Will Spring Ever Come?

This photograph will set the scene for the weather today - grey and grim.  I had not had a good night's sleep as I am now advised to sleep propped up and if I have to go onto my side it should be my left side.  I like to sleep flat and on my right.  

The only saving grace was that John had stayed up to watch the football last night which finished late and with a time-added winning goal for the Mighty Blades and he decided to sleep in the spare room to give me full reign at getting a good night's sleep in our bed with Charlie for company which was never going to work.  Charlie snores worse than John and likes to be fed in the early hours of the morning!

We had invited Sheila and Klaus to join us for lunch today.  I had planned on a beef pie with roast potatoes and vegetables and John was making his oat muffins.  Our worry was that, whilst the thunder started to roll around and then come overhead, we would lose the electricity (which is normally the case) so we had to get things cooked in advanced or at least ready for a quick warm up just in case.  Johns oat muffins are lovely - they are flavoured with apple, cinnamon and cranberry and are relatively low in sugar with is good for us all.

I got the vegetables partially cooked along with the extra gravy so they just needed a reheat.  The beef pie was only going to take about half an hour or so and I didn't want the pastry to get tough so I kept my fingers crossed that I would be able to cook this fresh.  As it happens I did get it cooked fresh and it was absolutely delicious - so delicious that I forgot to take a photograph of it in all its glory.  I think I would have given Joanna at Fitos a run for her money as the beef was absolutely melt in the mouth and I had added some little silver-skin onions which gave an extra zing of flavour when you encountered one.   

The whole meal was a great success.  It was so lovely to have Sheila and Klaus back in the house for a meal - it feels like a lifetime ago since they came - lots of things having conspired to keep us apart and of course now they no longer live in Droushia so it isn't quite so easy although Goudi is hardly far away.  Having said that today they almost got washed away by an unexpected storm which left the road outside where they live awash.

It was lovely that they were in no rush to leave and so we sat down in the lounge area to chat.  Charlie found a welcome cuddle from Sheila.  When they were in Droushia Sheila and Klaus used to feed a feral colony of cats who set up camp outside their house.  Now in Goudi they have five cats although on a rather more permanent basis than the ferals as the mum and three kittens have been fixed and they plan to get the dad (they think it is the dad) in due course.  As I said lovely to see Sheila and Klaus, they are great company and we hope to do this regularly.

The remainder of the day was quiet for us.  I was really tired - my poor night's sleep had caught up with me and tomorrow is the anniversary of Dad's passing (4 years) which will all be a bit emotional so we just hunkered down with the fire on and watched the last episode of The North Water which was a rather strange series but quite compelling to watch - not entirely sure about the ending though.   

As we were watching TV we suddenly realised that Miss Minnie had started to get herself comfortable up on the table.  I despair - I am guessing that she found this to be a lovely warm place to be when the wood-burner was lit but always vacated before we got up for a morning coffee.  We are going to have to put a stop to this - you would think with all the lovely cat beds we have dotted around that they would be preferable but I guess with a cat you will never know.