Thursday 14th Jan

Up early as Ant had to phone in sick, then we sat and watched the news for a while until the daylight came. I went online and did the usual stuff then got started in the kitchen. Ant had defrosted some curried pumpkin soup so i added a bit of cream and liquidized it as it was a little lumpy still, i then set to making some bread. While the bread was rising in the oven i made a quick call to gran to see how she was, we discussed my menu and then i handed her to ant and they chatted, I sorted out the leg of lamb, smeared butter all over it then covered it in Herbs de Provence, covered it in tin foil and put it on a very low temp in the roasting oven. I got the cheeses out of the fridge and set them aside to warm through, i had a good bit of mature Cheddar, a nice bit of Stilton, a piece of Brie de meiux and a small Munster, so a nice selection. After the cheese i peeled the potatoes and parsnips and parboiled them ready for roasting, then did the carrots and broccoli.
Ant had busied himself cleaning the house and it did look good when he had finished, and once everything was underway in the kitchen i set to cleaning in there and then went through and set the table. The bread turned out quite nicely, which is always a bit of a relief, so i set that to one side to cool and turned up the roasting oven. Ant and i got dressed and ready, and had about an hour before people arrived so we sat and chatted over a cup of tea.
Tony arrived just before one and then Rosemary arrived a few moments later, Ant cracked open a bottle of bubbly and the day began. We had a very enjoyable lunch, the soup was just right, the lamb turned out wonderfully and the wine flowed freely, the conversation was good. Jackie was on skype half way through the meal so we chatted to her for a bit before the cheese course, which was nice. Jean, from the village, called in during the desert course, wished us a happy new year and advised us we had been invited to visit Madam Soyez, the lady we bought the house from, and wanted to know when we would be free, i advised him we were free all week next week. I invited him to join us in the desert, a very good apricot tart brought by Rosemary, he stayed a chatted for a bit then left us to it.
Rosie and Tony headed off about five in the afternoon and ant and i settled down to the rest of the wine then a gentle night in front of the tv, i had found series one of Early Doors so we watched that. I made sure to drink glass after glass of water during the evening and came out of my merry state into a normal one (as a result i am completely hangover free this morning). We headed off to bed at eleven and read until twelve thirty, i have made a start on the biography of Tom Driberg, and so far it has been quite interesting.