Rainy days, comfort food and a silent cat

Although we have escaped the dreadful wet weather they have been experiencing in the north of the North Island, it has still been rainy and grey here. As a result, the decking outside our house is a bit slippery, and yesterday I fell for the second time this winter.  I have to say this time I blame my shoes (which I thought were sensible, being ones I use for the very gentle hill walking we sometimes do).  Regardless, I now have a second nasty bruise and arnica is being liberally applied again.

After that incident, comfort food for dinner was required, so I made a cottage pie, with some good Angus beef mince and a topping of mashed potato and kumara.  There is no picture unfortunately, but I can guarantee it tasted good.  There is a recipe here that is similar to what I did, though I added peas to the mix instead of the carrots this time.  As neither Karl nor I got a cake on our birthdays, I made that old favourite, a pineapple upside down cake that I know I have featured here before in different forms.

Meanwhile, Charlie, our new visiting cat, has been popping in a few times, using our house as a warm place to sleep mid morning.  He is so silent, suddenly appearing and staring at us through the window, then prowling around the house, before finding the right, soft place to sleep.