Sympathy is in short supply

 

Pied Wagtail visiting the bird table - well picking up the bits the starlings had dropped

Bored with my current WIP's, I decided to start some knitting for my niece who is due in April. 

This pattern is the Lucy cardigan from the Patons Nursery Days booklet.  Knitted in Cygnet Kiddies Kaleidoscope Supersoft Double Knit. Simple lace pattern with a v-neck

Because the temperature is still in the minus range, though beautifully sunny,  root veggies ready to roast for some warming soup.  We have only ventured outside to replenish the wood supply.  We are both feeling rough still, my chest hurts from coughing and now my ears ache.  Its an effort to do very much, only put on a couple of loads of washing, and cooked some meals, luckily I had plenty of stuff in the fridge to whip up something quick 

Audrey is enjoying having us around all day, especially to jump onto my warm sofa when I got up to make a drink.

Its funny, in 35 years of marriage we think this is the first time we have been ill together.  Good to have company but you don't get any sympathy

We be jammin........

It's been jam central at our house today, Rachel and I have made Victoria Plum, Cherry Plum and Blackberry & Apple Jam. We also have Confetti Courgette Relish on the go, another couple of batches of MD's courgette meatballs. Now Peter and Rachel are making curried vegetable soup for lunch.

Courgette fest...

arriving home yesterday I checked the fridge for dinner ideas, the veg drawer was overflowing with courgettes from the garden with more coming on daily.  I decided I needed to do something with them all before we became truly overwhelmed.  First off Delia's Courgette Soup, freezes well.  Secondly, 2 batches of Madhur Jaffrey's Courgette 'Meatballs', I make up the balls, cook and freeze, then just pop them into the sauce as needed, cuts down the time it takes to make the recipe from scratch.  Next on the list was some Ratatouille as I also had a couple of aubergines in need of use, I used one of those, then made Stuffed Aubergine with the other.  A satisfying afternoon.  I plan to make Confetti Relish with my next batch, I make this every year and it always goes down well.

I managed to get the back of my Ethereal finished last night, the knitting really is going very slow at the moment.....