Bert was up all night, tossing and turning. Weren’t we all? He came into our bed at 4am, and was wriggling around busily all night. I woke up to find that he’d carefully arranged Ray the mini dog, Teddy, Didda Ra the dinosaur and Bert Ted (narcissistic, Bert?) along the end of the bed in a straight line.

Here’s a European soup for a sad day. As a friend of mine commented on Facebook, laugh now – tomorrow there will be no salami!

Serves 4

Glug olive oil

2 large cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

A small onion, peeled and chopped

5 fresh beetroot, peeled and chopped

4 small pototoes, peeled and chopped

1 chicken stock cube

Water from the kettle

Salt and pepper to taste

Good glug double cream – about 50ml

1 dessert spoon creamed horseradish

1 small bunch coriander – chopped

Sweat the onion and garlic in the oil, then add the veg and cook for another couple of minutes. Cover with hot water from the kettle, season and crumble in the stock cube. Cook for around 20 minutes, till tender. The beetroot takes longer to cook than the potato, so cut it smaller.

Blend and stir through the cream and horseradish and then sprinkle on the chopped coriander. Serve with bread and cheese.