A trying day!

Today didn't start off too well this morning when I received a call at 8am from our cook at work phoning in sick. This put me in a grump and I managed to have an argument with the children before we even left for school about the mess they left in the conservatory last night...

At work I told my parents we were without a cook today so the next hour was spent trying to arrange cover and then our frozen food supplier arrived with the week's large delivery. We also had an important meeting scheduled for 9.30am when hordes of customers decided to arrive and the phones kept ringing!

As I was trying to deal with people coming in Polly wandered over from the restaurant where she had taken over Maureen's job and started wittering on about the cistern in the loo...was now really the time to tell me?

Luckily Paula arrived to cover Polly's job so I was able to escape back to the office and take part in the last half hour of the meeting. By this time I was desperate for a cup of coffee! Yesterday everything went very smoothly at work but today has been very trying! At least I was able to go out to the bank in the afternoon and drive my car. I am totally in love with it and I'm itching to take it on a long journey on the motorway but this weekend will be taken up with catering for a dinner with Mum and Dad on Saturday night and a Service of Remembrance with Mikey on Sunday. Maybe next weekend!

After work Keith and I set out for a walk but by 4.30pm it was already very dark, and cold! We walked to the village but then I said I wanted to go home as it was freezing and I hadn't put a coat on...a bit stupid, I know! We went home, opened a bottle of wine and sat in the conservatory to discuss what we were going to cook for Mum and Dad on Saturday night. My turn at Come Dine With Me is in December and my theme is Dr Zhivago so I was going to cook Russian dishes. We decided on pate to start (easy) and Beef Stroganoff for a main course followed by Pavlova. When the girls come I'm going to prepare Blinis with smoked salmon, but Mum and Dad didn't seem too keen when I told them about the starter!