Kate is in Kent, and Beth is in Spain. I’m alone this morning, with just a cooked breakfast, a mug of tea, and the Chinese F1 qualifying to watch.

Andrew is coming around for lunch. I’ve got dough rising at the moment, so we’ll have fresh bread. We’ll be having a ploughman’s; double gloucester is today’s cheese of choice, and beetroot pickle to go with it.

We lunched at Littlejohns.

ormsweird, hobbitomm, and toddler Eve, were in town, and we were also joined by zephyravictrix, e_halmac, scrivener13, and meepfrog. The company was excellent, and the food was better than I remembered from our previous visits.

Kate’s main course was ridiculously small — I was astonished that they would try to charge £9 for a small bowl of pasta in tomato sauce — but they happily provided a supplemental portion.



On the way home Beth and I walked along the beach in grey, miserable rain. It was good to be out by the sea, and even better to get home and warm and dry.

Working from home today, I made myself cheesy pasta for lunch. I mean, is there really a better lunch than cheesy pasta?

Planning to lunch on Saturday at Jimmy Chung’s in Dundee. Would anyone like to join us?

We’ve had Mary to stay for the weekend. Kate’s cold has been improving, and we’ve had a jolly time.

On Saturday we watched “Remembrance of the Daleks” in the morning. There is nothing like a bit of classic Who to start the weekend. Beth enjoyed it a lot. She was amused at the Special Weapons Dalek. The afternoon was spent at the Bonkers playbarn in Cupar where Beth was attending Felicity’s birthday party. On the way home we dropped in on Ian & Liz’s tea and cake party; good company and good cakes. Beth had fun meeting another Beth, and young Elliot. We spent the evening watching “The Nine Tailors”, drinking wine, and eating cheese.

I assisted Andrew with some shopping this morning, then he cooked us lunch. A splendid veggie-sausage casserole, with sundry extras, following by a condensed-milk syllabub to Andrew’s personal recipe (see http://qidane.livejournal.com/175999.html). A triumph.

Then we came home to watch “The Twin Dilemma”, a slice of 1984 not-quite-so-classic Who (although there are worse stories — “Time-Flight” for instance, or “Arc of Infinity”). Now we’re on to another Carmichael Wimsey: “The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club”. Beth has been hosting a tea party for her toys (soft toys and her inflatable Dalek), which involves her eating all the (real) sarnies, jellies, and jam tarts.

Join kateaw, qidane and me for our annual Christmas carvery party lunch, to say “thank you” to our friends for another great year. We’ll be serving a traditional Christmas roast — the perfect way to get in the mood for Christmas.

Sunday 20 December, noon to 4pm. RSVP

If you prefer Facebook, the event is at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=185575526635

This entry was originally posted at http://tobyaw.dreamwidth.org/165899.html.

I spent half the morning preparing lunch while Kate was busy sticking tiles on the loo floor. As Andrew was the only meat eater today, he roasted the lamb in his house (so we veggies didn’t have to deal with it), and then he decided that it wasn’t cooked sufficiently for his taste, so we all had a veggie roast lunch. (He left the lamb in for a while longer, and will lunch on it through the week.)

Pudding was cheese & biscuits. Red Leicester, Emmental, Pié d’Angloys, and a crumbly Lancashire were the cheeses of choice, with Hovis digestives and Carr’s water biscuits. Kate is a big fan of Lancashire cheese — having passed by a Booth’s on the way home from Wales last weekend, Kate was well supplied with her favourite (even better than Wensleydale, I am told). I prefer the Pié d’Angloys, which I think is the finest cheese that our local Morrisons stocks. Beth has developed a particular fondness for pickled onions with her cheese. Many were consumed.

I’ve spent the afternoon trying to get a VAT invoice out of Google Apps Premier, Andrew is copying some of his files onto my Drobo for a backup (or maybe a master copy), and Kate and Beth are doing a craft project, making something on the dining room table.

We’re heading out swimming shortly.

Next up: must plan our Christmas party lunch. Keep your diaries free for Sunday 20 December.

This entry was originally posted at http://tobyaw.dreamwidth.org/165476.html.

We're getting together for lunch at Bella Italia on Bell Street, St Andrews on Sunday. Would anyone like to join us? Let me know and I'll get a table booked.

So far we have me, Beth, kateaw, qidane, zephyravictrix, houstonjames, theworldofhelen, ioevri1 and lil' Keith.

Vague plan: meet at our house from midday, and we'll then walk or drive into town for lunch at 1pm, then back home for tea and cake later in the afternoon.