Summer Supper

It is so warm tonight, so a very light supper was called for..We had Parma Ham, Green olives stuffed with pimentoes, Sun Blushed tomatoes, Salad and Puy Lentil Salad taken from Ainsley Harriots Barbecue Bible.

Puy Lentil, Red Onion and Sundried Tomato Salad

Serves 8

225 g Puy Lentils
1 fresh bay leaf
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
pinch of caster sugar
1 red onion, finely chopped
50 g sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
1-2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, (depending on your taste)
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
100 g goats' cheese or feta cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons of flatleaf parsley
salt and pepper

Put the lentils into a pan with the bay leaf, vinegar, 1 whole clove garlic, sugar and a little pinch of salt and pepper. Cover with 1.2 litres of cold water, bring to boil, and leave to simmer for 25 minutes until just tender but still holding their shape.
Drain the lentils well, discarding bay leaf and garlic. tip into bowl and leave to go cold.
Finely chop the remaining garlic clove and stir it into the lentils with the rest of the ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper and chill for 2 hours before serving.

Enjoy, Bon Appetite, Buon Appetito.

Summer....

1. Summer Houses, 2. Water-mill, 3. The steps (gli scalini), 4. Portofino a village of rare beauty, 5. Imperia Oneglia - vegetables at the Wednesday market, 6. Summer Berries Blueberries, 7. Fonti del Clitunno, 8. there's nothing better than summer,

Today I did this little montage of photos from Flickr...I do hope that the people don't mind if I use their photos..It is great to see beautiful photographs, and that they make many people happy!!! Any objections and I will remove the photo.

UPDATE:- The picture on the bottom right is missing, as I had an email from the lady who took it, asking for it to be removed and that she wasn't happy with my action...!!

New Experience...

Today I have got my little grandson Thomas coming to stay (if he will) for a few days. It will be a new experience for us all..He normally only comes here with his parents ..except the time when he was a baby but he got sick, so had to ask them to come and get him, and take him too the doctors, he had thrush, so he couldn't eat or drink milk properly, Oh my word, that was a nightmare, and my husband was away, actually that might of been a good thing, he couldn;t of coped!!!

My husband isn;t very good with children...doesn't know why they do certain things, or why they scream...etc, no we didn;t have any children..and he has only just got back from Germany last night, so he will be a bundle of laughs.. :-)Oh and the cat will be put out, he normally has the run of the house, he can;t stand any changes...or other people in his house...Who does that remind me of..:-)

He has a little sister, Lily, but no way could I cope with two of them...well not yet..so heres to an eventful few days.

Hope you all have a great week :-)


UPDATE....All went well, Little Thomas as gone home now...we had a great time..He had a fantastic time, he had his own space and me time away from his little sister who is 18 months old and just doesn;t leave him or his things alone.

My new little jewellery box....

Our Walk - Lyneham to Goatacre Via Tockenhem in Wiltshire

I have just been to spend the weekend with my friend, and one of the things we had planned was a walk. We were very lucky to fit it in today, as yesterday would of been so dreadful..it poured then went sunny, just didn;t know when to risk it!!!

We walked from Lyneham to Tockenham, looped back on ourselves and then walked to Goatacre, where how husbands were waiting for us. The weather was fantastic and luckily most of the long grass and muddy areas had dried up a bit...

Here is a map to see our walk!! Tockenhem is to the East of Lyneham and Goatacre to the South...We walked up to Queen Farm then turned back, looped back down to Tockenham Court farm on the way to Goatacre..didn;t have a map with us, as my friend knows the way.

Hi Blogger Friends....

Sorry going to have to take a break from Blogging...very busy at work, and very tired!! Will be back in a few days.

Hope you all have a great weekend, will call in to see you all next week hopefully.

Take Care..

Super but Wet Weekend

On Sunday I was very lucky to be able to go the British Grand Prix. But my weekend started on the Saturday afternoon when I went to the hotel where the team were staying. I caught the bus from Oxford to Buckingham and found my way to the hotel..The Best Western. Once settled in, I took full advantage of the leisure facilities..lovely pool and then a sauna!!

My husband and the team came back from the track, so we had a few wines in the hotel bar..My friend Roz who's partner works on the team as well, was there..we had a great time. We all then got changed etc and made our way into town...few more wines and then for a meal. We got a taxi home, and prepared for the early morning start and the very long day!!

I was soooo lucky to get a pit pass, and go on the pit walk...this gives the real fans time to look into the front of the garages..amazing.

I had my pass for all day, so I was able to go into the Williams F1 motorhome for hospitality..and come and go as I pleased. Great being looked after, it is normally the other way round. Despite the weather and despite the fact that our team only got 1 point...it was a fantastic weekend.

Flowering Clematis