Brrrrrrrrr.  It continues to be cold and continues to be beautiful with blue skies.  I had a warming breakfast of stir fried brown rice, shallots, 2 eggs and kale with soy sauce.  That set me up well for the day.

I popped in for a coffee with Jane P. to collect some champagne she had bought in France and was amused by this box on her counter.

These dates were smaller and blacker than the Medjool dates I usually get but really good.  Very sweet.  I think she got them in Tenterden.

 I had an appointment at the hairdressers and as it was so lovely outside and I hadn’t walked the dogs, I walked down.  I think it’s about 2 miles in to Crnabrook from my house.  Who would have thought you could have so much fun in the hairdressers!  By good fortune rather than careful planning, my appointment was at the same time as Jane R’s and then Mirella came along too.  The 3 of us were in the back room at CL2 in Cranbrook where I spent a most enjoyable 2 – 3 hours.

At home I was hungry but it was late so I had a small late lunch of about 2 spoonfuls of tuna, sweetcorn and pasta

 followed by an apple, a pear and a chunk of Cheddar.

Having been coloured, cut and groomed I wanted to go out for dinner rather than go home and cook so James, Harvey and I went to the The Smarden Bell.   I have never been there before but we all enjoyed it so will be going again.  It is a typical olde worlde Kent country pub with a maze of rooms, uneven floors, varied ceiling heights, huge roaring fires and a cosy atmosphere.

My tipple of choice in the cold and when siting in an old pub is a whisky with Ginger Ale.

We nibbled on a delicious basket of bread with oil and Balsamic while choosing our meals.

 I went for the slow cooked belly of pork, with mashed potatoes, savoy cabbage, braised apple and chorizo chutney.

 It was very good.  Huge portion and all cooked well.  I prefer my pork cooked slowly so it falls apart and is softer but it was good enough.  I would have liked more vegetables but overall the meal was very tasty and the chorizo chutney was fantastic.  James and Harvey shared the crackling, which was very crunchy and I left some potato but otherwise ate it all.

We had  dessert too and I went for the toffee pannacotta with honeycomb ice-cream which was good.

 The service was fantastic.  They were very friendly and welcoming and we had a very enjoyable meal.  We ate early and were home by 8:30.  Time to curl up in front of the fire and watch the final of I’m a Celebrity.

A day that showed little promise at the start proved to be very sociable and most enjoyable.

For