Saturday 25th April

The day began at seven (the legacy of early work-day mornings) with a spell on the computer re-hashing yesterday's blog and having a glance at http://www.ilkley-more.com/, where there isn't much going on.

Mum and dad were coming for dinner, so there was an AM dash to Tesco for the bits and pieces, with an unplanned diversion to Booth's for the main ingredient (lamb shanks) which Tesco didn't have!

The recipe is a one-pot affair, so once it was in the oven and the components for the pud - Eton Mess - were combined, there wasn't much to do. Drove over to Baildon with Phill, picked up M&D (after admiring their new central heating boiler - the old one finally gave up after forty-five years) and brought them back to TEOIM. Mum doesn't drive and dad is less comfortable behind the wheel these days, so we do the chaffeuring.

Dad pronounced himself well pleased with his gin and tonic, made with Spanish gin, then, after the usual last minute scramble to bring everything together hot and on time, we cracked open some wine and sat down to the lamb, which had spent the last couple of hours cooking in a mixture of red wine & balsamic vinegar. It was teriffic, and dad surprised us all by saying that it was the first time in his eighty-plus years that he'd tasted lamb! No wonder he looked nonplussed when we set his plate down. Sophie showed him the way though, reducing her piece to the bone in what seemed like nothing flat!

After the meal we sat and watched a DVD of Sophie's performance with her pony, Phez, at last weekend's Ilkley show, the first of the season. The pair did well and there was much happy chatter.

Dad was worried about Phill having to drive them home in the dark so we set off back to Baildon, where we said our goodbyes. A pleasant, sunny day.