It was a delightfully quiet weekend. We even had some sunshine. It was a tad on the windy side. Perfect drying weather!! I had the washing out on the line on both Saturday and Sunday. Unheard of, in January! Mind you, it wasn’t exactly what you would call hot. The washing didn’t dry properly. But it smelled nice and fresh when it came in again at 3pm on each day, still damp but happily wind-blown.

We had a truly lazy Saturday. We headed out for Chatsworth quite early and had breakfast in the farm shop café before hitting the shop. Never wise to go into the Chatsworth farm shop on an empty stomach! Then we went home and did, more or less, nothing for the rest of the day. We sat in the sunlit lounge room and surfed the net and read books and magazines. I got the Seville oranges ready to be converted into marmalade. We had pork chops for dinner. It was all very peaceful and relaxed.

On Sunday, The Builder hit the supermarket while I got Sunday Lunch ready. Our friends Sue and Roger (a different Roger to the work one) came for lunch. It was another relaxed day, really. I did a roast chicken, so there was no real need for me to think or rush about. We don’t see them all that often. Usually in January, near to Sue’s birthday. Perhaps we should aim for a summer visit as well. I think they want to see the garden while it is awake!

I think Tony must be feeling better. He and Stella are off to Healesville for the night and you don’t go away even for very brief holidays when you are feeling remarkably like death warmed up! I don’t think they ever did really work out what was actually wrong with him. Either some sort of particularly virulent gastro, or a tiny bowel obstruction or something. Whatever it was, it seems to have gone now. Though I am alarmed that Stella appears to think that scrambled egg is an acceptable invalid food. Everyone knows that invalids should be offered mashed potato. Mashed potato!!!! Scrambled egg indeed

He rang my mobile phone on Wednesday morning of last week, apparently thinking he was ringing my SKYPE account. Well, he was ringing my SKYPE account, only I’ve got it set so that if you ring it and I’m not there it diverts to my mobile phone (it’s OK – I pay for the diversion and it’s cheaper than me ringing you if you aren’t in the UK!). He didn’t realise that and wondered why he wasn’t getting live images from my web cam. I didn’t realise, of course, that he was SKYPE-ing me and couldn’t work out why he would expect to get web pictures from my mobile. But we got it all sorted out in the end. He had an old school friend visiting, who I don’t think I’ve seen since I was about 9, and he wanted to show him how well I have weathered the years. At least, I think that’s what he wanted to do! Alas, I was in Oscar being transported through a dark and snowy morning to Sheffield and not available to be admired.

It is remarkable what having massive heart surgery does to your sense of adventure as well. I was talking to Stella on Saturday morning (SKYPE, web cams primed and all working) when she announced her intention, all things being equal, of getting Tony to escort her on an inspection visit in the summer. Assuming, of course, that she can sell sufficient of the grandchildren on eBay to be able to afford luxury class. If Stella and Tony are coming, white gloves at the ready, we’d better start thinking about sorting the house out. Margaret used to decorate. I don’t have to decorate, do I? Couldn’t I just dust?

Still haven’t made the marmalade. The peel and stewed juice are in the fridge waiting for me to have time. I have an evening duty on Thursday. Perhaps I’ll do it on Thursday morning.