In anticipation of a good lot of leaf drop....

 I am in the habit of keeping an eye on Meteo, which is a weather forecasting website, so that I can put the washing out to dry, or not. Plus Lester needs to make sure the hay is covered if rain is on the way.

It has been a lovely slow run down into winter this year, and the trees have looked stunning as day by day they have  changes the colours of their leaves, but according to Meteo we shall have storms this evening. It does not take much to get those leaves off the trees, so I anticipate a more nude look to the landscape tomorrow morning.

But instead of feeling irritated at this nudeness which must surely mean that cold weather is not far away, I savoured the loveliness of those trees, drinking in the magnificence of the colours, and seeing not the end of another year but the start of a new one in a few months time.

It is an odd thing, but when I have been walking the dogs over our fields  at dusk for the last few days I have had the feeling that spring is in the air, which makes winter seem but a small blip of time to get through.

In pre-Rayburn days, would I have felt the same way at this time of year? Probably not. But for this winter we should be warm. It is surprising at how much more one can enjoy the changing seasons if one can have somewhere warm to retreat to when the air turns chilly.


And why is it that all our three dogs seem to have suddenly gained a madness? Is it because of the full moon, or because they sense the change in seasons, or has that hour of clock change unsettled them. Whatever. If they do not calm down they shall be put in separate areas so they can't keep winding each other, and me, up tomorrow.


1.2 kgs of butter I made from the cream of our milk yesterday, but most days it is under a kg. It is nice to be getting our own butter again and not have to buy it in from the supermarket. Not sure if my food processor is going to stand up to the strain of having to work so hard to turn the cream into butter although it is making heroic efforts to do the job for the moment. Still struggling to find a solution to storing hard cheese so not making any at the moment, but I am making soft cheese, and that is a success. But the paneer cheese, well I made a small amount of this cheese and put it into the curry I made for lunch after first cutting it into cubes. I liked it, but Lester's comment? "Well that's alright to have from time to time", which really means that he did not go much on the taste, or perhaps it was the texture which even I must admit was slightly chewy.

So, in other words, Lester does not like paneer, will eat it if he has to, but would prefer not to, but said in a diplomatic way so that I did not go into a huff after having made the effort to try a new cheese out. He has to be careful sometimes...... I can get tetchy after having spent time and effort at trying out something new for him to eat. Meanwhile, as I say, the problem of where to store hard cheese remains after the cupboard under the stairs was deemed not right for conversion into a cheese storage area due to the main electricity box also being in the cupboard.


Ah, Meteo was right.....there is a storm arriving so I had best close down....we don't want a lightning strike blowing our electrics out so we have to switch the internet off......

Saying bye for now before we act as a attractant for any stray lightning bolts......

Vx