Tidy Cupboards.

As it was wet and windy first thing this morning I awarded myself a lie in, it felt so good to be sitting there with a cup of coffee watching the tv. I did have lie-ins during the summer but they were literally that as I could only lie with my head propped up. Not ideal. The day then progressed to sunny and windy with only the threat of showers which never materialised.  I decided it was a good day to give some of the kitchen cupboards a good turn out. Everything got a good clean (how do shelves get dirty on the underneath?), and a sort out. I hate to throw out food and don't take too much notice of sell by dates but the anchovies that were 8 years out of date ended up in the bin along with some half used jars of sauces etc. Peter and the boys are experimental chefs and we seem to have everything from nam pla to jerk sauce in our cupboards. By the time stuff had been binned, collated or put into more suitable containers my cupboards looked a whole lot better. I must have gone through a phase of buying in bulk because we have enough herbs and spices to last a lifetime. 

Next door's horses had a rest today because part of the road down the hill was being resurfaced. I walked up the hill and asked the boss guy if he would come down and give us a quote for our drive or even just the bit at the top where the cattle grid used to be but he never appeared. He did mention that even the very short section he was doing was costing £4,000 as the asphalt now costs £1,000 per load. And that was only to stick it on top of the exiting road. To do our drive would need preparation work as well as it is only dirt and gravel. Either the guy couldn't be bothered or he got to the edge of the garden and thought 'No way.'

I ended my busy day catching the last of the sun with a cup of tea.

There were mostly bees on the sedum flowers but I did see the only Painted Lady I have seen all summer. There were a couple of dragonflies who came and basked on the hot paving before Speedy decided to try and jump on them. Speedy was in a playful mood and made me laugh as he sat on the chair trying to catch his tail and slipping backwards off the chair though the gap.