Spring visitors

if I could catch these blighters I would ......   (tell them about social distancing??)

ANTS

Two or three at a time appearing in kitchen. Been wiping down surface with smelly stuff, put sugar away (in fridge), checked outside wall for nest, still can't get rid.  

Mind you in checking outside I noticed kitchen drain blocked. There followed a smelly half day of digging out a blockage. So I should thank them for making me go round the corner of the house!!

There are worse things to worry about today.

Our Children on Whats App group this morning. All city dwellers and finding supermarkets empty and somehow they have all decided to become bread makers again as they are stuck at home so are swapping tips. Apparently no yeast around - we discussed sour dough!  They are channelling their great grandfather who was a Master Baker and ran a bakery all through WWII. 

Our other spring visitor was a surprise bird. A very young thrush appeared complete with some fluffy baby feathers. He stayed for some mealworms. Don't see many of them.

Not a great Friday

Its cold, but dry and sunny so I should not have had a rotten day compared to all those suffering in the snow. But the deep back filling done on 31 October had popped off.  I have suffered through terrible dentists in the 1960/70s  and absolutely hate the whole process. Not even the young Italian dentist who is very gentle can make up for having to go again so soon.

Make it worse.  After a run of very poor cake making (read inedible) I finally got my Bake-off mojo back  and there was a lovely carrot cake languishing in the tin as my tooth went ouch with every sweet thing.

I use the Mary Berry recipe from BBC Good Food and I can recommend this.  I have learnt the first step of combing the oil, sugar and eggs really well until it thickens is essential.  Here cream filling/topping with this  recipe is lovely.