A new toy

Keith and I were thinking of going racing today at Warwick, but with the news of my Dad, we decided to put it off. I had a lie-in after seeing Sophie off to the gym, and then had a slow start to the day. Keith went shopping while I stayed at home and did the usual morning chores!

I could see myself just drifting about if I wasn't careful, and wasting precious time, so I sorted out the soft plastics recycling in the garage and suggested to Keith that we take it all to Tesco along with the Tassimo pods. At least I'd been meaning to sort the recycling out for ages, as there's only so much you can stuff into a swing bin!

We drove to Kettering,  got rid of everything and then popped to B&Q to look at garden vacuums. With the recent wind, our driveway was carpeted with leaves, and every time we opened the back door, they all blew in, which was annoying. I had a look at the back garden to see if we still had our wasps' nest, and I could see the little blighters flying backwards and forwards. It has been unseasonably mild today with temperatures set to rise to 17c tomorrow! They probably won't die off until it gets colder.

We saw a Bosch garden vacuum for £75, so we bought it. We bought one a fair while ago and I managed to kill it by trying to suck up too many wet leaves, so I was determined not to make that mistake again!

Before going home, we called into the care home to drop off some items for Mum, and I chatted to her about Dad. She looked quite forlorn sitting by herself, but one of the carers mentioned the hospital had called and said my Dad was looking better than he was on Monday.

Back home, I had a late lunch, and while I was enjoying a few biscuits with cheese, Keith put the vacuum together, which wasn't an easy job! In the end, we had to resort to a YouTube video! Between us, we cleared all the leaves from the driveway and a mound of them next to the steps by the front door. I also vacuumed the garage, which had leaves everywhere as well. I couldn't believe there were so many! The vacuum coped admirably and wasn't as loud as our previous model. By the time we finished, it was 4pm and getting dark.

I had a Mulligatawny soup to make, and Keith had kindly chopped up the vegetables for me earlier. I cooked the bacon first, added the vegetables and let them soften before adding beef stock, curry paste, mango chutney, herbs, tomato pureé, and seasoning. When Sophie arrived home, she said it smelled delicious, and we kept tasting it to make sure we got the flavour right. We all like a bit of spice and curry warmth!

We ate a little earlier tonight, after sitting and talking at the kitchen island. The soup was delicious, with enough left for lunches. After dinner, we watched the last episode of Hunted and saw the Eurotunnel terminal. That brought back happy memories!