The weather has been a bit hinky this whole year. First, winter was mild, it doesn’t snow here but it does get pretty cold. Apart from a few snaps, it was fairly mild. We didn’t even have a single frost! Then Spring was about a month late, and until last week, we were still wearing light jackets. Today is the first morning that I’ve woken up and it’s felt summery. It’s 21C now (08:11) and it’ll only get warmer. It’s funny. My Mom hates the hot weather, winter is her favourite season, she like being bundled up. I hate it. I hate having more than one layer of clothes on. I feel like a Michelin man! On the other hand, I am really glad we have A/C at work this year…
I am meeting up with my friend Carol tonight for a coffee. She’s been away in Scotland on a Rotary exchange program so I am sure she’ll have many stories to tell! We might even have to go for cocktails tomorrow evening, just to fit them all in. Yes, for you my friend, I will choke down a cocktail or three. If I must. The things I do.
We had chicken wraps for dinner. I made some more oat cookies and we had a chocolate cupcake each for pud. I love being able to bake. I’ve also noticed that since I started baking, we buy a lot less junk food. I haven’t bought myself a chocolate bar or a bag of chips for ages. Ok, so cupcakes are not exactly healthy, but they do satisfy that craving for a sweet snack after dinner that I get sometimes (ok, all the time). This weekend I am going to give Phoo-D’s granola bars a bash (recipe here). They look delicious! In fact, go check out her site, she has some wonderful recipes and I love her writing too! I also love being able to tuck a treat or a variety of stuff into our lunch boxes. J and I both take a mid-morning snack, something for lunch, and a mid-afternoon snack (though I am sure he eats all his by lunch!). We’ve saved quite a lot by not walking to the shops to buy a pre-made sandwich or a take away.
J and I were chatting last night and we’ve decided to have a Red Wine Friday. We’re going to try to find out what our favourite, reasonably priced wines are. We tend to buy the same ones over and over and I think we could be missing out. We’ve put a cap of R50 (at the current exchange rate, that’s about US$7) per bottle so the more expensive Diemersfontein etc are out. We are by no means wine buffs, we seldom detect anything other than alcohol and grapes when sniffing our wines but we know what we like and I would like to share it with you. I’ll post the observations on Mondays (I don’t usually blog over the weekend). You are all more than welcome to join me…in fact, IF I can get really organised (and that’s a big IF), I’ll let you know what wine we will be trying in advance so you can taste along with me (check my Twitter feed!). Otherwise just leave a comment and let us know what you drank, what year it was, how much it was and why you liked it.
Happy Guy Fawkes to those who celebrate it. Remember to look after your 4-legged friends who don’t like the noise! J and I will be playing with sparklers and slow shutter speeds on his camera. If we have some goodies-I’ll put up few!
In my Lunchbox: left over roast chicken with rocket sandwich, cold chicken wing, carrot sticks, oat cookie (see recipe page!), banana bread (also on recipe page), and an apple.
