Plum chutney

An ex-colleague popped round for a cuppa and catch up. Oooooh, how I love to listen to teachers chatting about the stresses of school. It certainly adds to the general warm glow of retirement bliss!

M is a keen Blackford Hill walker. And she likes dogs. Would she like to come and meet Archie? (With a view to taking him out with her)... Yes.

Impressing visitors with his tricks only takes a minute or two, so he really needs to learn a few more, but M liked his manners. Apart from his hysterical barking when she arrived, she thought he was very calm.

We all had a walk up the Hill. M called him back all the time, and was very generous with the treats, so Archie thought she was wonderful. (He's actually posing for her camera in this shot, instead of mine). They might go for a walk together next week! I used my new fisheye lens for this shot.

I then went to the gym. How can I not, when I can walk out of the gate and just look to see if it's busy? And I did 50 minutes, adding a couple of extra leg and arm torture machines. Pain is good, right? Or is it my bones telling me to STOP?

We had some plums that weren't terribly nice, so JR declared that she'd make plum chutney. When I came back from the gym, we were sitting in the lounge, when suddenly this god-awful LOUD beeping started. It was the smoke alarm! Archie was terrified.

And yes, it was a burnt saucepan of charred plums.

No plum chutney then...

PS Many thanks for all the stars and favs on my blipday yesterday.