We made an attempt to go shopping at the Chatsworth Farm Shop on Saturday. We trundled off after a bit of domestic activity (washing, ironing, tickling the cat, that sort of thing), perhaps a little later than we had really intended (This might have had something to do with the fact that I didn't get up until after 9, and The Builder not until close to ten). As we were heading over the hill towards Beeley, I decided that I was feeling a tad on the hungry side. That might have been because it was then nearly half past one and I hadn't had anything to eat yet! We stopped at the Devonshire Arms in Beeley for a bite of lunch.

Fortified, we trundled on. Got to the Farm Shop - to find that there was not one single parking space available. Not one!!!! And to cap it off, as we were discussing what to do , a coach appeared and disgorge a coach load of happy shoppers.

We decided to defer the shopping!

Well, the Farm shop shopping at any rate. Let's do Garden Centre shopping instead. So we went to Dunstan Hall and pottered about there for a while.

Right. Off we go to B&Q. We want a rubbish bin with a lid to keep the plastic recycling in. The council doesn't collect plastic and we take it to the supermarket every couple of weeks or so. Alas, the box we keep it in tends to fill up with rain. A bin with a lid seems to be the way to go. B&Q is not the way to go, though. They sell bins and lids separately (!!!!!!!). Would cost about £20. Just for a bin with a lid!!! So we went to Dunhelm Mill instead and found one there for £7. So we bought two.

There were lots and lots of police vehicles and police officers around the football ground as we went past on our way to B&Q. Lots! As we were heading home again, many of those police vehicles came racing down from the football ground sirens blaring, lights flashing, rushed around the roundabout - and lots and lots of police officers leapt out and positively ran into the KFC. Must be hungry work guarding the football ground!

It's hungry work watching them too. We went home and had a sausage casserole with mashed potato and felt much better for it!

(And I have no idea why the police were really rushing in force into the KFC. I assume not because they were hungry!)

We got up earlier on Sunday, not least because the weather man had almost suggested that there might be a couple of dry hours early-ish on Sunday morning. And there were!!! We went out almost as soon as it had got light and dashed about doing garden things, until driven back inside a couple of hours later by darkening clouds and the beginning of some drizzle which rapidly turned to purposeful rain. So we made a second attempt at Chatsworth. There weren't very many parking spaces, but there were some. I think many of the people from the cars might have been in the restaurant for lunch because the shop was busy but not unnervingly so. Then we went to the supermarket for a few odds and ends, then into Chesterfield town centre so I could take some books back to the library. For reasons which are not particularly clear to me, the Chesterfield library is open on Sundays from the beginning of October until Christmas. Opening the library on Sunday doesn't seem odd. It's very useful for people like me. But why only for three months of the year? The Builder suggests that it might be because people have more time to read over the winter - but then you'd think the library would be open on Sundays until the end of February. Strange.

Last week, I made an attempt at curing a ham, using a variant of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's suggested recipe. It turned out quite well, though I wasn't much fussed by the vinegary taste to it. I also tried to cure some pork belly to use as bacon. The Builder tried it on Saturday and said it was a bit salty and a bit fatty but otherwise was perfectly acceptable. Then I found on a blog that I read an alternative cure for bacon with much less salt, and no vinegar. So we bought a pork loin (small!!) on Sunday and I'm attempting to cure that. This could be quite fun, trying lots of different ham and bacon cures. I might even make some up myself. I don't need to worry about using much salt because I'm not curing it with a view to keeping the meat. That's what the freezer is for! But if I strike a cure that we both really like - it's a good bit cheaper than buying ham and very considerably cheaper than buying ham or bacon slices. I might even be able to produce a Christmas ham :-)

The Builder bought a new car over the weekend. WEll - new to him at least. It's to replace the van. Poor old Uncle John is to be shoved onto eBay in the hope someone will come and take him away and is to be replaced by a red Proton, 2005 registration, probably next weekend. At least, the proton will arrive next weekend. I don't know when Uncle John will move on