Cookpots, Crockpots and Crackpots

There are so many things I wanted to tell you about. So many pictures I wanted to show you. Now I don't know if I can remember them all!

23rd October was (it really was!) our 37th wedding anniversary and Keith gave me these beautiful roses, a dozen of them. We never give cards to each other - it seems pointless when we live in the same house and are on speaking terms - but a little gift is another matter. The roses have gone now but I will always have my photos of them.

Here's my great-nephew, Lewis, and his baby sister Holly, with their mum Kate. Doesn't Holly look huge? She isn't really, she's tiny and cute with a rosebud mouth and I'm told she has beautiful eyes (don't they all?). I wouldn't know though because I have yet to see her awake - which must mean I either have a profound effect on babies or I bore them to sleep because this one - apparently - never sleeps. She also has hollow legs, so her mum says, as she is always screaming for food. Aaah, a lass after me own heart!

Remember I said some new pans were needed? We took a trip to Lincoln (about 3/4 hour from here) to haunt one of my favourite shops, Lakeland, where I bought just 3 really good saucepans, these:

and a new old-fashioned type of cream mixing bowl. I had one of these in constant use since 1971 then the other week the bottom dropped out! Quite unprovoked, quite unexpected out it dropped, an almost perfect circle of pot and a stream of crumble mix with it! I was a little bit cross I can tell you. Anyway, there's a nice new one taken its place now:

Now THIS little character was Keith's idea, I have to say - our home would not be complete without it, how have we managed all these years etc etc...........

.........It's a mandolin for slicing vegetables straight or, depending which blade you put in, crinkley, chunky, shreddy. All the things I can do with my food processor only much slower and far more dangerous.......AND it all fastens trogether like this for stowing away in a cupboard. And that's where it remains. It has never seen the light of day and probably never will. Anybody want it? £10.

We had to resort to Comet for the last thing we got that day. I have been wanting a slow cooker for a long time and with fuel prices being how they are I got this:

Now I really do wonder how we managed before!

Here in England it's one of those wonderful patriotic, flag-flying weekends. The Lord Mayor's Show was this morning, Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at the Albert Hall this evenng, the Cenotaph Remembrance service in the Mall, led by Her Majesty the Queen tomorrow morning. This whole weekend is destined to be murky, cold and wet and yet this morning there were still thousands lining the route for the Lord Mayor and everyone in his parade. There they all were, waving their flags and not a shiver or a long face in sight. Everyone must have been soaked to the skin but still they marched - military, civilians and animals - and the bands played.

Tomorrow at the Cenotaph our 82-year-old Queen will lay her wreath and pay her respects to the war dead. She will bow her head in homage to those who can no longer bow theirs to her. Then the parade will start of those still serving, comrades of those who have died, those who have served and given selflessly over the years, war widows and widowers proudly wearing their loved ones' medals. The rain will fall, they will march - and the bands will play.

Don't anybody phone me, don't call and see me, don't ask when lunch is ready because in front of the telly I will be paying my own homage to Them.