Christmas day

 Did you all have the sort of Christmas day you wanted?  We had a quiet one, just the three of us.  In previous years we've been to our friends for Christmas day - our two friends, their son and their daughter and partner, plus daughter's spaniel.  We've generally left Betty at home, as she's a bit unpredictable around other dogs - as we lived just 5 minutes away, it was easy for husband to go home and feed her/let her out for a wee.  Now we live 30 mins drive away, it's not really an option to leave Betty at home and go there for several hours.  We'll be seeing them later on in the week though.

We had our Christmas lunch at 1.00 - gammon for husband, nut roast for me, roast spuds, parsnips & carrots, cauli cheese, sprouts & chestnuts, stuffing and a pig in a blanket, with gravy and cranberry sauce.  Nearly all cooked in advance and simply reheated, meaning next to no work for me.  It was gorgeous and I was well and truly stuffed afterwards.  Betty had her own Christmas lunch - a little commercial dog food mixed with some chopped sprouts, a roast potato and half a carrot, and a little bit of husband's gammon, with a teaspoonful of gravy, she licked the plate clean.  We didn't eat again until late evening, just a couple of crackers and some cheese, with a satsuma.

I like watching TV at Christmas, one of the few times when there are plenty of programmes that interest me.  Favourite Christmas tunes - even if they are ancient!  Specials of Call the Midwife (which always makes me cry), Dr Who, Death in Paradise, reruns of old comedy shows, Carols from Kings, ballets etc.  And of course the traditional Bond film on New Years Day - Daniel Craig's last outing this time.  I love the Bond films, always have - Sean Connery was always my favourite, followed by Timothy Dalton....until Daniel Craig came along, he blew the others out of the water as far as I was concerned.  Before I saw the last Bond, No Time to Die, I had no idea that he was being killed off in it - a huge shock.  I've not seen it since that first time of watching, couldn't face seeing him die again (I know, I know, he's not real and not really dead!! as an actor I mean 😂), but I'll probably steel myself to watch it on New Years Day.  I have all the DVDs of the Craig Bonds and have watched the first 4 numerous times.  I have 2 other favourite Christmas films, Elf and Love Actually, but neither of them is on this Christmas - well, not on the channels we get anyway, I expect they're on Sky or Netflix.  Do you have a favourite Christmas film or programme?

I feel the need for some fresh air and a walk, we've been stuck inside stuffing our faces and sitting down in front of the TV too much, and Betty certainly needs a run.  So as the weather is forecast to be reasonable today - sunny intervals, mild, hardly any wind - we're going to Dunster beach.  Betty will love it, the tide will be out when we get there so she'll have plenty of beach on which to run about and dig.

False alarm

 Wishing all of you lovely readers a Christmas that suits you, I hope you have a happy day.

Husband has a tendency to lose his balance quite often, due to his heart failure and meds which keep his BP very low.  I frequently have to grab his arm when we're out, to prevent him falling over or knocking into people/things.  Yesterday he stumbled in the hallway and fell against the alarm call box, inadvertently alerting the emergency call centre 😒.  Within a couple of minutes, they responded asking what our emergency was.....well, at least we know it works!  I hope he doesn't do that on a regular basis, though, they might get a bit fed up with him 😉

I'm glad I pre cooked most of the Christmas lunch so it just needs reheating today, meaning I can have an easy day.  I'm feeling very weary, think all the busyness of the past month has caught up with me.

Joy, I'm really enjoying your cruise journey, thanks for sharing it.  I hope you get to see the Northern Lights!

Merry Christmas all xx

My Mum

 Today is the 4th anniversary of Mum dying....this time in 2019 we were just setting out on the long drive up to the Midlands to the hospital, having been told by my sister that morning that Mum didn't have long left.  We actually arrived 10 minutes after she passed away - which was fine, I'd said all along I didn't want to watch her die.  As it was only 10 minutes later, she was still warm when I gave her a hug and kiss, for which I was very grateful, I'm so glad she wasn't cold and stiff.  My apologies if this upsets anyone.

So today I'm going to sit and crochet (I found my crochet hooks), listen to Christmas songs and remember all the happy and funny things about Mum.  Mum was a bit of a character - not afraid to give her opinion if she didn't like something (or someone!), unintentionally funny quite often - she was a bit of a Mrs Malaprop, often using the wrong word for something - not intentionally.  She found humour in the stupidest of things, quite inappropriately sometimes - she'd find it funny if one of us tripped over or dropped something, e.g. - my sister is exactly the same.  Mum loved TV programmes like Some Mothers do 'ave 'em - a comedy sitcom starring Michael Crawford as Frank Spencer - she'd be in stitches over it, whereas the humour in it didn't appeal to me...it just amused me watching her find it so funny.

In her younger years, Mum was quite a conventional dresser....once she retired though she kind of decided that she was going to wear whatever she liked - and she liked colour, long flowing skirts and scarves, all gaily patterned and in bright colours, she dressed like a hippy or a 60s Bohemian style.  And she didn't care one jot if her clothes didn't match - she used to say "I like it so I'm wearing it!".  I remember one day when all of us siblings and OHs and children were round at hers, I can't remember why exactly (probably some stupid game we were playing) but Mum had grabbed the tea cosy off the teapot and put it on her head like a hat, and wore it for quite a while, to the absolute delight of her grandchildren who all found it hilarious - probably why she did it, in retrospect.

For all her - well, silliness really - Mum was very wise, if I had a problem or needed some advice, I knew I'd always get it from Mum.  I miss her a lot.

This is one of my favourite photos of Mum - taken in her garden by my sister, Mum was on the phone to me at the time.

And here she is with the tea cosy on her head:-

Bless her 💜

Busy, busy

 I really must start unpacking a few more boxes, there are things that I've needed and haven't yet found, so they're obviously still in boxes.  It's all very well having two boxes of work-in-progress Attic24 blanket kits, but I don't know where my crochet hooks are!  I also needed a large plastic mixing bowl this morning - I know I brought it here, but where it is I have no idea.  Same goes for my address book, and homemade gift tags for presents.  So that's a job for this afternoon.

We had a lovely couple of hours with our ex-neighbour friend yesterday, she loves the bungalow and our little cul de sac.  We caught up on some news from the old area....Jane asked if we miss living there - we both said No!  She said she wants to visit again in the Spring, to see what we're going to do with the garden, and invited us to go to hers for coffee whenever we're back in the area (I shall be going once a month to do a bit of shopping in Bridgwater, and every 2 months for a haircut from my hairdresser ex-neighbour).

Speaking of the garden.....I'd ordered a compost bin and one of those rectangular long plastic tool chests for husband's garden tools, they arrived early this morning - 08.00 am, good job we're early risers.  He's been outside putting them together already and has positioned them where he wants them.  

I've had a busy morning in the kitchen.  I made 4 meals worth of mash - white and sweet potatoes mixed with sage and smoked paprika, all been frozen for future meals.  I've done the roast veggies - potatoes, carrots and parsnips - for Christmas and Boxing day, so they'll just need a quick reheat on each day.  I also cooked the pigs in blankets, and roasted sprouts and chestnuts - everything (except the mash) done in batches in the air fryer.  I've just sat down for a breather and coffee, and will make the stuffing and cauli cheese afterwards.  So Christmas and Boxing days will be easy.....just a case of cooking my nut roast, then reheating husband's gammon and all the veggies.  I didn't want to spend hours in the kitchen both days, I want to relax and watch TV.

So once I've unpacked 2 or 3 boxes....and hopefully found my crochet hooks....we'll have a relaxing afternoon.  Husband, having finished in the garden and tidied up a bit in his brick built shed (it was already messy!), has now just put up a towel rail in the bathroom, so he's earned a rest too.

So that's what happened to them!

 Thank you for all the comments, I've not been replying or referring to them much recently, sorry about that.  I do certainly read and appreciate them all though.  Sue (I'm so glad you're still around and commenting, you'd be sorely missed if you disappeared), you asked if there are any shops here - sadly not, there was a village shop and post office but it closed down at the beginning of the year I think, which is a bit of a disappointment.  But the shops in Minehead are only a short drive away, so it's no hardship.  And in the event that husband can no longer drive, there's a bus route here just minutes walk away.  There's a pub, but that is up for sale, so it's anybody's guess whether it'll be taken over or will close down.  It's been hard on businesses since Covid.  

I was out in the garden with Betty yesterday and the gusts of wind were so strong it nearly blew me over at one point, and I'm no lightweight.  If I hadn't put my hand on the wall to steady myself, I'd have been knocked over I think.  It's still windy out there now, I can hear the gusts, but think it's forecast to ease off today.  I bet the oldies around here (I don't include myself in that just yet 😂) don't go out for walks in this weather.  Cheryl, you asked if I'm ok with being much younger than most of the residents around here - yes, it doesn't bother me.  Our immediate next door neighbours are around my age and I'm sure we'll be good friends....although we've recently discovered they're conspiracy theorists and have some weird ideas - no matter, each to their own.

We've got to pop into town again first thing, I've just realised I've left some cutlery in the old house, I thought it was packed in a box still but had a sudden lightbulb moment.  We have enough for daily use, but not for guests....I was wondering where the rest was, now I remember!  We're not going back to the old place to get it, it's all quite old anyway, so we'll go and buy a new set.

We have our first proper guest coming over today, hence the need for more cutlery, I was wondering where our dessert forks (for the cake I've bought) were.  She's one of our neighbours from the old place, she's very keen to come and see where we live.  She's in her 70s and lives in a large 5 bedroom house on her own, her family having flown the nest and she was widowed 2 or 3 years ago, so she's thinking about the future and whether living in a retirement community will suit her.  I doubt she'd enjoy living here - she's very lively and young for her age, she plays petanque in a league, sings in a choir which travels around and gives performances, goes dancing, and has a boyfriend!  She's definitely not the bingo type 😂

Yay, it's the winter solstice, so from now on the days will start getting longer, albeit by just a few minutes a week.  I love knowing that Spring will soon be on the way....although of course we've still got the worst of the winter to get through yet.

Christmas sorted, and more nice surprises

 We got to the supermarket at 07.30 (it opens at 06.00) and it was virtually empty - there were more staff than shoppers, what a surprise.  I got everything I needed for Christmas and beyond.....I spent about double my average week's shop but reckon what I bought will last for 3 or 4 weeks, with good planning.  Husband had ummed and ahhed for the past couple of weeks about what meat he wants for the Christmas period - he finally settled on gammon and pork loin.  I was going to make the wartime Mock Turkey from Carolyn's blog for myself, but read a review in the papers a couple of days ago.....someone had tried and rated several of the veggie and vegan Christmas lunch choices.  Most of the 'fake meat' type ones got the thumbs down (I have to say any type of fake meat gets the thumbs down from me, I'm not keen on them at all) - they were either too bland or had a strange texture, according to the tester.  However, a Lidl vegan Sage, Onion and Hazelnut festive nut roast got rave reviews, and is exactly the kind of thing I like.  So that's what I'm having for my Christmas lunch, along with all the normal veggies.  We don't eat Christmas pudding - too rich and heavy - but might have a slice of lemon cheesecake, or just cheese & crackers.

Speaking of cheese....the lovely B, my American reader who gifted me all those lovely cheeses, asked which ones they were.  4 different cheeses - a Cashel Blue (an Irish semi soft blue cheese), Cenarth Brie (Welsh brie), Spenwood (a hard ewe's milk cheese that's similar to Manchego or Pecorino) and a mature cheddar with chilli & tomato in a red rind.  I've tried a little of each and they're all delicious!

I cooked husband's gammon yesterday in the Multichef, it's been sliced and frozen, 8 meals worth - I won't have room to cook that and all the veggies and stuffing and my nut roast in the air fryer or Multichef on the day, so I'm pre-cooking and freezing some things to be reheated in the microwave on Christmas day.

I sat yesterday afternoon with next year's calendar, writing birthdays/anniversaries, black bin days and some advance appointments on it.  Now I just need to decide where it's going up on the wall!

Oh, we had another pleasant surprise yesterday - a hand-delivered letter containing a £10 note put through the door by the village church.  Apparently, a local wealthy landowner, who died some years ago, left a sum of money to be gifted to 'good causes' for the village, the recipients to be decided by the church and the parish council every year, until the money runs out.  Well, this year it was decided that the residents of the two sheltered housing schemes here are the lucky recipients, so all of us here in our close and the adjoining one have got a Christmas box of £10 each household.  How lovely.  That, along with the (free) Christmas buffet put on by the Housing Association the other day, shows what a lovely village we've moved to - we never got so much as a Christmas card from our previous landlords in all the years we lived there.

And one of our lovely neighbours from the old house is coming to visit us tomorrow, that'll be nice.

Bingo!

Yay!  We now have a working landline.  Phew.

Whilst we were packing up at the old house, husband found 2 plastic lidded boxes in the loft with wool in - well, when I checked them, both of them were actually half completed crochet blankets, single blanket kits from Attic24 with all the yarn and a printed pattern, which I'd clearly forgotten about, having got husband to put them up in the loft.  I'm so pleased, I've got them in the bottom of my wardrobe and will get them out and start doing them again in the next few days.  I've always liked Lucy's tutorials, she's got a fantastic eye for colour and design and makes the tutorials so easy to follow, even for beginners.

We went to the Christmas buffet at the day centre....well that was an experience.  There were only about 20 people there, mostly from the other side - only 1 person from our little close, the very nice man who lives opposite us.  The others did all make us welcome, in their own way, although we did get a feeling of some resentment coming from one or two.  Apparently, one of them, who currently lives in a flat, had also put in a bid for our bungalow (she's on oxygen so presumably has some kind of respiratory illness) but was pipped at the post by us....as she informed us.  Well, I'm not going to let it worry me - we were told by the Housing Association that we met all their criteria, hence why we were offered the place.  I was the youngest person there at the buffet by about 20 years, they were all old dears, male and female, who clearly have all known each other for years.  Some have mobility issues, several respiratory ones, and several clearly are partly deaf, as there was a lot of shouting and "Eh?  Speak up!" going on!  A few asked me if I like bingo, apparently they have bingo sessions on Fridays, which appears to be the highlight of their week.  I don't think I'll be joining in though! 😂

We're off early this morning to go and do our big food shop - wish me luck!  I loathe shopping when it's busy.