Tasty asters

I almost bought some of these flowers to plant in the garden as part of a bee-friendly pack. Then I realised that I had tonnes of them growing willy-nilly as "weeds". That saved me a few pennies.

I waited in for a gas man who didn't come until the last minute. Then, when he rang the doorbell and rattled the letterbox, I didn't hear him (I'm not sure if he really did make much noise) as I was on the phone. Tch. It can wait. My gas provider wants to change my ancient gas meter to something more modern, but this is the fourth appointment they've made to change it. I don't think it can be that urgent.

There was much fun in the evening. I met Fred, Simon and Lindsey at The Hope pub down the road for a chocolate stout. We bumped into Michael, The Record Man, outside The Book and Record Bar, which is opening tomorrow (I'm very excited about this). He, his wife and an army of helpers were painting, nailing, sweeping, etc. - it's going to be up to the wire getting it ready! Leaving him to it, we walked to Lal Baag, the brilliant Indian restaurant, and ate our fill. We hadn't finished chatting so it was back to the flat for ghost stories in the garden around candles and a bottle of whisky. A fantastic night with our local chums.