Thursday and this evening we are having Mina and Claire over for a curry with Rob and Di.  The six of us have not been together since John's birthday and we actually only manage to socialise with Mina and Claire a couple of times a year because they both work and have a dog boarding kennels at their home so they are responsible for their care 24/7 and they take this very seriously.

The weather is good although the night times can be a tad chilly.  This morning at just after 8.00am it was a little over 18 degrees outside.

The pool temperature has dropped to 54 degrees which is about 10 shillings and sixpence in new money but with clear blue skies and sunshine the water looks inviting and apart from the fact that the non-slip tiles around the outside feel freezing on my feet I have yet to really feel I don't want to go in but I have to admit I am very happy when it is time to come out!

John clearly has a great pain threshold than I do and fully submerges himself - this is not my idea of fun!

We emerge glowing and squeaky clean - a welcome towel and the promise of something warming for breakfast before I get on with the task in hand of getting our meal ready for this evening.

I had done a lot of prep yesterday and had my list and timings all jotted down so I was fairly in control and not overly stressed, tonight was more about getting together as friends than a culinary masterpiece but I did want it to taste nice and for people to enjoy themselves.

It is amazing how easily I can be pleased these days - John came up with a great idea of putting a couple of washing lines up outside the kitchen where we get the early morning winter sunshine.  I suggested using the two old hanging basket brackets which were loafing in the shed and then I could pretty it up a bit with the two baskets I have been cultivating with succulents.

We are now running a sweep-stake as to how many times John or I hit our heads on the baskets - I have managed to do it three times already - but I reckon my brain has been frozen from being in the pool.

John did all the furniture rearranging and building (we needed to have the Big Top put onto our dining table to accommodate the people and the dishes) and even had time to make a sign for the 'pop up' Indian we were creating!  He just loves doing all this sort of stuff - although he would say he doesn't mind if we are just sitting down to beans on toast it would be the most beautifully presented beans on toast - he says that attention to detail is the key to everything - he is right of course!

I got on with the meal - today I was going to try making my own naan bread and had got a recipe off of the internet which said it was easy and fool-proof.

We like easy and fool-proof and we like the fact that it didn't require any special ingredients although I did get some fresh yeast as I think some that I have in the cupboard has been there since Adam was a boy.

It is now that my work surfaces come into their own as they are always cool (sometimes cold) to the touch so ideal for dough and pastry.  Interestingly you had to pile the dry goods onto the work surface and make a well and then pour in frothing yeast mixture, olive oil and yoghurt which all wanted to make a bid for freedom.  In my attempt to get it all under control I had three quarters of the dough stuck to my hands and just a little remaining on the side plus my sleeves started to fall down into the flour!!  Eventually it all came together and after the requisite amount of time proving we kneaded and rolled and cooked as a joint exercise and they came out looking fab and I can tell you that they tasted equally fab.

 We got everything ready - curry in the slow cooker, pickles and chutneys in the fridge, poppadums pre-cooked, naan breads pre-cooked, rice, Bombay potatoes and onion bhajis all in the oven, shit shaved and showered and all bar getting on our curry clothes we were ready to rumble.

It had been a lovely day and we wanted to catch the remainder of the sunshine so shot off up onto the roof terrace with a drink in hand - ain't we lucky?  We are now in the second week of November and still able to sit outside.

This time last year we had Sally and Tommy staying with us - I seem to remember we had a weekend of fine bright weather then too so maybe November isn't too bad a month for people to come visit.

John had his personalised Sheffield United pint pot to hand this evening - it was a birthday gift from Mina and Claire and it was made specifically with him in mind - on the back side of the glass are all the words of the Greasy Chip Butty song all painstakingly inscribed in free hand.  John has sole responsibility of this drinking vessel as God help us all if this ever gets broken.

John laid the table and our guests arrived dressed for the cold - but John will never have our house chilly if people are coming so he had lit the gas fire and had the panel heater on for a while and I had been cooking so it was toasty warm.

The table was laid, the lighting was ambient and the candles were lit, it was a warm and cosy atmosphere and it was lovely to all be together.

Claire and Mina had brought us all gifts of advent calendars bless them - I shall think of them every day when I open up the little window and see that John has already pinched my chocolate!!!

Di kindly brought her delicious sticky toffee pudding which she made the other week so I didn't have to worry about making one - it is not my forte to be fair.

It was a great evening - full of laughs - particularly when we played the 'who am I' game - we are all getting of an age or maybe it was the alcohol but we couldn't remember the questions we had asked half the time and Mina was cheating so she kept telling me who I was!

A really lovely evening, good food, good company and good laughs...

...until the next time!