Roast veggies...

Before they were roasted.  

Made myself laugh typing that.  Reminded me of an old Scots saying my grandpa used to say when asked what he'd had for dinner - "cauld kale het," Direct translation from Scots means cold kale warmed up but in essence means leftovers from the previous day :-)

Up early this morning and surprised to see thick cloud.  Thankfully by lunchtime the sun had broken through and it was another lovely day.  

D left just after 11am to meet his Thursday golf group (change of day as three of them, D included, are busy this Thursday)  I listened to Kate (Bush for the uninitiated :-) and set about prepping and roasting this mountain of veg with garlic and herbs.  While they roasted I made a sauce of tomatoes, onions, garlic, red wine, herbs, and Worcestershire sauce.  When R came to pick Lola up for her walk he said the aroma emanating from the open back door was mouth watering.  Hopefully a good sign.

Once roasted, the veg was added to the tomato sauce before being layered with lasagne sheets, torn basil and mozzarella and béchamel sauce to make roast veg lasagne.  There was enough roast veg left over to freeze on its own to make either a vegetable quiche or roast veg pasta the next time my bestie Agnes is here for dinner.  

That done and cleared up, I moved onto making a pot of beef chilli.  

When I am in a cooking mood there is nothing I love more than having the house to myself, putting my music on and prepping the ingredients for whatever dish I am making.  There is something mediative about it and of course something tasty at the end of it is an added bonus :-)

As the chilli bubbled on the stove I cleared up my mess I'd made (I also find that mediative :-) and tried to dry Lola who had returned from her walk wet and a bit muddy.  She decided lying in the shade outside was a better approach to getting dry.  She was right.

Chores done, I was just about to have a cuppa and enjoy the peace when the ring doorbell alerted me that there was someone in the driveway.  I went to the front door and was surprised and delighted to see Alan, Vickie and Penny back from their holiday in Somerset.  I wasn't expecting them for at least another two hours but the traffic was much lighter than expected.  

They had a great time (although Alan's having a flare up of his ulcerative colitis in the tiny bit of his large intestine that is left, so he's been in a bit of discomfort :-(  Despite this he has enjoyed himself and they've had loads of great adventures, visiting lots of places and enjoying the sunshine.  Lola went nuts when she saw them.  She was so excited.  She really missed them and all week had trotted through many times to Alan's sitting room and the Support Worker's sitting room to see if they were there.  Now they're back, all is well with the world.

And the peace is shattered :-))