Sunday 3 June

You might be wondering why blog about this latest new beginning, particularly given my track record at regular blogging is not so wonderful. I have a lot to be thankful for, but it's easy to forget that and get bogged down in everything that's not right. I'm hoping that if I make the effort to blog it'll spark that appreciation for all that is right in the world, instead of focusing on all that is wrong.

Sunday 2 June - read for about 5 hours. Curled up in bed with the blankets, couple of cups of tea, a heat pack and a not-so-bad book, The Hunger Games. I found the premise of the book interesting. There are too many examples from history for us to be able to say we wouldn't stoop so low. The writing was a little disjointed. The main character is variously a fighter, a survivor, sullen, giggly ... images that didn't mesh together easily. I often wonder if authors write a plan before they start writing their novels - do they sketch up their characters; set out the timeline; draft out a story line. You can definitely tell those that do.

Cooked a roast beef for dinner (not my picture below; we ate it all before I thought of a photo).  I love a rare roast beef. On Saturday I bought a lump of topside; haven't a clue how much it weighed. Slathered it in garlic and Dijon mustard; put it on a rack; filled the bottom of the pan with beef stock and red wine. I've always called it French roasting; but one site says that's where you put the meat on top of the vegetables to cook. Whichever, roasting over a pan of liquid makes for a very moist roast.

It's a wee bit difficult to make gravy the traditional way (flour in the pan juices with liquid added), but I learnt a trick that works well. Mix butter and flour together into little balls, bring the liquids to boil on the stove top and mix in the balls one at a time.