Originally we had tentative plans to see the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but she wasn’t feeling well so we stayed in all day. It was bloody hot — the sun was out full force and I had to move from my perch on the couch to the shade. I was almost tempted to turn the aircon on! It’s supposed to be January, grrrrr.

Late afternoon I ran over to the supermarket to get the ingredients for our dinner. Last night we opened a bottle of Côtes du Rhône and it was so plonkish we couldn’t drink it — so we had to find a way to use it up. I wanted a whole chicken but it wasn’t available so I bought whole legs. Garlic, carrots, potatoes and a tin of chopped tomatoes completed my purchase. I cut the chicken up into pieces, marinated slightly with salt, pepper & olive oil and browned them with garlic. Added diced carrots, tomatoes and the red wine. Simmered on low heat till reduced to at least 1/3. The potatoes I did my usual par-boiled cubes then roasted till crispy. Pretty okay, though the chicken fell apart and it was more like minced chicken.

Felt like ice cream, so I checked out the tubs in the freezer. Hmm. Still taste okay, but they’d been in the freezer for too long and it was more like vanilla ice. Not too bad.