A busy day!

Today has certainly not been a lazy Sunday! Because we were out all day yesterday, we had to catch up with lots of things today. I did mounds of washing - we hadn't put a load on since Thursday, so our laundry bin was overflowing, but it was very satisfying seeing the heaps of crumpled clothes turn into freshly laundered, sweet-smelling garments blowing in the breeze on the line! Sophie changed her bed and added to the piles in the kitchen!

Sophie made a chocolate ice-cream cake as Mum was coming over this afternoon, and we all pottered about doing jobs that had to be done today. I looked out at the garden knowing it needed mowing, and my car was also badly in need of a wash but that would have to wait!

In the afternoon I went to get Mum and we popped to Tesco first to get her some shopping. I also needed some things (forgotten on Thursday) and then we drove home. Sophie was putting the finishing touches to her cake and it was delicious served with cream. Monty was going mad in the kitchen when she was preparing the cream - he really is an addict when it comes to dairy!

We sat in the conservatory and chatted and reminisced about our trips to San Francisco. One of the saddest things for me about my parents is that they're unlikely to ever travel again. Just the thought of trying to get my Dad onto a plane in a wheelchair makes me break out in a cold sweat. Having said that, both of them have had some fantastic holidays over the years, and when my Dad was very young he did a round-the-world cruise when he worked in the Merchant Navy. At the moment, with the way things are in the US, I'm reluctant to go there again so I think we'll stick to Europe for the foreseeable future!

Sophie and I took Mum home, returned via the scenic route and played Scrabble with a glass of wine. Dinner tonight was a barbecue and I'd suggested chicken kebabs. I'd already marinated the chicken in a spicy marinade made from soy sauce, ketchup, sugar and honey, and I'd threaded the meat onto skewers with peppers, courgettes, leeks (in retrospect, not a good idea) and mushrooms.

Keith wasn't keen on barbecuing them and was very grumpy about it so I made him take them off the grill and we put them in the oven instead. I served the kebabs with couscous, which he also moaned about and insisted on cooking some new potatoes! Oh well! The kebabs were lovely, though, but I won't use leeks again. They hadn't really cooked through and were a bit dry!