Mr Blue has been teasing again, with dark clouds promising rain twice today, and then not delivering. I am trying not to look too closely at the withered parts of the garden and focusing instead on the healthier sections, which are nicely bedded in sugar cane mulch and watered sparingly by hand once or twice a week, according to how hot it is.

I have just dug and mulched a little plot which grew cherry tomatoes in abundance last year, but this year is going to be a herb garden. This way we will get lots of fresh flavours for our cooking. So far in our garden we have:

• rosemary
• basil (perennial variety)
• mint
• parsley (flat and curl leaf varieties)
• oregano
• thyme
• pineapple sage

And sitting on the kitchen window sill there is a thirsty coriander which, the other evening, helped garnish the most delicious tasting pumpkin soup ever. Love my Thermomix 🙂

I am house-sitting for mum and dad while they are away for a couple of days. Not a demanding job, it is just looking after the dogs and entertaining Jo. It is only a couple of days, yet I brought my Sony tablet and four books!

All this, and still my impulse last evening was to switch on the television… but as luck had it, I couldn’t work out the controls. And Jo never watches TV, so she couldn’t help. So after the feeling of mild frustration went away I resigned myself to an evening of reading. And ended up really enjoying the peace and quiet. And later, with Jo in her space and the dogs slumbering on the floor close by, I fell asleep on the lounge, which is normally how I end my evenings in front of the telly!

A good workout in the kitchen this weekend which is unusual for me, normally such a lazy cook.. It’s all thanks to my new Thermomix, the incredible kitchen appliance which makes all types of cooking such a breeze – it measures, chops, cooks and stirs with a built-in timer so nothing gets burnt or boils over. All I have to do is add the ingredients – it’s no wonder people get passionate about their Thermy!

What I’ve made so far:

• Vegetable stock concentrate (with Di, the Thermomix rep)
• Bacon and pumpkin risotto
• Chicken and vegetable curry
• Strawberry sorbet
• Banana and chocolate muffins
• Beetroot salad
• Onion relish
• Bolognaise sauce
• Coconut butter cake

Most of these are from the Everyday Cookbook which comes with the machine. Looking forward to trying out other recipes, and making my own basics like mayonnaise, yoghurt and tomato paste.

After a lot of running around yesterday, hubby organised for the car changeover to happen today. I felt a little sad to be saying goodbye to Lily, she had been so reliable and a joy to drive for the three years I’d had her.

The new car is a silver Mazda3 diesel, that I’ve nicknamed “Sparta”. Took her for a short drive to introduce ourselves and she handled well.

I was doubly spoilt today because not only did we take delivery of my new car, friendly Thermomix dealer Dianne dropped by this afternoon with my new Thermomix – a wonderful kitchen appliance that does just about everything. We made a batch of vegetable stock this afternoon so Di could demonstrate all the safety features and tonight I will be using it to make a bacon and pumpkin risotto.

It’s Monday and I’m not at work – for the first time in over four years (not counting holidays). It is day five for Ritha, my new job share partner who is on her own for the first time today. Hope everything goes ok for her.

Hubby had to work the night before my birthday.. and discovered you shouldn’t get between a fence and your run-away work vehicle! So lucky he was not more badly injured. Hope to do without the special birthday surprise next year 😉