Today started very well indeed with a clear sunny sky and ... warmth. Not that it lasted long. And Sunday it is clearly planning to snow with six degrees strong winds and rain. Good thing I don't have to go anywhere then.

The oxtail stew was delicious even if I do say so, but it marked the death of the pressure cooker. The base has bowed distinctly (must have happened last time i used it and I didn't notice), so it will be heading to the tip tomorrow :-( . I shall miss it sorely as it had the wonderful capacity to turn frozen chicken pieces into a melt-from the bone casserole in very short order. Wonder if there are any sales on at present that I can scurry off to? They seem to look rather more streamlined than they once did... Of course the logical thing to do would be to get a pressure canner which could presumably double as a cooker and have the added advantage of allowing me to bottle meat and other such things that the vacola system is not suited to. Hmmmm, thoughts to consider.

Cleaning the bank was  a whizz this morning and I was off back home before I knew it. Spent some time over with the new neighbours and sent over a plate of cooked beef bones as he has not eaten for two days (he has stomach cancer) and Judy and I both thought beef tea would be the ticket. But since she hasn't got an oven, they were cooked here. I had already cooked up one batch for me which has been chugging on the woodheater for several hours now - and is presently cooling in the kitchen. It will be skimmed and then reheated tomorrow to reduce it once the bones are out.

Also called in to visit a friend whose husband is building his version of the polytunnel and appears to be getting a bit carried away with the engineering process - with sleepers used as the door frame. I dropped off some leftover tie-downs that he needed for linking the uprights to the wire frame, enjoyed a glass of the limoncello he was making (distinctly alcoholic and this before the sun was over the yardarm) and staggered home once more.

This using an external mouse has had one distinct advantage - it is such a pain that i am not wasting as  much time on the computer as i have been, so I get to be able to reduce my download limit back to 5Gig and thus reduce the cost a bit! Yay!

Howling wind out there at present, so presumably the temperature will be falling fairly rapidly, judging from its direction. Two dog night tonight and the cats will have to work their way under the doona in the gaps, lol. I may yet find myself sleeping on Shadow's electric blanket on the floor!