Ian has been with us for the weekend

... so there has, of course, been much feasting.

He arrived after a marathon journey from Plymouth, having been held up on various motorways.

Mind you - his sat nav tried to take him from Plymouth to Tupton via Vatican City.  That would have been a truly marathon journey!

We had pork wellington for dinner.

On Saturday we took him for his annual Chatsworth Farm Shop fix.  And to Sainsbury's.  And to our local dairy.

We had lasagne for dinner, made from first principles, using my lovely new pasta maker

Homemade lasagne

Yesterday Taffa, Gaz, Freyja, Ginger Rich and Marryck all came for Sunday lunch. Austin joined us by Skype.  We had roast lamb.  And steamed rhubarb pudding with toffee sauce and rice pudding with lots of different kinds of jam to choose from.

Rice pudding and a jug of toffee sauce. The rice pudding is very nearly healthy!

A magnificent steamed pudding, if I do say so myself

Then we went for a post-prandial stroll around the wetlands.

Round the back of our place :-)

The mighty River Rother

Looking across the fields to Grassmoor

There appear to be lots and lots of dead wine bottles in the recycling box.

Ian is still with us.  There will be more feasting and, I assume, a few more dead wine bottles.

The Weather Dogs had merry sport with us yesterday.  The morning was bright and fine and sunny and warm.  We did lots of washing and The Builder arranged the outdoor furniture on the patio so we could have our luncheon party outside.  Then, at about 12:00, a short and exceeding sharp shower blew in.  Followed at 13:00 and 13:30 by two more short, exceeding sharp showers.  We gave up and set the dining room table.  By the time we were ready to sit down at about 14:00 - the afternoon had turned bright and fine and sunny and warm.  Sigh!  (We stayed inside, having gone to all the trouble of putting the extension leaf into the dining table and cleaning it and everything!)