Betty in action

 I've just found this photo of Betty rolling about on the sand, I knew I'd managed to get one at least once!  It's from 2022.  In answer to your question, June - yes lots of dogs like rolling around on their backs, be it on sand or grass - Betty especially likes rolling in long grass.  Can't say I've seen one doing what Betty does on the beach though - digging a hole first and then throwing herself in it and rolling around.  She clearly loves it though and I love watching her enjoying herself so much.

Oh and I've just realised she's not actually in the hole that she'd dug 😂😂

Finally a nice product

 Thank you for comments and more suggestions for dairy-free foods.  Yesterday we tried Flora Buttery on some crackers, I'd bought it at the same time as the Lurpak plant-based, to use in baking.  Well, the Flora is actually really nice (Yellow Shoes mentioned this yesterday), I'd be happy to have that on toast or a sourdough sandwich anytime.  And it's cheaper than even supermarket own brand butter, so there's a win.  We'll have the Flora Buttery as our spread of choice and use the Lurpak plant butter up in baking.  Once I've used up the Lurpak, I'll probably just use Flora Buttery for everything, baking and spreading, from now on.  I can't see me ever really getting to like any vegan cheeses though, I just don't like the taste of those that I've tried.  Whereas I love any dairy cheese, especially strong flavoured ones and blue cheeses.

My hayfever is really kicking in now, every morning for the last few days shortly after I get up and open the windows, my eyes and nose start streaming and itching, so it's a quick squirt with the antihistamine spray which does calm things down.  

We took Betty to Dunster beach yesterday, as it was such a nice sunny and warm day it was quite busy there, unsurprisingly.  She loved running about and digging in the sand, doing her usual favourite thing of digging a hole and then throwing herself down into it and rolling around on her back.  I had done a video of her on my phone, but when we got home and I looked at it, I'd missed her completely, she wasn't even in the shot - the sun was in my eyes and I couldn't see what I was aiming at 😂 . Photography is not one of my skills!

A second before I took this photo, she was on her back in the hole she'd dug, obviously leapt up just as I took it 😂😒

Husband cooked some beef mince and liver for Betty yesterday, with the kitchen door shut - I cannot stand the smell of beef and any offal cooking nowadays, it makes my stomach heave.  Once he'd cooked it and it had cooled a bit (so was less smelly), I mixed in some cooked sweet potato and broccoli, portioned it up into plastic tubs and froze it, it made enough for 8 meals for her.

15 degrees and wall-to-wall sunshine is forecast today - whoopee!  So we'll be in the garden for much of the day, I expect.  Or we might take a picnic, our first one of the year, to the beach 😁

Non-dairy - it's a No from me

 We normally have butter, Lurpak by choice if it's on offer, any other branded one that happens to be on offer if not, or even the supermarket's own brand.  Last week, Lurpak had an offer on their vegan plant-based butter, which I didn't even know they made.....as it was on offer I bought 2, one of which I froze for when sis comes.  I opened the other to have on our morning toast yesterday.....it's awful, it tastes like cheap margarine, and with an odd plasticky aftertaste.  I'm quite disappointed, I'd had high expectations with it being Lurpak.  Never mind, I'll use it in baking.  I've also tried the Philadelphia plant based soft 'cheese' spread.....not overly keen on that either.  I guess, like most things, it's a case of getting used to them.  However, to be perfectly honest, since my dairy intolerances are quite mild, I doubt I'll be bothering with any of the dairy-free substitutes after sister has gone home, just getting them in for her each time she comes down to stay.  The Oakwood smoked vegan 'cheddar' I quite like as slices with crackers, but not terribly keen on a cheese sauce with it, too gloopy as I said the other day and although a mild smoky flavour comes through, it didn't really taste cheesy.  I'll continue with my lacto-free milk I've been having for years, as ordinary milk does make my sinus problems much worse.  SAM and Brenda, I think you're both right, it is really a case of enjoying the dairy and meat free things in their own right, rather than as substitutes....the problem is, though, I don't really like the actual taste of them, whatever they are.  I guess if I had no choice and had to have them for medical reasons, I'd soon begin to like them!

With some trepidation, I set out to use the printer yesterday - astonishingly, it worked straight away, with no problems whatsoever!  As I hadn't needed to do any printing for months and months prior to yesterday, I was expecting no end of problems.  What a relief!  It was obviously my lucky day 😂😂

The weather forecast is so good for the rest of this week and through the weekend, warm and sunny (with a possible shower or two on Friday), I expect we'll be busy doing some more garden jobs, taking advantage of the sunshine.  We'll take Betty for a beach run or two as well.  

Husband's got to take the car to a garage next week, he had a safety recall letter come through, apparently a fuse needs changing as it could be a fire risk.  We've got the chap from 'H' Blinds coming next week as well, to give us quotes for the kitchen and lounge windows.  I'll be glad to get vertical blinds, we've got nets at the moment and I'm really not a fan of them.

The poor get poorer...

 I did the new monthly budget yesterday and made a note of all the increases in both income and monthly bills to commence in April.  It appears that the increases in husband's state pension, our small private pensions and our Attendance and Carers allowances won't cover the increases in all our household bills.  There'll be a shortfall, albeit a reasonably small one, but a shortfall all the same.  It won't be a problem, but will mean I'll have to keep a close eye on the finances (I do anyway) and may not be able to put away as much in savings as I'd like.  Hey ho, we've got a roof over our heads and enough money to pay all our bills and have a comfortable life, many don't have that, so we're blessed.  It's just a bit annoying that pensioners seem to be getting poorer, whilst MPs, CEOs of big corporations, footballers and the like have huge payrises.  Where's the fairness in that?

Husband is dropping me off at the supermarket this morning on his way to the gym.  I need a small top up shop again, no big shop yet as I want to use up lots of things in the freezer, prior to doing a big shop just before sister arrives (3 weeks today!).  So it's mainly fruit and veg and some milk needed.

I made the dairy-free cheese sauce yesterday, using oat milk, nutritional yeast flakes and grated applewood smoked, I added some mustard and sage for flavour.  It came out quite gloopy but the taste was alright, even husband said he liked it.  I found it not cheesy enough for my tastes, but I'll rectify that the next time I make it - practice makes perfect.

Sunday jobs

 Another hard frost overnight, the heating came on in the early hours but it's fine and bright sunshine now....in fact lovely weather is forecast for the next several days.

I've got a busy morning, the budget for the month to do, a new menu plan using up lots of things in the freezer.  I need to print something off, which isn't as easy as it should be - firstly husband has to scrabble about under his desk to locate the cables and plug them in.  He disconnects them each time...don't ask me why, another of his cognitive foibles probably.  As I don't often have a need to print anything, and I'm technologically challenged, every time I need to print something it's always like I've never done it before, I can't remember how to do it so have to look it up - it usually involves a lot of swearing 😂😂.  After a big mug of coffee and a game of something or other on the computer - to calm my nerves 😉 - then I'll get on with dinner prep - toad in the hole today with a sort of potato dauphinoise thing - sliced potatoes in a cheese sauce, I want to try making a dairy-free one with oat milk, nutritional yeast flakes and the oakwood smoked cheese.  Green veggies on the side.  

Husband's got some garden work to do, I can keep an eye on him from the kitchen window, help where necessary, guide him back to the job he's supposed to be doing (he never finishes one job at a time but flits between jobs, which means nothing gets completed).  I'll also keep him supplied with cuppas and make sure he has breaks.  Then we'll relax this afternoon.  Oh and Sue - nooooo, we won't be dressing up and going to watch the darts!! 😂😂

Early start to hayfever, and warm sunny days at last

 I've realised that my sinus problems and subsequent headache aren't just down to blocked sinuses at the moment, but also to hayfever.  It's always been early Spring that my hayfever kicks in, caused by birch and hazel pollen (I had tests to identify the triggers years ago).  Luckily, I have antihistamine spray and tablets, I've used the spray the last couple of days and it's already helping to unblock my sinuses and alleviate my stuffy head.

I didn't sleep well at all last night, probably due to things on my mind.  I've been asked to write a letter for someone, a sort of character reference, and that was going through my head last night.  I've just sat and done it though, so at least it's out of my head now.

We had a beautiful sunny and warm day yesterday, with virtually no wind, very Spring-like indeed.  We went to Watchet (a small but pretty harbour town for those not familiar with it) yesterday - actually it's where the bronze statue of Captain Jack that Betty likes so much is.  We walked along the west pier and stood at the end leaning against the railings for ages, looking out to sea (the tide was out), it was absolutely gorgeous.

Today the weather is much the same, following a hard frost last night it's now bright sunshine, blue sky and warm, and is forecast to be the same for several days.  Spring at last!!  We're out in the garden today, putting that green plastic edging around all the gravel beds to stop the problem of gravel falling all over the paths.  Some national darts championship is on at Butlins this weekend, so we won't be going anywhere near Minehead, it'll be heaving I expect.  Fortunately, we're far enough away from there not to be bothered by it.

You've all come up trumps

 Thank you all very much for the dairy free recommendations, I really appreciate it.  Popped to the supermarket for a small top up shop of fruit & veg yesterday and took the opportunity to have a look at some of the vegan stuff.  A few things were on special offer, so I took advantage of that and bought some - some of the long life oat milks, and Lurpak plant butter (I didn't even know they did that) for example.  I also bought a pack of Applewood vegan smoked cheese, Philadelphia plant cream cheese and a tub of nutritional yeast flakes.  I've tried a slice of the Applewood cheese - it's actually not bad, a mild smoky flavour and quite 'cheesy', no unpleasant plasticky or chemically taste.  Even husband said it was ok, and he's not a huge cheese lover.  Haven't tried any of the other things yet (other than oat milk, which I've had several times in the past anyway), I'm going to try making a 'cheese' sauce using the oat milk and nutritional yeast and maybe grate a bit of the smoked cheese into it, just to see what it's like.  Cakes will be no problem, using plant based spreads, and I can of course make batter for Toad in the Hole with oat milk.  I've made pastry in the past using oil instead of butter....can't remember what it was like but am fairly sure it was ok.  I've had the Alpro yogurts before, they're absolutely fine.  Didn't know about the Swedish Glace icecream, I'll certainly try that - and the vegan Magnums!  So I now know there are plenty of options for making ordinary things dairy free.

But as one of you said, the prices of some of the dairy free things are much higher than 'normal' stuff, quite an eye opener.

Not done much today, I've had a belting headache literally all day, I think it's sinus related.  Might be worth me going totally dairy-free for a few days!