Finished

Christmas cake is finished

 Very simple handmade by me,
 I decided the smaller cake did not require a second topper. 

We have had a couple of quiet days at home, Friday I was in need of a restful day, we did walk to the village, and hubby treated us to lunch at Darcy's, but we were home for the rest of the day. Later we watched Gogglebox and The Graham Norton show, both I enjoyed for different reasons.
Saturday it was raining when we got up and I don't think it stopped all day, we did not venture out at all, there were points when the noise of the heavy rain was loud enough to stop us doing things to look out the window. This is not a moan, because believe me compared to the rest of the country, we got off lightly, no ice rain, no snow and very little storm Deidre. We are lucky as we do not have issues with flooding, even the most heavy rain is able to drain away, the garden is looking OK, hubby has been out to refill the bird feeders.
I have wrapped the few gifts we have here, whilst listening to Christmas music, I love all the old songs from the 50's, and adore all the Christmas songs from the sound track of The Gremlins.
We had a Chinese, cooked at home for tea last night as it was party time in our house, just hubby and I, we always have a Strictly final party.  I loved the result, but the standard of the dancing has been brilliant this year, so many people really wanted to make each week memorable. 
I have done loads on my ripple blanket, it's the perfect thing to be doing on a cold day, as I can snuggle as I am working, it's getting huge, I will soon be finished the 4th round of colours, I can't wait for this to be in use on our spare bed.
I have a bit of house work to do, Will is coming over with mummy and daddy later, so I need to ensure there are no cat hairs about.

Rudolf

My 1st attempt of a sugar reindeer

 With daughters reindeer

 Santa to make

Thursday was fun making the above reindeer, both younger daughter and I enjoyed the session, we plan to make santa here next Tuesday. The rest of the day I sat with my crochet hook and rippled, whilst hubby watched a movie.
Friday we had another lazy morning, I did a bit of housework, again just cleaning the middle of the rooms, and laundry was done, so I have a pile of ironing, which I am ignoring.
Late morning daughter and Will came over, we walked to the local village and had lunch at Darcy's, a nice treat, Will enjoyed a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, and waved at everyone in the bistro.  After a quick walk around the precinct we started to walk home, the Turkish barber hubby uses was empty, so we popped in and Will had his 1st hair cut, only the back and sides which had got long, for his 1st time in the big chair he was really good, and hubby's barber was so good with him, no tears and Will was given his 1st every lollypop for being a good boy. The barber would not take payment, he said the 1st haircut is always free, how wonderful, Will's daddy was so pleased all went well, the previous weekend they took him to a children's barber, but it was chaos in there so they came away.  Will managed to walk the whole way home, another 1st, going to the village without a pushchair.
After daughter and Will went home, I did more to make my Christmas cards, I have 10 to make for the sign class, I wanted them to reflect sign language, so on the inside page I have printed the greeting in BSL finger spelling.
I did make another purchase for Black Friday, my good quality card stock is getting low on some colours, so I went on Create and Craft and purchased 3 packs, they were on special 3 for 2, and the postage was capped at £2.99, I was good and did not look at their other offers.
Today it is dull and wet, I am off out to lunch later, just me, hubby is staying in the warm.  No plans for later, just an evening in together, my ripple blanket is growing huge and it's very warm over my lap whilst I am making it.
Tomorrow I have the biggest pile of leaves to pick up, the tree is almost empty, and I have not been out there since Monday, but the weather is promised to be dry, which is enough for me, nothing much else to do, I don't cut back the plants in my side bed, I leave them for the birds. I can always sppend an hour in my greenhouse.

Baking my cake.

Ingredients for Christmas cake

 Add to the dried fruit the zest and juice of 1 lemon and 3 large oranges

Leave over night, at this point everywhere smells of citrus, including the dishwasher and the bin, I love the smell. I always roll the orange/lemon on the counter top before draining the juice, this breaks the flesh inside making the juice flow easier and you get more juice. 

 I have shown this before, it is a typed Cake recipe, which must be over 20 years old, I have made this every year, I use the juice of the oranges and lemon rather than the orange juice in the recipe. The juice stays in the fruit as the cake is cooking. I do not add almonds, so I put extra dried fruit in, also note I have not added the cherries, these are cut into quarters and are tossed into the flour , keeping them from sticking together. 

Once the cake is baked, I turn the oven off and leave the cake inside until the cake is cool, I think the slowing of the cooling process helps keep the cake moist. This is another time when the house is full of the smell of spices, gently infusing with us and bringing on the Christmas mood and spirit.

I have said before I am no domestic goddess, but I do like to make a cake for Christmas each year, this year I have baked two, this week I am going to a small class to learn about make cake decorations, my youngest daughter is coming with me, so the second cake if for her. Plus if she and her hubby have their own cake, they won't eat too much of ours. I made both cakes a bit smaller than normal, so I had enough mix for 6 muffin size cakes from each batch. Daughter, SIL, hubby and I each enjoyed one with our afternoon drink.
These cakes have been baked much later than normal, but I only brush with brandy once, it won't matter. I am really feeling in the mood for Christmas.
Thank you for all your understanding comments, after a good night's sleep, I am feeling much better, my shoulder has settled back down and I feel good again. I won't pick up my knitting yet, but I am loving my ripple blanket, my 2nd yarn order should arrive on Monday, so once again I have a huge pile of yarn, which every time I look at it I have a huge smile.

Sew complete

I made this carrier on Sunday, but waited until yesterday to take a photo, it's looks better with a plate of food in. 

 Made with 2 tea towels, a long handle attached to 2 opposite corners, on the other 2 corners huge loops are attached, place the plate in the center, pop the loops over the handle and I have a dish carrier. This was lunch for sign language class.  

 It takes a 10" plate, so I can carry large pie, cake ect

 I have finished reading this book, I could not put it down, I love mind games and the author sent Finn everywhere. I thought it was better than Behind Closed Doors. 

 My plastic lids came, and they will work perfectly, I know I have more plastic in my kitchen, but these will replace stretch and seal, a one use plastic. They are all round but they do fit over square and oval dishes.  

It was fun to make my plate carrier, I cut the two tea towels into squares and pinned them together. With the leftover fabric I made the wide handle and the two thinner loops, pinned them in place and double stitched all around the square. I had seen this on Pintrest, and thought it would be useful. Tea towels work well as the linen will protect my cooking.
I now have two single quilt covers from our old kingsize covers, which we replaced when the corners were getting thin, both are pure white, so the leftover fabric I have kept in my stash. I did not require to make pillow cases, we already had the matching set.
I have done some more knitting, I am not enjoying the rib on the neck use 4 double ended needles, it's 12cm long, so it is taking a while, I will show a photo once it is finished.
I was asked if I had a pattern for the bags I make, no pattern, I just cut out square or oblong in the size of the front and back, when using tea towels they decide the maximum size the bag can be, I cut the front and back to size and shape, I measure along the sides and bottom, and cut a strip of material long enough, the width I decide by eye, the bigger the bag the wider the side and bottom strip. I cut the linings the same size and sew. Handles I make as strong as I can, I make each bag a different size, always dependent on the fabric I have. Most of my inspiration comes from Pintrest, where you can get patterns. 
We have the promised bright sunny start to the day, I am out with Will and mummy this morning.
It's a busy few days, as we are away in our camper van on Thursday for  a couple of nights, praying the weather fore caste will be right.

Planning ahead

We popped to town on Thursday morning

I could not get Calendula seeds in last September sales.

I should not require any more seeds, I have added this to my stash list. 

 These lights were reduced to £5.99, they are for the top of our stairs, which is always a dark corner, they can be set to come on the same time each day, stay on for a while and turn themselves off.

 I need a notebook for my sign language classes next week. 

£2.50 in Wilko's 

Our Christmas cake is going down well, it is lasting better than previous years. 

We were both very good whilst in town, we looked in Clark's shoe sale and agreed we did not require anything. We popped into Next to get shoes for Will, on the way out I saw a perfect for me jumper at £25, not a bad price, but decided I did not require it. In Wilko's they had loads of heavily reduced Christmas stock, I did have a look, all I got was a couple packs of money gift cards, down to 25p each pack.
We went to our library for baby Rhyme time, Will loves it, we did stop at their cafe and have coffee and a toasted sandwich, a nice treat at a good price.
Thank you for your lovely comments on Will being so cute, it was not so long ago it was Sam in all the cute photo's, how quickly they grow up.
I did get an hour with a friend, a practice run for next weeks sign language class, I now know a few key words.
I have done more to my blanket, I'm pleased how quick it grows, I am thinking of doing another one in shades of blue, I use 4ply wool as I like the lighter feel to it. I did go on line and purchase three shades of blue and a white, I have ordered 150g of each, enough to make a nice blanket, bigger than the one I am making.
Today we are sorting our small attic, we have stuff in the back corner which has been in there since we moved in, we hope we can get rid of stuff and make a bit of space, plus I would like my sewing boxes (I have two) back out, so I can use more of my stash.
I am pleased to see plastic so high in the news, the more people who interact with this issue, the quicker we get to the solution. If we all do our little bit, we can make changes, we may only have little voices, but together we can make a huge noise. We have both noticed our two refuse bins (1 x waste & 1 x recycling) on bin days are now only half full, not so long ago both would be full we would be squashing in stuff.

Play day

This hat has been used by all our grandsons

It did get a bit too much

Our tree survived 

Bargain

Festive drinks

Cake finished

We had Will all day, he has been away at Grandma's and Grandpa's house, so it's the first time is over  a week. He looks so much taller, plus he now has four teeth, not that mummy and daddy realised the top two were coming through. He loved my Christmas hat, purchased at Disney Land Paris, many, many years ago, I have a photo of Josh wearing it on his 1st Christmas, Josh is now 12.
Will loved the two new toys and played on the floor most of the day, our singing Santa on the motorbike went down well, I had to play the video from my phone to him as he went wild for the model.
Our tree survived, in fact once he had crawled past it a couple of times to get to the window to the garden, he was very good, he also loved the wobbly Santa we have, which he could play with.
I have a new table decoration (well new to me), our local community center had their Christmas Fare on Saturday, so we popped along, the pot with lights was just £6 and perfect for our table. Hubby also won a bottle of wine, the tickets cost us £1 each, we both had a go, but I was unlucky.
I have started drinking my spice berry cordial, I love the taste, it's like mulled wine, without the wine, very festive.
I put a notice on our local facebook page asking for anyone who makes cake toppers, had a few recommendations for one lady, the snowmen were a good price and a perfect finish for my cake.
PS I've got my Christmas header again this month.

October gone

I came in just under budget, but spent more than predicted

the purchase of the walking foot was not budgeted at all. 

As yet I have not found the Christmas fabrics I am searching for, I still have a couple of places to pop to, I really do not want to take a chance on the net and end up with the wrong weight of cotton. 

I have portioned the leftovers from Sunday lunch, the beef was on discount for the larger pieces, so we purchased knowing we would have loads left over.

Monday's tea, beef roast, plus a bowl for Will who was on another sleepover.

 The turkey and stuffing are in the fridge, enough to make pie, 

again I will add cranberry sauce and palma ham. 

The beef will be used this week for meals. 

 Turkey carcass and left over veg, once the meat came away from the bones, I added the veg, warmed everything through and blended it. I am fussy with what veg I eat, but adding it to a soup, mixes the taste and I get to eat everything. 

 Four huge pots of good thick soup, which is perfect this week as our temperatures are dropping. These four cups will make three lunches for hubby and I. 

We are on a mission to clear the fridge this week, we have enough to ensure we should not require a big shop, hubby will make bread today.
Will had a good sleep over, we were up at six, bit earlier than normal, I put him in his travel cot whilst I had my shower and he is taking a nap, not sure how long he will be down, our sitting room looks like a toy shop, we have the morning to play together, then he is out with mummy to another baby playtime.
I have finished reading Dead Woman Walking, Sharon Bolton, she is a master of leading you wrong and then when she revels the true plot, it was there all along. I could not put the book down, hubby is now reading it. I am also reading letters from Father Christmas, J R R Tolkien, a dip into a long gone world of childhood in the 30's and 40's. It is the publication of letters to his children, I can dip into it as and when I want.
Whilst I was feeling under the weather, my steps dropped and honestly I was not too bothered, but yesterday I got to my target, so the plan will be a couple of walks today. These cold sunny crisp mornings are great time for walks.

A change of plan

This is cake number 2, cooked yesterday

1st cake is cut into, hubby and daughter love fruit cake. 

 I am missing - brilliant book, clever.

A family secret - a light read, won't choose another book from this author. 

 Hubby got me roses on Saturday, half price from the Co-op

 Another gift from hubby

I have wanted this book for ages. 

When I cooked my Christmas cake, I found I had enough ingredients to make another, hubby gave me the big eyes, daughter came to visit and wanted to take some home with her. The first cake overcooked a bit on one side, so I was happy to make this second cake, plus Will tried some of my cake and tried to get more. Our house has smelt of spices for days.
We had Will overnight on Saturday, mummy and daddy had a night out with friends, Will was lovely, he woke up at 11pm when we went to bed, I hoped he would settle, but after giving him a bottle he slept through to 7.30am. We had plenty of play time before mummy came to pick him up. We feel it is very important Will's parents have some fun adult time together and with friends.
Hubby and I went out for a Sunday carvery yesterday, we had a nice meal, but we would not go back again, we are looking for a nice place to go at end of the month with daughter, her hubby David and Will, and David's parents.
We did not get the weekend weather we were promised, it is very mild here, I did nothing in the garden, spent loads of time reading.
I am having a day at home, I was unwell yesterday, enough for me to call our local doctors surgery, which does not have out of hours cover, redirected to NHS 111. I called at 6.45pm and was told a doctor would want to speak to me and would call me back, go to A&E if feeling worse. At 2.30am the controller called to say I was not forgotten, but they were very busy and a doctor would speak to me, I said forget it, I would see my own doctor this morning. If this is our NHS system, I can fully understand why our A&E departments are so stretched, I understand doctors (GP's), need to have time off, but if the system is so broke at local level, how can it catch up, which leads to everyone in A&E. I have always thought those in the medical profession are angels, but those who control the system are devils.

Spiced up

I show this each year, 

my typed Christmas cake recipe

used for the last 20+ years. 

 I don't used the orange juice,

I use the zest and juice of 2 oranges and 2 lemons

soaking over night

 I picked this tiny bunch of flowers from the garden

the vase is one from Win's house, her nephew let me choose a few items.
I have loads of flowers still in bloom.

Another good book

Set in Scotland

The house is full of spice, it smells lovely, I love cooking our Christmas cake, it will be in a low heat oven for 5 hours. It's the one cake I always cook myself. I have never looked for another recipe, this one works for me, I always use the juice of orange and lemons, if I'm using the zest, I like to use all of the fruit, the juice does not evaporate when cooking, so the fruit stays moist. Once the cake is cooked I turn off the oven and leave the cake inside until tomorrow morning, allowing it to cool down slowly.
I am sat here disappointed, we were promised a lovely sunny day here, yesterday was sunny but not that warm, I woke up knowing I could be outside today. BUT it's dull wet and not very warm. We have been promised a really good weekend of warm sunny weather.
I have my sewing machine out, I have one quick task to do before stitching Will's quilt together, my mind is full of the reading wigwam, plotting and planning how I am going to make it safe for a little boy. I have a few tricks which should make it work.
Hubby has been sorting our TV box, he has found me loads of TV series which I can watch again as the winter weather arrives, I am not good at sit and do nothing. I have Downton Abbey, Doctor Who, and The Handmaidens Tale, BUT I also have all 16 seasons of ER, with 12 episodes at 45 minutes long, it's alot of TV to watch. I watched every episode, always on the day aired, I loved every thing about this programme, I am looking forward to getting to know them all again. As for George Clooney, he was good looking but I always preferred Anthony Andrews ( Mark Greene).

Bank holiday

I did well from the clearance section of B&Q

Plus primroses from garden center

 I separated into 3 plants Nemesia, got for £1

The daisy marked £3 was in fact £2 at the till

 I have put it into a larger pot for the winter months

I renewed the compost in the primroses, reduced to £4.99, replanted 3 plants

There were another 4 small plants which I have put into another pot. 

I call these plants English marigolds, I know they have another name

I could not get any seeds, so a neighbour let me dig up these from their garden,

 they self seed every year. 

 These are in my raised cut flower bed. 

 I'm still reading Italian Girl, 

neither book  was brilliant, but still enjoying reading them 

 We are off to a BBQ later, so I made a Spanish Omelette

It stuck to the bottom of the pan

but it won't change the taste 

 Our local shoe shop has closed, they had a final reduction, these were £14.99 each, 

retail price for both should have been £125.00 

Good leather shoes at a low price, just had to get them. 

It's a perfect Bank Holiday weekend here, hot sunny days, no rain in the immediate fore caste. We decided to stay at home for a few days, the local roads are always so busy.
Saturday we were in the garden, me in back, hubby in front, he has renewed the compost for 2 Azaleas from Wins into pots, they now look good in our front garden. We had Will in the evening for a sleep over.
Sunday, We were up early, Will sleeps well but is awake by 7am, we had an early walk through our park, Will loves to watch people and dogs. He was crawling after our cats once home, we now have to watch him. After lunch mummy popped in for a while, then I settled down to an afternoon reading, in the shade. I had a bit too much sun on Saturday. We watched TV for the first time in ages, watching Cuckoo Calling, we have both read the book and wanted to see how TV deals with the plot, we were both pleased.
Today I made the Spanish Omelette, hubby did a bit of ironing, and soon we will go to an afternoon BBQ, I will see loads of workmates from a few years ago.
I am pleased with my spending this month, I have under spent again, this is mainly because I am doing no craft, but I am beginning to think of projects to do.

Relaxing

I have baked another Lemon yogurt cake

we both love the taste the recipe can be found on my page at top of blog. 

 We will be over run with tomatoes soon, so I decided to strip the yellow tomato bush of all it's fruit.

I have four pounds of unripe tomatoes, so I am going to make green tomato chutney.  

 This citrus juicer cost me £1.43 in the sale

I will use it in my greenhouse, I will make wider holes for planting seedlings.

 Another clever purchase is these four plastic rings.

They should be used over mixing bowls, but we required something to keep the pigeons away from our feeders, they don't manage to eat much, but they do manage to throw all the seeds across our garden.

On the plus, reduced in Wilko's just 25p each. 

I had the most fantastic weekend, Saturday, I spent most of the day reading, The Shadow Sister, Lucinda Riley was good, I have read The Angel tree by her before.  I also have read When the music's over, Peter Robinson, which whilst well written, it was not a subject I would want to read again. I am now reading The Crow girl, Erik Axl Sund.
Sunday  doing housework, a bit of baking, again loads of  reading, later after hubby came home we went for a nice walk. Having the sunny warm weather helped as I could sit out side for most of the time.
This morning I spent time in the greenhouse, it looks much tidier without the tomato plant, I have loads more room. I have cut the plant down to one small shoot, I am going to try and see if it will grow and I can get a late crop, the greenhouse is in a very sunny spot. Hubby cut the leaves off the second plant outside, that too is full of fruits.
Later we took the bus into town, only I had to pay hubby has his bus pass, I won't get mine until I can get my government pension. We did not stay too long, just the few bargains above, we then walked to the garage and picked up our camper van, all serviced ready to go away later this week. We popped to the main library in hope for more titles from a couple of my favorite authors, I was very disappointed, I thought our local library was better stocked.
Soon we will pop for our evening walk.