Even husband can use it!

Brr, it's turned cold again, I'm so glad we have heating - and can afford to have it on.

I managed to sign into my housing account yesterday, so it must have just been a glitch the day before (or possibly user error....😏😂).  There are just 2 bungalows available....seems to be 2 every week, albeit different ones.  One is in the town, right in the middle of a very large housing estate, totally overlooked and with no nearby suitable dog walking area, so that's a definite no-no.  The other looks to be a very nice bungalow, in a nice quiet area with fields nearby, it's a cul de sac of sheltered housing bungalows.  Problem is.....there's no garden!  Each bungalow has lawned areas front and back but it's all communal and open plan (they have a gardener who cuts the grass) and nobody has a fenced off garden.  So again not suitable, we must have a secure garden for Betty....and anyway, I want a garden to grow flowers and a bit of veg and to sit in.  Never mind, we'll keep looking, there's no rush.  Incidentally, when I looked yesterday we would have been no. 93 in the queue for the housing estate bungalow, and 16 for the no-garden one!  As time goes on we'll move up in the longevity rankings, so this time next year we'll stand a much better chance of getting a suitable place.

I tried out the new caravan AF yesterday.  I made a batch of little cheesy suet dumplings, to be frozen and used in soups.....wow, they came out absolutely perfect!  Crispy on the outside, fluffy and soft inside.  I used 100g SR flour, 50g suet (I used veg suet but beef would be fine) and a handful of finely grated strong cheese, I didn't add salt because the cheese is salty enough.  Used enough cold water to mix to a stiff dough, then rolled into a long sausage and cut it into little lumps for rolling into dumplings....it made about 22.  Baked for about 10 mins on 170 deg in the AF, turning once halfway through.

I then did a cheese & tomato toastie for my lunch in the van AF, that came out really well too, lovely and crunchy toasted bread with beautifully melted cheese and soft warm tomato in the middle.  I talked husband through doing his own, so he'll be able to manage easily - the caravan AF is an easy to use one with manual controls, whereas the Lakeland dual drawer one is digital electronic.  He'll never remember how to use that so I'm not even going to show him....I'd have to explain it again every single time due to his short term memory loss.

I got husband sorting out his clothes yesterday, with some gentle encouragement.  He hasn't done all of his wardrobe/chest of drawers but made a good start, he's now got 2 carrier bags full to take to the charity shop.  I've also sorted out some more books to donate as well, and a bit of craft stuff I'm not going to use.

We had Mediterranean veggies roasted in the AF for dinner, with half a bought tortilla....I know it's lazy to buy a readymade tortilla, but when it's yellow stickered down to £1.50 for a 4-portion size, it's such a bargain.  I put a slice of cheese on it and air fried the tortilla too, it was perfect, we'll have the other half for lunch today with salad and coleslaw.  Incidentally, when we shopped on Wednesday in Sainsburys there was no restriction on fruit and veg, they had slightly less salad stuff than usual but no big gaps.  Whether that continues, remains to be seen.  I shan't be bothered if we can't buy any of the usual salad stuff, we'll just eat something else....grated carrot and sunflower/pumpkin seeds dressed with a little balsamic vinegar, e.g, or a bean salad made with dried beans, of which I have loads.  I'm making a big fish pie today so I can freeze some.