DIDN'T GET TO MORPETH...

... there was no way a lens was going in my eye. Thank God for Tesco home delivery, I say.

Well, the wedding cakes have gone. Julia loved them, thank goodness and wants to place an order for a ruby wedding cake in the spring. This is all well and good, but I need orders NOW!

I've spent the afternoon making sweet peas. After a few abortive attempts, I've now got something pretty close to the real thing. Bit of a faff, but very pretty.

Charles got home pretty early today, although he may well think twice before doing this again as he's had a lengthy list of chores to do since he walked through the door. Shame really.

One thing that he has done and which I have to say I am not convinced about, is to convert my Baby Gaggia from a pod system to a filter one. The thinking behind this was that, as the pods are becoming increasingly difficult to track down (especially as Fenwicks have revealed my secret supply to the general public and have sold ALL their stock without consulting me - I wouldn't have let them do it anyway, they were supposed to be for me) it would be easier to use ordinary ground coffee. Converting the machine was a relatively simple process (once he'd realised that if you tip it up when it's full of water, you'll get wet) BUT, and it's a BIG BUT, the quality of the end product is nothing like as good as it was before and by the time I'd added frothy milk it was just like drinking... well frothy milk really. So now I need to find the strongest, richest coffee beans (to grind at home in the new grinder) to see if that will make a difference.