will be Jean-Luc, Riker, Geordi, Worf, Data and I'll make a Deanna Troi as well.

I have to have all ten pages completed by Friday 16th, next Friday, so MrsDrWho can pack it in her suitcase and take it will her on her LSL.

I have been making some things for the Auction for Toddler Lucy and Baby Zoe. I don't participate in The Facebook, but Miss Delish has uploaded photos for me!!!

I obviously didn't make the souvenirs, MrsDrWho very kindly donated them!!

I would link to The Ravelry for the hat, but I can't access it this afternoon. My connection times out. I cleared my Cookies and now The FireFox says Ravelry is an Untrusted Connection. Not sure what is going on there. Right, through circuitous means I found myself on The Ravelry's Twitter page, that was a bit scary, and Ravelry is down for everyone, I didn't break it myself!! Thank goodness.

And it's back in the room.

This morning the new Water Meter was installed. It is high tech and the meter readers just drive past now and read it electronically. Peri and Gilly, especially Gilly, were very helpful. The Water Meter Reader and The Water Meter Photographer (yes, before and after photos!!) have a Chocolate Labrador so they were happy to be inundated with Labradors!!

The mornings have had an Autumn chill and Peri is especially enjoying the crisp start to the day. She's been running like the wind and jumping over fallen trees!! Peri runs full pelt and then leaps majestically over the jump, ears flying in the wind.

I have no Library books. I took back four books last Saturday and now I am without a book to read. I just checked and I have four books about to arrive: a biography of Catherine of Aragon, growing vegetables in small spaces, River Cottage Everyday cooking and 50/60/70 iconic Australian house architecture.  Catherine's biography is actually at The Library now, but I went out at lunch time and I am too tired to go out again. I haven't been to the letter box at the front since Monday either. I must walk down and up all the stairs tomorrow. That could be my goal for the day!!

I am off to visit The GardyGardeners tomorrow. We have afternoon tea about every two months at their house. Last week their lovely Corgi Ben died. He was fifteen. We have been sad for them and when it is the right time we'll take them a lovely rose for their garden. I am going to bake an apricot version of the Plum Tray Bake, I think that the apricots will work very well.

Oh and it is Friday Food tomorrow. Where does the time go?? I am going to cook something for MrsHouseOf as it has been her birthday too, and MrsRenos!! I have sewed MrsHouse of a new skirt. It is the same material as my Chartreuse dress!! I just need to thread the elastic through the waist and it is finished.

The BSODL(tm) had electric ball of wool winders on sale for $20. I am sure one you wind by hand is better, but I couldn't pass it up at such a bargain price. I have wound some wool. I have discovered I am not a good winder. I may yet be.

Peri and Gilly have just circled back for their second lot of Dinner reminder head butts and tail wags. I must fed them or they will grow weak from hunger!!