Wintry.

Woke up this morning to a white garden. It wasn't snow but a thick covering of hail that had fallen in the night. What better way to spend the morning but under a warm duvet listening to the radio. We've had a few sleety showers during the day but mostly it has been rain.

By the time I did make it outside most of the hail had melted away. A good thing too as Peter had to drive in to town to look for a replacement spring for one of his windscreen wipers. None of the car parts places sold suitable springs and at the Toyota dealer he could only order a whole wiper arm costing over £50. Checking on the internet he had found that all the Japanese manufacturers get their springs from the same source. Off he went to the car breakers and found the exact spring on a Mazda. Total cost £2 and sore hands as he had to remove it himself. We'll fit it tomorrow as it's really a 2 person job. Meanwhile back home I had a good workout splitting logs and replenishing the pile next to the woodburner. I felt it was the right day for a hearty soup so I've cooked up some carrots and a parsnip together with tomatoes and onions with a chopped up Polish sausage and then added pumpkin puree from the freezer. Seasoned with pepper and cumin it tastes delicious.