Food indulgence

Wednesday evening and today were special because they were spent in good company with even better food. I decided to treat a friend (who cannot eat gluten) to my pavlova as she remarked that the recipe I described contained no ingredients which could upset her.  So I invited her round to see the new greenhouse and to have tea with pavlova, of course the clocks had gone back last weekend so the idea was to have a candlelit tea.  Well I was a bit apprehensive about it at the time but it all went very well. The first photo shows you the scene in the greenhouse prior to our guest arriving.

I had to keep adding more candles as the evening grew quite dark by 5 o'clock and she was expected around that time, as it was she was delayed half an hour so it was very dark by the time she arrived but it all worked out fine and we could all see to have our tea too. The reason it had to be had in the greenhouse was because I had asked her to 'officially open' the greenhouse sometime in the summer but we never managed to get round to it.....I did not bother with a ribbon cutting ceremony or anything like that but we did enjoy it and discovered that Bella really likes pavlova too, it was difficult to ignore her begging and she was most insistent. This next shot might explain why.

Is this a dog's eye view?

Today was even better food because we were invited to Sunday lunch with an old friend who used to be a chef here.  If you have never heard of this Country House Hotel then I am surprised because it was the first one in existence and is world famous.  So our lunch was wonderful. We started with salmon and lobster with an amazing sauce. Next we had a traditional roast with all the trimmings and some very special chutney. This was followed by the famous Sticky Toffee Pudding (invented by Francis Coulson when he had the hotel) and lastly by another pudding; a wonderful Syllabub.  (Our friend was the chef who specialised in the pastry and puddings hence the idea of giving us two to eat...) Fine french wine and fond memories completed the perfect lunch. I nearly forgot to mention that Bella was invited too and she had an enormous plate of roast meat (under the table) for a small terrier and then fell fast asleep by my feet. She is still sleeping now on the sofa at home and has not touched her dinner   hmm.

So what progress can I report about sewing activities? Well I have made a start on a simple log cabin quilt and I have also made a start on a 'Linton Tweed' project but I have to admit I have not completed the crewel work embroidery yet but I have made progress as you can see below. There is still a great deal to do though but I really do have to make more time for sewing and less for eating next week.