Bee, on ivy

The forecast was pretty poor today, so I planned a big baking day. By the time the gingerbread was cooked, the shortbread was chilling in the fridge and the chestnut bread was proving on the radiator, it was sunny and warm, and the last thing I wanted was to be slaving away in the overheated kitchen.

All worth it in the end. Despite my mistake with sugar buying (turns out that 'sucre en poudre' with a picture of an iced cake on the side is not icing sugar, but caster sugar. So the shortbread's a bit crunchier than planned. Sucre glace is maybe what I need?)

Some time working on photos to give to the planning officer first thing tomorrow to prove to the council that our 'road' is no more than a narrow path.

And some time in the garden chasing bees. Mr B rescued a huge toad from the pool, but this bee was looking more interesting.

Our TV proxy service seems to have broken. We only use it to download two BBC shows, but I'm still grumpy about it failing now. Still, there's always House to watch!