Friday Chat Day

Hello friends, happy Friday! 

Welcome to another Chat Day and I hope you are all well.

Is it raining where you are?

Goodness we've had bucketfuls of the stuff here in Kent, 

soggy cats but a very dry Bella, she refuses to go out in the rain.

Instead she has taken a liking to my new office chair...

I thought it was time I invested in a comfortable chair, 

I've been using a wicker dining chair for years and with working from home

likely to be on the agenda for quite some time, it felt justified.

It was hard to find an office chair that didn't look 'officey' if you know what I mean,

eventually found this one on eBay.

No sign of snow here and even though it is totally impractical I would 

really like some, need that bright whiteness.  

A Facebook friend in the US posted this of her garden, what an amazing photo. 

Crochet:

It's been a week of multiple projects, this one being at the top of my list.

The Meadow Blanket CAL by Attic 24.

The colours are making me happy.

This was my progress on Wednesday.

It is a nice easy stitch and will eventually work up to be quite a large blanket,

single bed size.

Each Friday, Lucy at Attic 24, releases the next sequence of colours to follow 

and then we will get to the border design. 

It has been a real tonic this week - little goals make things at the moment

seem easier.

Recipe:

It is a savoury one this week and all credit to Mitchell, this is his cooking,

those years when he worked in restaurants has paid off.

It contains lentils which I admit I had never really eaten but I love them now.

Herb Chicken with Lentils and Roasted Carrots

For 2 people: chicken breasts x 2, carrots x 2,

onion x 1, garlic clove, chicken stock cube, mixed herbs, 

can of lentils, vegetable oil, salt, 

single cream/creme fraiche small pot (optional).

Pre-heat oven to 200C. Remove tops of carrots, halve lengthways, 

no need to peel. Place on lined baking tray with splash of oil and salt.

Roast for 20-25 minutes, turn half way through.

Put chicken breasts in a bowl with glug of vegetable oil, 

pinch of salt and large teaspoon of mixed herbs. Mix.  

Heat oil in a pan, brown chicken – 2 minutes on each side, 

transfer onto baking tray with carrots in oven.

Chop onion and garlic. Dissolve stock cube in ½ pint of boiling water.

Drain lentils and rinse under cold water.

In frying pan, add oil, fry onions until softened, add garlic and stock.

Bring to boil, simmer until reduces by half, mix in lentils and cream.

Heat until piping hot, remove from heat.

Check chicken is fully cooked and rest for 2 minutes.

Serve on plate with sliced chicken and carrots.

The printable recipe is available here - for some reason Google docs doesn't like

my borders around the recipes, grhhh! 

Telly:

I reached the end of my Marvel marathon - that was a lot of films.

I haven't dared calculate how many hours that was sitting on my bum but 

it was pure escapism and it is exceptional times isn't it.

I then changed track completely and watched BBC Black Narcissus.

A remake of the 1947 film.

I'm still on the bench with this one, it has been a long time since I watched

the original film and I'm keen to revisit it.

For this BCC adaptation, unsure about the cast and it felt very laboured at times.

I would still say worth a watch if you have time on your hands.

Last week I mentioned how much I love the new Channel 5 adaption of 

All Creatures Great and Small and also wished to view the original series.

Big thanks to those of you who messaged and said it was available

on the Drama channel - available on Freeview, Sky, Virgin and UKTV Play.

Guess what I'll be crocheting to...

Charity Kit:

Lovely response to this month's kit - thank you.

There are still some available, there was a minimum order on the tea bags

so I made enough kits to use them.  Feel free to spread the word please,

or if you would like an extra kit...

or we will be fine for tea bags for a while! 😂

Please visit the blog post here.

And that wraps up my week so far.

No big plans this weekend, doing our part and staying home.

Cleaning out the understairs cupboard is still on the 'to-do' list but somehow 

I keep putting that off - it's like a scary Narnia in there!

Keep occupied, keep safe and much love.