A wonderful (if wet) weekend

Arrrrrgh! I'm not used to late nights any longer (the fat lass is getting a bit long in the tooth, methinks), so this morning saw me dragging myself unwillingly out of bed and running a tad late. Still, a visit from my lovely sister and her hubby this weekend was just what the doctor ordered. It has been so nice to chat and set the world to rights together, and just to spend time with eachother.

We did the usual whirlwind cleaning session on Saturday morning so the place looked (and smelled) all squeaky clean and welcoming when they arrived. Where does that dust come from, eh? We polished and put lovely fresh flowers in a vase, and made up a little bunch for their room too.

The weather was indisbutably not conducive to going out and about. That was because we had our customary Great British Bank Holiday special weather arrangements in place - it's the law that Bank Holidays should be wet, windy, wild & woolly, and, just to add to the fun, darned chilly too! So we spent most of our time indoors inside in the warm and dry, just relaxing (although sis and I did spend a few hours perusing the local clothes shops, trying on but not buying). Heaven!

We certainly ate well*, but we didn't go completely crazy with our shared meals and actually ate very moderately for the rest of each day. Er..., on reflection we found that we drank more than we usually do, but not to the point of feeling it the next morning. The big thing is that we generally all enjoyed just being able to spend a few days together.

*On Saturday night, I cooked a batch of kedgeree for us all, with rice, onions, good fish stock, spices, red peppers, lots of garden peas and some lovely meaty cod-loin. It was served up in a couple of 'sharing' bowls so we could help ourselves to as much or as little as we liked. It looked appetising as I'd decorated it with a few pretty pink jumbo prawns, some hard-boiled egg quarters (dusted with paprika) and chopped coriander. So, it looked a treat (wish I'd remembered to take a photo before the troops dug in!), it was pretty healthy, and it tasted good too. Pudding? Nope! Not needed.

Sunday evening was lovely hubby's turn in the kitchen. He cooked us a real treat too - a wonderfully warming and satisfying chicken and tarragon casserole with lovely button mushrooms. He served it with swede and potato 'rustic' mash (i.e. left with some texture, not smoothed to the point of blandness) and a beautiful bowlful of steamed sweetheart cabbage. Gorgeous! Again, no pudding, but we did follow it with a bit of cheese and some crackers (er, and a glass of port), but didn't go mad with it.

Yep, we all ended up feeling pretty well fed, but it was a comfortable feeling rather than the groaning 'oooh, shouldn't have done that' sensation of yester year. It felt 'normal' somehow. Nice.

Amazingly, I got on the scales this morning expecting a small to moderate rise, but that hasn't happened.Rather a good start to the week, even if I did have to run through the rain for the bus.