Casserole

Cooking a big beef casserole this afternoon for a family congregation tomorrow, with celery, parsnips, carrots, swede and butternut squash, and a winter fruit salad with orange juice, lemon zest, honey and brandy. Murk rolls in over the tops and it's wet and darker at just gone five than of late. I think the weekend will feature a lot of sitting by the wood burner. Though yesterday in Manchester I actually ate my lunch sitting in the sunshine outside the wonderful Barbakan Deli. L is cleaning boots and shoes. An old friend phoned, who went on a 19-day silent retreat at Christmas, and sounds calm and happy. Tomorrow I have to get up at 6.00 to go and teach my students about professionalism (!) and when I get home around lunchtime, my brother will be here, having flown in early with his partner. Later my sister will arrive on the train.