Blogmas Day Twenty Five - Wishing You A Very Happy Christmas

 

Today I am simply going to say that I would like to wish all my readers, blogging buddies, friends and family the happiest of Christmases.  Whatever you have planned I hope it goes well and that you have the sort of Christmas or alternative day that you wish for.

Ringleader of the animals Ginger sends you many meows and much pussycat love.

Mavis says simply 'Thank you for loving me, whenever Mum talks about me'.

And Suky says ... 'Now can you get these weird things off my head please, I'm a Pug not a reindeer.'

Old photos of our furry family but good ones.

Sending you much love and many happy thoughts on this most special of days.

Sue and Alan xx

Blogmas Day Twenty Four - Completed Tree, Almost Emptied Advents, a Belly Bulging Cupboard and ...

My little tree is complete.

All the ornaments that I saved from last year have been emptied from the old Advent calendar drawers and hung on the tree or dotted around the lodge.  I love seeing all my little china mugs out and looking so festive.  I must keep looking for some more from charity shops.

The drawers of the decorations calendar are all empty, and the jams are all out of the Bonne Maman one.  Instead of a jar of jam, today it was this lovely little candle jar, what a pleasant surprise.  The packet of seeds was a pack of Cumin, what gorgeous little flowers it has, I have never knowingly seen them before.

But there is one more envelope on the seeds calendar so I have another day of that ... and it doesn't feel like seeds!!

The jams are packed away in this enamel pot ready for use over the course of the next few months.  I'm glad that two of the calendars are done as I need the space they were in for food.  Once again I have gotten myself caught up in the shop-athon that is Christmas ... and I blame Alan.

He keeps going to the supermarkets and asking me if I want to go with him, so I say 'yes, but I don't need much'.  Somehow I always come back with at least one bag full of food.  My little brain is telling me as I peruse the shelves the prices are going up soon, you might as well buy the things on offer, that's a good Christmas bargain, or just plain mmm, that looks good.

I need to tell my brain to shut up ... my Welsh cupboard larder is full to bursting.

I'm surprised you can't see the bulge of it's poor little tummy in this photo!!

Edited to add in:

And then this arrived!!

Alan felt so sorry that I couldn't eat any of the food in the hamper we received as a company that he ordered me a vegan version of my own.

So unexpected and what a lovely thing to do.

And now I have some more food ... but at least I have a basket to put it in.  😄

It's been a very hamper-y Christmas this year.

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Twenty Three - China, Hampers and George

Day twenty three already, today I got another jam and a packet of Dwarf French Beans.  They are an unusual pinkish-colour heirloom seed, so they should look really pretty if I can get them to grow up the fence on some netting.  In a garden as small as mine, vertical growing is always a good idea.

From the decorations calendar I got the little china bell that my Aunt Barbara painted many years ago.  She also painted the Robin plaque that you can see in this photo, she did this for my Mum but for some reason my Mum was throwing it out a long time ago so I claimed it for myself.  Barbara used to do a mixture of transfer work and hand-painted and sometimes gilded china.  Over the years her work got better and better but it was an expensive hobby so she started to sell her wares through my shop, with me making a small commission on each piece sold and her getting enough to cover the cost of all her materials to keep her hobby going.

Talking of selling, our hamper from the agency that Alan works through came last week, we used to get a large Fortnum & Mason one, but over the years they downgraded to other not quite so posh hampers.  As usual virtually all of the items in the hamper contained dairy so no good for me to eat, although of course the alcohol will not be a problem 😉

Because of this Alan said that once again I could have the basket.  So I immediately listed last years basket the one you can see in the photo on Facebook marketplace and within twenty four hours it was gone and some more money was added to my sales for 2022 stash.

This years basket is slightly different as it has rope handles.  Once Christmas is over all my decorations will be going into it and it will take it's place on top of my wardrobe in place of the now sold one.

Here's George wishing you a Merry Christmas.

Officially his name is Edward, it says so on his tag, but I always think of him as George for some reason.  Maybe it's because Alan bought him for me many years ago and Alan's middle name is George ... or maybe it's just because he looks like a George. 🧸

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Twenty Two - Cosy Evenings and Garlic Chives

 

I'm loving the long dark evenings with the twinkly Christmas lights.

 I have four sets of lights in my living room, including this tiny set off last years mini living Christmas tree, and I could put up more as there is a box still unused but enough is enough in such a small space.  I have also bought a pack of those little strings of lights with a 'cork' on top that you can poke into empty wine bottles to turn them into lamps.  There were ten or twelve in the set I bought ... I need to do a lot of drinking.

Somehow I think I'll manage.  😄😉🍷

Todays goodies are some more berry scented candles, a tiny jam and a packet of Garlic Chives seeds.  Now garlic chives are something that I have never had success with, normal chives no problem, garlic chives nope!  I really don't know why ... but I'll give them another go.

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Twenty One - Sunshine, Seeds and a Gingerbread House

 

Day twenty one of the Advent calendar openings and I just had to get a photo in that glorious beam of sunshine.  

Todays goodies were some sunny Tomato seeds ... phew I thought I was going to have to buy some ... a little jar of sunny marmalade, and from my Christmas decorations from last year recycled calendar my lovely little 'Joy' Emma Bridgewater mug.

Twinkling lights, and all things my style ... oh and another glimpse of Llama Lad.

Would you like a recipe for a Gingerbread House?

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Twenty - Musical House, Neeps and Tatties and Old Cards

 

Today's acquisitions from the Advent calendars are a little wooden Christmas tree bought during our last Christmas in Wales, a little jar of orange marmalade and a packet of Turnip seeds.  

Photo of Neeps, Tatties and Haggis from Google Images - BBC Good Food

Now I don't like turnips at all and rarely use them even in soups, but being married to a Scottish man who loves his Neeps and Tatties means that perhaps I will sow a few of these seeds.

Also on that shelf of Christmas sparkle alongside my little M&S musical house ... which is full of biscuits and just could not be resisted ... is this card, saved from last year and displayed again this year.  I just had to save it as it was from the stars of yesterdays blog post Mavis and Ginger.

Do you ever save really nice cards and re-display them?

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Nineteen - Cabbage, Caravans, Jam and Liberties

 

Day nineteen sees me with Spring Cabbage seeds, yummy ... and a little jar of marmalade, from the Christmas decorations reused calendar there is my little caravan Christmas tree ornament.  Modelled here so expertly by little Miss Mince Pie Ballerina.

Meanwhile in the living room the fake fire flickers ...

... and Ginger and Mavis stretch out in it's imaginary warmth.

It's a good job the heating is on so that they actually feel warm!!

I think the look on Ginger's face is him trying to let me know that he thinks Mavis is taking liberties.  😄

Sue xx

Blogmas Days Seventeen and Eighteen - Arse over Tit ... and Christmas is Done

 

Day seventeen of my Advent calendars saw me with a little jar of marmalade, a pack of Spinach seeds, and from the decorations calendar from last year a little empty sack, very cute but I can't think why I saved it really!

The candy canes are a real necessity, all you regular readers know how much I love a candy cane ... at any time of year.  Remember the ten boxes at ten pence a box that I bought from Wyevale a few years ago, they kept me in cinema sweeties for months. 😄

And today's little stash another pack of Rocket seeds, I think a mistake has been made there.  I also got a little jam ... and an empty box.  Another little mistake, but this time on my part.

Sorry for missing yesterday, but I had an accident on Friday and slipped on ice.  We had gone to pick up Alan's suits from the seamstress, and while we were in her house it had rained slightly and then immediately iced over.  The first person to step out of her back door was always going to go 'arse over tit' (a real Mancunian saying) and unfortunately that person was me.  I ended up with a badly wacked ankle and a twisted knee, I can now look back and see the funny side as neither Sue or Alan could help me up as they were sliding all over the place, it was like something out of a comedy film.  But not even slightly funny at the time, and still extremely painful.

It's been a good few days though, both my sons have been with their partners to pick up the Christmas hampers that we had delivered to our house for them ... they all work strange hours and it was easier this way, and of course it meant that we got to see them all.  

So with that complete now our Christmas is all sorted, the kids, grandkids and great grandkids have all got their Christmas money or gifts, all that's left to buy is a fourth birthday card for my great grandson ready for the 31st, and one final food shop for us and the Foodbank ... and then that is it Christmas is done and my spending this year is complete.

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Sixteen - Searching for Doors, Old Nightlights and Greying Dogs

 

Today's little Advent calendar goodies,  jam and a pack of Rocket seeds. It took me ages to find the little door on the Bonne Maman Advent calendar ... I mean, how hard can it be, there's only 24 of the little blighters!!   

In the recycled calendar from last year instead of decorations there were two of the jumbo nightlights that I bought as part of a £10 splurge on my Challenge blog back in February 2019 during my 'Shopping Hauls' Challenge.  These berry scented nightlights seem to have lasted well.

See the post HERE if you're interested.  

We were at Mum's yesterday, instead of taking sandwiches for lunch for the three of us, we took some soup and crusty rolls.  We also took two very clean and spruced up doggies as we had just picked them up from the groomers before we set off for Manchester.  

They were exhausted by the time we got home at teatime last night.  A bath and trim at 8am, a trip to Grannies for the day and then home, they totally zonked out once we sat down to have our tea and that was them fast asleep for the night.  Now she's clean again Mavis looks even greyer on her ears, they are truly two little old ladies ... but clean ones and all ready for Christmas.

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Fifteen - Memories and Mince Pies

 

I'm really enjoying the Jacquie Lawson online Advent Calendar this year and every single day when I flash it up I see this image on my screen, and it reminds me of the little street that my shop was on.  This is a Christmas card that was brought out one year and sold in town, and that I kept as a reminder of my pride and joy.

And yes it was a street, rather than a lane, even though it was barely wide enough for the delivery van that brought the potatoes to the Chippy Bank on the corner every other day.  I worked in the shop and we lived at the top of the street, just off The Gill car park.

My shop, which was just past the black bin on the righthand side of the photograph on the Christmas card, with my lights on ready for a days trading, and with a festoon of the town lights that lit up our little street during the festive season.  It all used to be so pretty around town throughout December, worthy of being on an Advent calendar of it's own in fact.

Today's offerings from my Advent calendars are the Bonne Maman Christmas bauble from my calendar two years ago, this years jam and a packet of basil seeds.  Shown with the last two little mince pies from this box, these are gorgeous and I'm glad I bought another box to save for Christmas ... in fact I might even buy one more box to ensure that I don't run out!!

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Fourteen - Snowball Girl, Llama Lad and Fruit Pastilles

 

So, that's where Snowball Girl went to!!

She was lurking in drawer number fourteen of my recycled calendar from last year.  From this years I got dark marmalade and some fennel seeds.  Now I don't really like fennel as a herb or seasoning, but they will be sown and put at the back of the beds in the garden as the birds and insects LOVE the tiny flowers.

Why is there a jar of fruit pastilles in the photo you might be asking yourself ... well they were on offer at just one pound a bag when I ordered some Christmas sweeties from the Conscious Candy Company so I treated myself to four bags and tipped the contents into an empty jar.

This was one of the last of my ordered things to arrive and now it's time to wind all purchases down ready for next year.  It's nice to have a splurge every now and then if you are able but it's even better to know when enough is enough

Bought at the same time as Snowball Girl and from the same shop was Llama Lad, seen here peeking out behind one of the nightlight holders.  He's lucky that he was too tall to fit into the drawers!!

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Thirteen - Jugs, Radishes and a Pasta Bake

 

Today's Advent calendar offerings are my little Emma Bridgewater jug, a packet of radish seeds and some lovely dark jam.

My gorgeous little jug will go near the top of the tree in pride of place.

It's been so cold that I've not been fancying salad at all , so two whole packs of tomatoes were still in the fridge from a couple of weeks ago.  Last night I decided to roast them along with the oldest of the onions and a couple of garlic cloves from the freezer and make myself a nice warming pasta bake for my tea.

After forty minutes in the oven I tipped them into my Nutribullet cup and whizzed the lovely tomatoey, garlicky mixture up and poured it over some dry pasta along with some frozen spinach pellets and another cup of water

Half an hour later I had a gorgeous pasta bake and some garlic bread, with enough over to be able to repeat the meal tomorrow.  So garlicky and so tasty.

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Twelve - Health and Safety for Santa

 

Photographing my Advent calendar goodies in a different place for a change.  

This feels like it's getting too samey ... anyone fed up yet?

Today seeds as you can see are Kale and the jam is marmalade, and in the Christmas tree recycled decorations calendar I have some little acorn type things, I can't remember what sort of tree these come from but they are real.

The little tree is starting to fill up nicely.

Meanwhile, outside the lodge the pavements are sheer ice, although the roads, once you are off our little cul-de-sac, have been gritted.  It was the Santa Run in town yesterday, downscaled to a Santa Walk for health and safety reasons.

We can't have two hundred Santa's breaking their legs now can we. 🎅

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Eleven - Oscar Wilde, Ballerina Mouse ... and an Overflowing Trolley

 

Day eleven of the Advent calendars, and I now have Tarragon seeds, another mini jar of jam and my little wooden stocking bought from the gift shop in Llanrwst when we lived in Wales.  I always like the tree to be decked with things that bring back memories.

To quote  Oscar Wilde ... 'I can resist everything except temptation.'

Wandering around Aldi, getting the few bits and pieces that I needed and buying some more treat type shopping for the Foodbank trolley I spied the Ballerina Mouse, one of Kevin the Carrot's friends and decided to treat myself.

I know, I'm just a big kid ... but a happy one.  😁

And I was even happier when I took my purchases to add to the Foodbank trolley and found it overflowing.  I went and got a cardboard box and piled my things into it and left it alongside the trolley.  People in our town are so kind-hearted.

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Ten - Lights, Fires and YouTube

Todays Advent calendar offerings, the usual jam, some chard seeds ... and somehow I managed to fit all that tinselly garland and it's battery pack into that little drawer.  No wonder it was such a tug of war to get the drawer open!!

And here's Mavis sat in front of the 'fire'.  I wonder if she realised she wasn't getting any warmer!!

Now for a change here's some Weekend Watching.

Just a few channels from YouTube that I'm enjoying at the moment.  This first one is hilarious and most of her other videos are similarly honest, sarcastic and amusing.

https://youtu.be/8E41wJnMc30

And one of my current real favourites - Freakin Frugal

https://youtu.be/SmUdxmgDSzw

I'm always amazed at how much food is thrown away, but at least with Frugal Mommy and Daddy on the case, some of it gets used by them and donated forwards.

And a recent find is Little Mountain Ranch, a large family living on a ranch in chilly Canada, with lots of cooking, lots of snow and lots of fun.

https://youtu.be/b7pqhbxSzoc

I'm just glad I don't have look after animals anymore or step outside in those sorts of temperatures.

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Nine - You know it's Christmas when ...

 

You know it's Christmas when ... it suddenly feels totally acceptable to have a mince pie or two with your first coffee of the day and simply call it Breakfast!!

I got out some of the more Christmassy of last years Advent Calendar socks yesterday ready for action, but when I got up this morning my feet were so cold that the thermal 'normal' socks were put on instead.  Most of the socks have been in constant wear all year but these four pairs I saved for this Christmas once last January had passed.

You can see the full array of the socks that I got in the 12 day sock Advent calendar last year on THIS post.

And here are todays offerings from my jam and seed Advent calendars, well actually today it's orange marmalade along with the mustard seeds.  

In the recycled Christmas decorations calendar, todays contents were quite special.  The tiny Welsh love spoon that Alan put in my stocking a couple of years ago and a holly sprig and tinsel saved from a Christmas cracker.

How would you finish the sentence - You know it's Christmas when ...

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Eight - Parsley, Chocolate and a Very Festive Cat

 

Today's Advent calendar offerings are a jar of jam and Parsley seeds.  

Now I have never successfully managed to grow parsley.  I've tried it in a greenhouse, in the polytunnel, on various kitchen windowsills ... facing in all directions and even from scratch outdoors.  It germinates, takes one look at me and then keels over and dies.  

I really do think it's just me that it doesn't like as I bought a potted parsley plant from Aldi a few weeks ago brought it home, it took it just over a day for it to start looking very sorry for itself.  In a fit of 'bugger off then you ungrateful plant' I planted it roughly in the tin bath outside the front door and said 'There I hope the frost kills you' and shut the door on it ... it's flourishing!!

I will follow the instructions on this packet to the letter and see if I can break this vicious cycle.

Also in the photo are my current two favourite chocolates.  The Vegan Blonde bar from Aldi and the NOMO Reindeer, which would be an excellent purchase for the stocking of any of your children or grandchildren that need dairy-free goodies ... and for me any day of the week stocking or no stocking, just because I'm a grown up and I can.  😁

And for your delight and delectation, a very festive pussy cat.

Like all cats, Ginger does love a good box or basket to sit in at his leisure.

Sue xx

Blogmas Day Seven - Kohlrabi, Sweets and Tiny Trees

Today's seed Advent calendar offering is a pack of Kohlrabi seeds and is seen in this photo with a bag of my favourite sweets just purchased from Booth's, and today little pot of jam.  I didn't grow this particular vegetable until we moved to Wales and then I really discovered it. 

 It grew so well in the polytunnel.  It's in the bed on the left nearest the camera, in this instance it's green kohlrabi, and it was delicious and was regularly snacked on while I worked in the polytunnel.

I keep forgetting to share what I'm getting out of last year's Advent calendar, which was filled with little bits and bobs of my Christmas decorations when I packed them all away last year.  But I have been emptying one drawer a day and hanging things on the tree or dotting little lengths of tinsel here, there and everywhere.  Bit by bit it's getting more and more festive around the lodge.

Today's little drawer contained half a dozen little gold baubles which are now dangling on the tree and barely visible as last year they were on the tiniest of tiny trees.

This little tree now lives in the garden, and I didn't have the heart to dig her up, so this year my bigger artificial tree is sporting the decorations as they appear from the Advent calendar.

Sue xx