A nice quiet Sunday...

Sunday fabulous - a day of rest - sort of!  It was a much much warmer morning than it had been yesterday in fact the temperature at 6.30am today was twice what it had been at 6.30am yesterday - still not overly warm but much better - the wind had changed direction so was no longer coming from the North and pesky Turkey - it is always very much colder when it comes from Turkey.

I got up with a spring in my step and was ready to face the world once I had got my bowl of gruel aka porridge inside of me.  We have read that you should start the day with a teaspoon of cinnamon so my porridge is made with oats, honey, sultanas and cinnamon - John uses muesli and heats it with milk - that is wrong in my book.

As a child I hated porridge and now I love it - maybe it is one of those things that you only appreciate as an adult - having said that I couldn't face a bowl of Ready Brek that just looks like baby sick!

We were going to Mum and Dad's for lunch but I wanted to make the most of the fine weather and planned to get the remaining panels colour-washed ready for our bedroom walls.  We have done two walls so far and it is looking good so John is keen to try and get it finished soon, not least because the spare bedroom is being used to store the panels before we use them and it looks a right old mess - I can cope with mess for so long and then it gets on top of me so I am with him on this and keen to get it sorted this week.

It is probably psychological but the paneling really does seem to make the bedroom see warmer - maybe it is because there is a layer of air trapped between the walls and the panels - don't know but it works for me!!!

We are now thinking that we will change or paint the knobs on the furniture and make them a cream colour so they blend in better with the colour scheme.  John is also keen to colour-wash the mirror surround.  For once we seem to agree on something which is most unusual!!!

I was in two minds as to whether to sit outside and have breakfast - it really was beautiful but as it happened I ate on the run because we needed to get down to feed Milly before we set off for Emba and we had organised to be at Mum and Dad's at around midday.

December 6th and glorious sunshine - a good day for electricity generation John will tell you and so far December is proving to be better than November! We are nearly about to celebrate our first year of having the photo-voltaic panels and it has really been one of our better investments or at least it has so far!

So I got all the panels painted and John delivered the bad news that Kenny's battery could not be resuscitated - there is one word for this BUGGER - yet another expense - at this rate I could have bought myself another car still it is no good to me sat on the drive not able to go anywhere.  John has also tried to start Sharon's car and the same thing has happened it wouldn't start - the cold weather is a killer on batteries here particularly if they were a bit iffy before the temperature dropped.  So before I get the tracking done I am going to have to get a new battery.

We shot down to feed Millie-Mou and were really pleased that she was around this morning as we always like to make sure that we see her.

She has been considerably more hungry the last couple of days because it has been cold.  Normally she isn't overly bothered by the food until we go to leave because she wants a cuddle rather than eat.  Today it was food first, head down and she did not come up for air until the bowl was finished.

We gave her a cuddle and a brush and made sure there were biscuits and water, checked the outside fridge-freezer was working and had a quick turn around the estate to make sure all was well before setting off for Emba.

The next photograph is for John and Susan to show them what they are missing - blue blue skies and glorious sunshine!!!

However glorious it was at John and Susan's it was about 6 degrees even more glorious when we got to Mum and Dad's - it was lovely to be able to sit outside and feel the warmth of the sun on your skin - now is about the only time of the year that John and I ever sit outside!!!

Fred sat out in the garden with us.  Something has happened to him over the last couple of weeks as he has gone from being a very relaxed cat who spent nearly all day indoors to being very skittish and on the periphery and who cowers if you put your hand above his head, our Minnie-Mou is like that - she went very strange a couple of years ago and wouldn't come indoors and skulked about running on her knees - we have no idea what happened to her and even now a couple of years later she will only let you touch her when she wants which is first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

Mum is very proud of an ivy-leafed geranium that she has managed to grow from a cutting she took at my sisters.  It has survived and had now put on several flowers which are a beautiful bright pinky purple and the flowers are double.  She says she gave me a cutting she had rooted of this plant and I think it is just about surviving in the front garden but I can't be sure because it isn't flowering and probably suffers because I know that when Minnie-Mou is feeling lazy that is as far as she ventures for a wee.

For lunch we had Salmon en Croute and it was lovely - it made a really nice change from a roast or a casserole.  I shall have to get my thinking cap on as I am doing lunch next week and I am running out of ideas!!!

After a pleasant afternoon of food, wine and nomination whist we made our way back home - all four cats waiting for our return.