New Year - Update

I didn't manage to blog much last year - must try to do better this year .

I got Covid on my birthday and ended up having 2 weeks off work and am still not 100%, which is annoying.

I had a fairly low-key Christmas - I went to a candlelit Carol Concert at Wells Cathedral 

Wells Cathedral

Then my parents visited for a week for Christmas, which I enjoyed. 

Christmas Tree and Omra

We mostly had pretty grey and wet weather and as I had developed a cold the moment I finished work, and my Dad was also getting over one, we had a very un-energetic time, concentrating on eating, drinking, reading and watching TV.  Which is a pleasant way to spend a week in winter.

Gate - The Bishop's Eye, Wells

Swans on the moat 

We did drive over to Wells on the one day the sun came out. We had thought that we might go into the Bishop's Palace, but it turned out that the Bishop's Palace was closed for the Christmas Period, so we didn't!

The Bishop's Eye Gates

Even the gates from the marketplace to the palace were closed, save for a tiny postern gate, which is only around 5' high so everyone has to duck to get through!

Gatehouse, Bishop's Palace

We took advantage of the very brief period of sunshine and went for a very short walk round the moat, and also took the opportunity to heck out the second hand books in Oxfam. We only bought 5 books between the three of us, which is pretty good going for a  family visit to a book shop!

The New Year started with a lovely sunny day, so I went for a walk 

I had been expecting to spend the first few days of the New Year prepping for a court hearing, but I was, at the last minute, able to get it adjourned, which meant I could book a day off on 3rd January, and ease into the new year with a three day week. Which was nice. 

So, that pretty much brings me up to date. 

Christmas

If you were celebrating, I hope you had a good Christmas and if you weren't, I hope you had a couple of nice, relaxed days! 

I have been visiting my parents, which is nice. This year, it's just the three of us, which has meant a quiet, low key time, with lots of nice food and relaxation, just what I needed after a stressful couple months!.

I've enjoyed looking out at snow showers, from the warmth and shelter of the house, and have also enjoyed watching the birds on the feeders.

The feeders were attracting the starlings this morning,after I refilled them. Mostly, however, we are seeing goldfinches, sparrows, blue tits, and chaffinches. And also the occasional coaltit, great tits,and greenfinches. 

If we are lucky, the sun may come out tomorrow in which case a walk by the sea may be in order!

The Season of Goodwill

The house is feeling surprisingly quiet and empty this afternoon, as my Christmas guests have departed, and so after a week, it's back to being just me and the cats!

But it has been lovely! 

My parents arrived on Wednesday, after I finished work, and so were here to help me put the tree and other decorations up on Christmas Eve.

We had a very civilised, relaxed day on Christmas Day itself, with lots of nice gifts (including several books I wanted! Which was delightful!

Then a couple of days after Christmas we went to see my younger sister and her partner, and our brother and his girlfriend, and one of my aunts, and my uncle,and one of their sons, all also came, so we enjoyed a pub lunch (albeit with somewhat hit-and-miss service) and lots of catching up.And some more gifts. 

Then yesterday, my sister and brother-in-law, her in-laws and step-daughter (and dog) all came over for lunch, so all in all, I got to see my entire immediate family over the holidays.

I have a couple more days off work, and am going to London to the theatre at the weekend, before heading back to work on Monday.

I am planning, therefore, to be extremely lazy for the next day or two, in the hope of being well-rested before returning to work.

I'm lucky that, at least so far, we have escaped the worst of the storms and floods. It's been very wet and windy, and my back fence has collapsed,which is annoying, but the house remains warm and dry. (The fence was already in a bad way, but I was hoping it would last another few months until I could get it replaced at the same time as the other work I want to have done in the garden.) However, a fallen fence is nothing compared with what people in York and other parts of the country have been suffering!

Holidays and other fun stuff.

I enjoyed Christmas, and having visitors staying.  My parents arrived at the weekend before Christmas, and were able to  help me put up the tree, and do some last minute tidying up etc. We also went to the Carol Service in the local church,which was very nice - lots of 'proper', traditional carols with the familiar tunes!

The kittens, of course, helped. In their own way.

Then my sister and her partner came to stay, and my *other* sister came for the day on Christmas Eve, so we were able to have a bit of a party then, as well as celebrating on Christmas Day itself.

As even the youngest members of the party were well into their 30s, we were able to have a nice, civilized, lie-in, and then stockings and croissants and cooking and gifts and champagne and gifts and eating and such like.

It was low key, but very pleasant.

And then on 27th my brother came down for a flying visit,  overlapping with my sister and her partner for a few hours. He was only able to stay for one night, but it was lovely to see him. 

Today, my mum and dad left, so it's back to me and the kittens (well, me, the kittens, and about 4 tonnes of chocolate. And the remains of a turkey. I shall be making stock this afternoon!)

I have another couple of days off before I need to go back to work, so hopefully I shall  have time to unwind a little and, I hope, to get over the nasty head-cold I have been suffering from...

I hope all of you have had a good time over the holidays, whether or not you were celebrating christmas!

Christmas!

It's been a quiet Christmas, but nice, so far. I drove down to Deepest Devon on Monday evening - which was an interesting experience - it was very wild, wet and windy, and there were places where there was an awful lot of surface water and huge puddles and streams on the roads.

Tree

Fortunately it seemed to get better rather than worse as my journey progressed, and by the time I arrived ( with the journey having taken about 40 minutes longer than usual) it had stopped raining (temporarily!)

Christmas Morning church 

My younger sister and her partner were at my parents for a pre-christmas visit, and we overlapped for about 24 hours - long enough to catch up, exchange gifts, and to cooperate in decorating the Christmas Tree.

Christmas Day itself was fairly quiet - we went to church to ring in the morning, and admired the church full of christmas trees, each decorated by a different group.

Ringer's tree (Or Dalek)

The ringers have a bell-shaped tree (or possibly a Dalek in deep disguise)

We got home for second breakfast to discover that the heating element from the oven had blown, but happily my Dad was able to jury-rig the oven to work, by the careful deployment of a large baking tray to turn the grill into an oven-style heating element which, combined with the use of the fan part of the defunct oven setting, allowed us not only to bake out croissants, but also to cook a full Christmas Dinner.

Which was a relief. I'm sure we would have managed, if we'd needed to, with the little cooker in the caravan, the hob, and the microwave, but it would have been more complicated!

Burning food!

As it was, we were able to eat and drink to excess in the traditional manner, and to open gifts and watch Matthew Bourne's 'Sleeping Beauty' and telephone family members.

It was a Good Day.

Boxing Day brought more socialising as my aunt and uncle, together with my cousin, her husband and son, came over for lunch - I tend only to see them 2 or 3 times a year, so it was good to catch up.

And having a 3 year old visit reminds you of the thrills of Christmas. He was just as excited about everyone else's presents as his own, with lots of jumping and "What is it What is it What is it!?!" And we all enjoyed the reading of 'Fox in Socks', which followed. (Kudos to Granny, who managed to read it aloud and without losing her self control, despite 6 other adults getting the giggles around her as she read..)

Starting to feel a little festive

My sister and brother in law are staying home over Christmas, so I won't be seeing them then, so today my sister and I met up midway between our respective homes (BiL is working), for lunch and the exchange of presents.

Which was nice. 

We met at a pub, and, as it could be argued that it was Christmas (I mean, that's why we were meeting, and we were exchanging gifts) it seemed fitting to eat to excess.. Plus the food was good. (whitebait, Ostrich steak, and rhubarb crumble).

It's been a while since I saw her, so it was good to spend some time together and catch up.

Oh, and another bonus? She brought a belated birthday gift - they'd not posted it to me, as it was a bottle of very nice gin, so both heavy and fragile :-)

I haven't really felt very festive, yet, and haven't been able to build up much excitement for christmas, but between making the christmas cake on Saturday, and hanging out with K on Sunday, I'm starting to feel a bit more enthusiasm.

(Of course, at some point in the very near future I shall have to go and queue in a post office, to send the gifts to people I won't be seeing. That may exhaust all my new-found christmas spirit!)

Family and Holidays

How was everyone's Christmas? (Or non-Christmassy holiday celebrations)

I had a quiet time, with my parents and siblings (and a brother in law and sister's partner) - it was consistently wet, with alternating rain and snow,so we didn't end up going for any walks, or indeed leaving the house except briefly to visit other relatives on Boxing Day, but despite, or perhaps because of, the lack of other activities, we had an enjoyable time.


A small cohort of us rang for the local church service on Christmas morning, we all (including Tybalt) watched the goldfinches and tits on the birdfeeders outside, Tybalt met [one of] the cats who live next door, and also had a lot of fun playing 'wrong side of the door' (my parents house has a *lot* more doors than mine does, AND they have carpets, which means that he cannot be left to scrabble at the door, as this leads rapidly to  scratched carpets, which is Not On.

He didn't succeed in getting to the turkey, despite his many attempts.

I returned home yesterday, and have today and tomorrow at home before I go back to work. I've come home with a nasty cold, so I'm not planning to stay up late tonight - I think I shall have an early (and solitary!) celebratory glass of cava and then go to bed early to help fight off this cold!

2012 has been a very mixed year, with a lot of personal and work-related stress, and family-related happiness. I'm hoping 2013 will be more even, and better, on a personal level.

And I hope it will prove to be a happy and successful year for all my friends out there in the internets!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Small, Day to Day Things (and Carols)

Saturday turned out very wet indeed, so there was no incentive to go out, but today was milder, and the sun even came out for a short while!

I caught up with a little shopping (standard, non-christmassy things) and tidied up the garden a bit - it's been so very wet and cold that I haven't had any opportunity to clear up the last of the leaves, for instance.

This evening, I decided to go to the the Service of 9 Lessons and Carols at the local church - I'm not a frequent church-goer, but there is something special about singing carols with lots of others, and to take a little time for quiet reflection.

I had mixed feelings about the service. On the one hand, the church is beautiful - I forget, between visits, that it has a roof full of angels with gilded wings, and they had some beautiful crimson and gold flowers today, too.

The church was pretty full, which is always good for the singing. And the carols we got to sing were all "proper" ones - the traditional ones which everyone knows. I was however disappointed that whoever is in charge if the choir had decided that this would be a good opportunity to show off their skills, and make more than half of the carols 'choir only'. This is fine if you have maybe one or two less well known carols which the choir can perform, but to have seven and a half (out of 14) restricted to the choir, including  3 and a half well known carols (which were sung to the usual tunes, and with the normal words, so there were no special circumstances to justify excluding the congregation) seemed to me excessive. Particularly as the choir's level of talent and skill was not so great that you could lose yourself in the music.  So that was a little disappointing.

Still, despite that, I did enjoy most of the service, and I'm glad I went. It never feels quite like christmas without at least one church service..

Holidays & Family

I've been away, at my parents' house over Christmas, and didn't take my laptop, hence no blogging (Blogging by phone leads to SHORT posts!)

It was a lovely, relaxing time. My younger sister, and my brother were both there, too (My elder sister was with her out-laws) On Christmas Eve we decorated the tree  (we also decorated my brother, in order to allow him to prove to sceptical friends that he can do Festive if he wishes, but I promised not to post that particular photo on the internet, so you will have to imagine it!)

The tree was decorated to within an inch of its life. We have 40 years worth of decorations, and E declared that the aim was to make it "As gaudy as possible".  I think it's fair to say we met those specifications!

On Christmas Day, my parents and I went to the church, to ring the bells. Ringing is a long term hobby of theirs, and all four of  us were taught, as a matter of course, as children, but none of us currently rings regularly.

When my mum and dad moved down to Devon, after retiring, there was no regular band in the village, but a little over a year ago, they agreed to teach a local band.



The learners have now reached the point where they can ring rounds (i.e. all 6 bells ringing together) and this is the first Christmas they have been able to ring for Christmas Morning.

I went along to help out, and I recorded a snatch of the ringing when I wasn't joining in. It isn't great ringing (The aim is for the bells to ring evenly, with the same gap between each 'strike', but this is very good considering how short a time they have been learning, and the fact that they've all been learning together - it is much easier if you are the one learner and everyone else can just ring in the right place regardless of whether or not you do!)

The village church had been decorated for Christmas - there were around 30 different trees - I think all of the different groups, such as the pre-school, the school etc. had all decorated trees, and others were themed. Guess which of the three below was the bell-ringers' tree?

My mum and I stayed for the service (partly to support one of the ringers, who was leading it, as a lay-reader) which I enjoyed, even though I prefer the Prayer Book and King James' Bible to 'Mission Praise' and and 'Good News'. We got 3 proper carols, which is pretty much all I ask of a Christmas day service!

Then home, to open stockings (with no children in the house, not everyone was keen to wake up early to open them before we went to church!) traditional Christmas Dinner (with wonderful free-range, slow reared turkey) then lots of presents.

My siblings had clubbed together and got me a shiny new Kindle, which was a very nice surprise. I have been thinking for a while I'd like to have one, as, much as I love real paper books, there are times, especially when travelling, that it would be nice NOT to have to carry quite so many books..

 Mind you, I did only get 2 actual books for Christmas this year, which is something of a record for me. And one as a belated birthday present (The Heston Blumenthal / Dave McKean '|Fat Duck Cookbook' - beautiful, if impractical)

Then on Boxing Day we played host to my Uncle and Aunt, and to my cousin, her husband and their 14 month old son, who I haven't seen since he was 3 months old. |He's much bigger now, and crawling very fast. He was fascinated by the Christmas Tree, but as there were 9 adults around he was thwarted in all his attempts to clamber up it or take things off it!  I particularly enjoyed watching him with my brother and my dad (both of whom are very good with small children, despite their best efforts to pretend otherwise!)

then on Thursday we went over to my Aunt and Uncle's house to see them again, with my *other* cousin, her husband and their 2 boys. Much fun was had.

All in all, a very quiet, but enjoyable Christmas. I hope eveyone else enjouyed their holidays.



The Holidays Are Coming

It feels as though it's been a long week - I've been busy at work, and this past week has involved a lot of time out of the office, driving to court and meetings, which is tiring.

Friday night was our office Christmas Party - I wasn't feeling terribly festive but I think it went reasonably well. The Christmas trees are up in our receptions, at work, and the lights are up in the town centres, and I am beginning to look forward to seeing my family, and have done most of my shopping. Having lots of cards to send to friends in America spurred me on to organise myself, in order to catch the last posting date, so my inland cards went pretty promptly, too (am now sitting back, to wait for the first card to show up from someone I've forgotten to send one to, or for whom I don't have an address.....

Next task is to pack up the gifts for people I won't be seeing, in order to post them. This is bound to involve a lot of queueing, I fear..

Today, my (2nd) cousin came over for lunch, and to drop of gifts for my family and my (1st) cousins, who I shall be seeing and she won't. it was a nice lunch, though I do say so myself. I made Beouf Bourgignon, served with jacket potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower. And as a bonus, I find there are enough lefftovers for me to have it again, another day, which I was not expecting!

I have been having some issues with my central heating, which I only realised when it got very cold earlier this week - I found that one (the biggest - it would be) of my 3 radiators wasn't getting hot. I thought that |step one would be to bleed it, and this caused me to realise that, to my shame, I've never done this and had no idea how it was done. Fortunately, Twitter knows everything, so I got answers within minutes, and then had to go out and buy a radiator key ( and picked up a spare heater at the same time, to tide me over) Unfortunately, bleeding it does not seem to have worked as far as acheiving actual warmth is concerned (although it worked quite well as far as getting dirty water around the living room was concerned!)

I belive that the next step is flushing it and add inhibitor, but I think I shall need a plumber for that step. *sigh* Still, at least I have plug-in heater I just bought, to prevent me getting hypothermia in the mean time. (and over Christmas I shall be staying with my parents, and they have lots and lots of loverly central heating, even upstairs!)

I think next weekend I shall perhaps get further into the festive spirit by making some mince pies.

More Seasonal Fun

Boxing Day continued the 'relaxed christmas' theme - mainly spent watching the goldfinches, chaffinches and bluetits on the birdfeeder, (although there is also a magnificant cock-pheasant which comes to help himself to the fallen seed)

Some of us then decided to be energetic and went for a steep and snowy walk down (and back up) the valley near the house.

Other members of the party chose to stay home on the basis that all the white stuff out there was a Sign, indicating that it might be Cold out there...

They might even have been right.

Sadly, the village pub has recvently closed, and we were unable to locate another within walking distance, so were unable to finish our walk with the traditional pint in a nice, warm pub, but were forced to return to the house and drink our own beer instead.

A different selection of people chose to go shopping on Monday. I don;t think they bought anything, but I am not sure - I was not part of the shopping contingent.I was part of a contingent of one, which decided that staying in bed for ages and then having a bath of truy epic length was a much better option...

Then on Tuesday, we met up with my Aunt & Uncle  (who live about 12 miles away) and my cousin A, her husband and two boys, which was lovely - A and M live down in Kent so we don't see them very often. We all went for a slighty damp walk to the Valley of the Rocks, where we  saw some of the feral goats, avoided losing any of the children over the cliffs, and  got some rather lovely atmospheric views before the rain really came down.

And as some of you may have seen on facebook, we hae also spent several evenings looking at slides from when my eldest sister & I were small - leading to much hilarity..

As you can see, I was so photogenic.... (and a good driver!)

in Which There are Family Festivities

I arrived in Devon mid-afternoon on Christmas Eve, after a drive through sunlit, snowy landscapes. The view from my parent's house was looking pretty gorgeous, too.

I was the last of the immediate family to arrive, so the decorating of the Christmas Tree was already underway.

We soon had our tree done, as you can see,we kept it pretty minimalist, complete with the 40-year old fairy on the top (who is very much showing her age, but is a part of every family christmas)

The rest of the evening included lots of talk, and food, and wine, and a certain amount of last-minute gift-wrapping.

Christmas morning started early for the contingent which had commmitted itself to ringing for an early morning church service,  but for those of us who had not, the morning started rather later (there being no children in the party) once the first contingent returned. In our family, Christmas stockings are for everyone, not just children, (although everyone tends to contribute) and so everyone ends up with their personal selection of new books,  squeaky balloons, and chocolate.

it was just as well that Father christmas supplied plenty of chocolate, as brekfast (smoked salmon & scrambled eggs, as you asked!) didn't take place until nearly noon. Later in the day, we moved on to gifts, and Christmas dinner, and more conversation, and phone calls to other members of the extended family, and perhaps a certain amount of wine...

It was a lovely, relaxed day.

I hope you all had an equally enjoyable day.

A Very Happy Merry Day to You!

It's Christmas! So, to all those of you who celebrate it, I wish you a Very Merry Christmas, and to those who don't, a Very Merry Midwinter Day With an Excuse to Eat and Drink a Lot.

This post is going up by the magic of sheduled posting (all being well) but when it posts,  I think we should just about have reached the croissants & bucks fizz (mimosas) for breakfast stage of the day...

I hope you all have a day full of joy, and the company of people whom you love.

Winter Is Here

It has mosty been a fairly dull week - cold, and uneventful, and I have mainly just been going to work, and trying to remember to go to bed early, being knackered.

Friday, however, was a little more interesting -in the evening was our work Christmas meal, and earlier, we were having snow forecast. It did snow a little - just a sprinkling, enough to make eveything look pretty, but not enough to stop me going out.

I'd left myself a lttle extra time to drive to work, in case of snow or ice, which meant I had time to stop to take a picture or two as the sun came up, as I drove across the hills.

By the time I got home it was much colder, and my enthusiasm for the work Christmas party was rapidly waning - I alwayss end up fretting about what to wear, and the possibility of being over- or under-dressed, and knowing how foolish this is doesn't seem to make much difference. However, once there, I quite enjoyed myself - although I was glad to get home.

I didn't sleep well, and woke up very early; after giving up on the prospect of getting back to sleep I got out of bed and looked out of the window to find that it had snowed, quite heavily (for England) overnight, so I  got up to go out and play in the snow. It was early enough that the sun wasn't yet up, and no-one else had been out, and there is something irresistable about pristine, unmarked snow...

I went down by the stream behind the houses opposite - as you can see, the sun was just coming up and gave everything a pinkish glow.

Livng in a town, as I do, you rarely get to her silence (yes, I know. But you know what I mean) it was lovely to be out with no sound but the creak of the snow as I walked, and birdsong, and the trickle of water from the stream.

As I am quite practically minded, even when admiring the beauties of nature, I took the opporunity to walk down to the paper shop and buy some milk, as I guessed (correctly, as it turned out) that my milkman would probably not be making any deliveries.

On the way, I found myself reminded that even the most prosaic of things, such as a streetlight, can turn out to be unexpectedly beautiful, in the right conditions.                                                                                         

It seemed as though most households were still asleep as I walked past - those few where there were lights on all seemed to be people who had got up early in order to watch the Ashes si as I walked by, in the snow, I could see glimpses of  bright sunshine, and cricketers, as though a little piece of summer was spilling out into the winter landscape, to remind us that all things will pass...

A little later in the morning, as I was making coffee and looking out into the street from the shelter of my nice warm kitchen, I saw the little girl who lives across the road come out of her house. she had, I suppose, just woken up & seen the snow, as she came bouncing out in her pyjamas and wellinigton boots, bouncing around like an excited puppy. (She didn't stay out for long - so I didn't need to get too worried about her lack of proper winter clothing)

I spent most of the rest of the day catchinng up with housework, and then dressing my Christmas tree and wrapping presents, which, together with the snow, put me in a properly festive mood.

Now, if everyone could keep their fingers crossed for the snow to go (and for  no more to fall) by next weekend, so that we can all mae it down to the parent's house for Christmas.... (Once we're all their, it can snow as much as it likes, just not before, please. 'Kay?)

In Which There Is Music

I don't often go to the theatre two nights running, but this week was an exception - Saturday night's 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' being followed on Sunday by a trip back to Bath to see Handel's 'Messiah', performed by The 18th Century Concert Orchestra who perform in period dress and on period instruments.

It was wonderful!

It's a while since I have seen any classical or choral music live, and this reminded me what a great experience it can be.

I enjoyed the fact that all the musicians were in period dress, each of them slightly different, and with slightly different wigs (although no real macaroni or beaus among them!)

The orchestra consisted of 5 violins, 1 vola, 2 cellos, a double bass, a harpsichord, an oboe, 2 trumpets and a timpanist on kettle drums, and there was a 13 person choir. The aim was to provide a concert which sounded as it would have done when Messiah was premiered, in 1741 - I am not (obviously) in a postion to say how successful they were on that front, but I'm willing to take in on trust - the rest of it was spot on!

I had been feeling tired and wasn't over-enthusiastic about going, but I am so glad that I did!

All in all, an excellent evening out.

In Which there is Much Merriment

I think I am both fortunate, and perhaps unusual, in that I get on well with my (born)family, and the various component parts of the family all get along pretty well, too. Which is good a lot of the time, but particularly at Christmas, when the idea of being gathered together near the middle of no-where with all of my immediate family is something to look forward to, and enjoy, rather than to view as an endurance test.

I was working in the morning of Christmas Eve (But happily was able to sneak out of work rather earlier than planned) so I was the last of the family to arrive, getting to my parent's house by about 2.30 after a journey which was fairly uneventful, marred only by the large and extremely startling piece of stone which was thrown up by a lorry going the other way, and which left a large and unexpected chip in my windscreen. (Hopefully to be fixed by the man from autoglass, who is due to arrive at any moment)

There was a certain amount of tree-decoration going on - mostly consisting of my mother decking the tree while 4 offspring and one partner-of-offspring offered "helpful" advice and constructive critisism. In the true spirit of Christmas she refrained from decking us too!

In our family, everyone gets a Christmas stocking (not just any children there may be lying about the place) so the evening ended with many of us sitting on the landing stuffing stockings.

On Christmas morning, my parents went off, in a public-spirited way, to ring the bells for Christmas services at 2 different churches, and the rest of us, after stockings, and a breakfast of croissants and bucks-fizz (mimosas, to you Americans) went for a short and slippery walk around the village - it was a glorious sunny morning, but cold, and the hard frosts of the past few days on top of the rain and muddiness which pre-dated the frost meant that the steep parts of the path (i.e. almost all of it) were very icy.

Somewhat to my surprise, none of us actually fell over, although we all came close at different times!

The rest of the day passed with delicious food, lots of gifts, far too much chocolate & alcohol, and several games - K & C had brought with them a perfectly fiendish game, called 'Valley of the Pharoahs' which occupied those parts of the early evening not taken up with watching the 1st part of the Dr Who Christmas Special.

Boxing day involved a visit from more relations, which natuarally meant more food, wine, conversation, chocolate and games.

Then, as members of the party began to drift away we moved on to the more lazy and laid back portion of the holiday weekend. Happily, the one really wet and horrible day came on 27th when no-one needed to go out, anyway!

Merry Christmas, Happy Giftmas,

Happy (Belated Solstice)

Where ever you are, and whatever you are doing today, have a wonderful day - celebrate (or not) the way you want to.

(Posted, with any luck, automatically...I'm probably opening a stocking and thinking about breakfast, just about now)

Let it Snow!

After the isolated snowflakes on Saturday I wasn't really expecting proper snow, but on Monday I woke to find that it had snowed over night - only a little, but enough to make everything look Christmassy for a little while. And, as it had rained/sleeted earlier the roads, at least the smaller ones which hadn't been gritted were very icy.

Happily, the schools broke up on Friday, so there wasn't as much traffic as usual, and I had remembered to wrap the car up so I didn't have to do too much ice-scraping. I was delighted to have an uneventful drive to work. And the snowy fields were very pretty.

The snow was all still there on Tuesday morning, and as I drove to work there was a wonderful clear sky, rose pink shading to duck-egg blue, with all the colours reflecting off the snow, and various pheasants and robins arranged decoratively around the place.

I was a little worried that it would still be icy this evening, as I had to drive over to the village where I grew up, in order to collect our christmas turkey. Some of the roads are quite small, and J&R live up a very steep little lane. Luckily for me, it started to rain mid afternoon, and it wasn't cold enough to freeze.

I was expecting to pop in, perhaps have a coffee, then pay for my turkey and be off, but J & R kindly invited me to stay for supper, which was great both as it gave us a chance to catch up a little, and of course, when the friends who invite you for supper happen to be farmers who grow pretty much all their own meat and vegetables the offer of food is always well worth accepting!

The turkey is one of those I met, back in October I know it had a good life, lots of freedom, and I am sure it will be absolutely delicious - always assuming I can keep it, and Tybalt, apart during my drive down to Devon tomorrow....

In Which there is Food, and Electricity

Saturday started quietly with a snooze, then I did a little bit of tidying up, with a view to the house looking respectable once my guests arrived, and bed-making, with a view to them having somewhere to sleep.

It was another cold, but sunny day, and when I walked down into town in the afternoon I started to snow - huge, dry flakes, all properly snow-flake shaped, with 6 distinct points! I've rarely seen snowflakes like that, mostly we seem either to have much wetter, sleety snow, of the very fine grainy kind. It didn't settle at all, but we very cold - 20 minutes out doing last minute bits of shopping was more than enough, although the last of the sunlight and the sunset were both beautiful.

Julie & Jason arrived in time for a nice long supper - I had made smoky aubergine dip, so we had hummus, aubergine dip, olives, crudites and warm pita bread, with a rather nice bottle of prosecco which Julies & Jason had brought with them.

We then (despite the very small size of my kitchen) all joined in to cook the main course, which was the Nettle & Chestnut Risotto which I was harvesting and cooking nettles for, earlier in the week.

Ingredients:

2 pints nettles (measured when picked), loosely packed
8 tbsp unsalted butter
approx. 1 litre vegetable stock
2 shallots, finely diced
7¼oz arborio rice
8¾fl oz dry cider
8oz peeled chestnuts, chopped in half
lemon juice
2oz fresh parmesan, finely grated, to serve

Method
1. Wash the nettles in a large bowl, allowing any debris to drop to the bottom. Pick out any thick or tough stems. Do not be concerned that the washing water is peaty brown, this is normal.
2. To cook the nettles, heat one tablespoon of butter in a large pan over a high heat and drop in the leaves. Allow them to wilt and cook until they are tender.
3. Strain through a sieve, catching any liquid in a bowl. Squeeze the nettles and remove to a board, chopping them roughly. Set aside in a cool place while you make the risotto.
4. Heat the stock in a pan. Melt half the remaining butter in a large heavy pan, adding the shallots and stirring to soften them. Cook the shallots until they are tender and clear, then add the rice, stirring to allow all of the rice to be coated with some of the fat.
5. Add the cider and stir. While the cider is being absorbed, turn the heat to a medium simmer. Add ladlefuls of stock - two at first, and allow each addition to be absorbed. When two thirds of the stock is absorbed, add the chopped nettles and allow them to continue cooking in the rice. At this stage, add the chestnuts - they will break down slightly in the pan.
6. When most of the stock is absorbed, check the rice - it ought to be just cooked, the sauce still emulsified. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Add the remaining butter and the parmesan, and serve with a sprinkle of lemon juice and a little freshly chopped parsley

The stock I made was partly made from soaking some dried mushrooms, so our risotto had a few mushrooms in it, too. The original recipie which (which I found on the BBC Food website) had dry white wine instead of cider, and suggests using chicken stock, which of course wouldn't be any good for vegetarians.

It really was very nice :-) So much so, that we ate all of it before I thought to take a picture of it!

I cheated on desert, and bought some Gu chocolate puddings. Pure decadence.

We had a lovely relaxed evening, talked, listened to music (Including comparing and contrasting the various 'IKEA' songs, by Mitch Benn, Jonathan Coulton and The Lancashire Hotpots )

I hope that they enjoyed the evening, I certainly did!

Sunday involved a leisurely breakfast, then Jason very kindly fixed the light socket in my WC - I had pulled the cord too hard and it broke, but when he took it to pieces, the socket itself was broken, so we had a quick trip to B&Q, and pausing only to google the changing rules about the colours of wires, and for me to borrow an electric test-y thing (multimeter?) from a neighbour, he fitted the the new socket for me, which was much appreciated. I can do some basic home maintenace - I can wire plugs and change fuses, but I am very nervous about anything connected to the mains, and because of my dodgy shoulder I find anything which involves working with my hands above my head almost impossible, which of course makes wiring in a new lighting socket to the ceiling quite tricky!

Sadly J&J couldn't stay later as they had lots of family to visit, so I wasn't able to give them lunch.

After they had gone, I spent the afternoon wrapping Christmas gifts and then ventured up into the loft to retrieve the christmas decorations, into the cupboard under the stairs for the Christmas tree, and put the two together.

I'm starting to feel a little festive!

I'd originally planned to go out this evening to a Carol Service (I'm not religious, but a carol service is a lovely part of Christmas) but it was so cold, and the road icy, and in the end I decided to stay inside in the wall, and watch a BBC4 documentary about Christmas Carols, instead.

(I also enjoyed a supper of Nathalie's Pumpkin & Almond Lasagna, which turned out beautifully. (I made mine with Butternut Squash, instead of pumpkin, and I have the other half of the Squash sauce in the freezer, so I shall be able to have it all over again, soon)

All in all, a most satisfactory weekend!