marmalade

1 Made marmalade - first time ever. I had always thought it would be difficult, but in fact, it was easy-peasy. Saw some Seville oranges in the greengrocers and bought a dozen on a whim (eggs, bottles and oranges always come in dozens or half dozens for me - wonder why?). It smelled so good bubbling away on the hob, and now it tastes fantastic. I have 9 smug jars in the pantry, and one not so smug mug-ful in the fridge. I never have quite enough jars when I preserve things.

2 Sorted out the freezer. I now have a very nice notebook with all contents noted down. How smug am I?

3 On Sunday we decided to go somewhere we had never been before. We ended up in a little bistro in Hatherleigh, with a very friendly owner, lovely food, all very cosy. The kids surpassed themselves in charm and good manners, BT ate a pile of beef and Rainbow ate home-made soup without decorating herself with it. Afterwards we went for a very muddy walk, met a little dog, watched a model plane enthusiast. Came home and watched the 3 Musketeers. Very Sunday. Very family. Very pleasant.

I haven't even mentioned the party we went to on Saturday night - I had that 5 o'clock "let's just stay in" feeling, but forced myself into a (slightly pathetic, token gesture) punk outfit (70s theme) and we went for it. It was great - most people had made a huge effort, everybody was up dancing from the moment the music started, and the food was lovely. So there you go.

Did see a really good slogan on the back of an ageing punk's pond-liner waistcoat - "Too old to die young".