Today I've mostly bin...

[gill216]

I've just iced my xmas cake and I made marzipan chocolates with the leftover marzipan. Rolled it into balls, dipped them in melted chocolate and stuck whatever I had to hand on the top.

Mince pies next.

I wont eat any of this either

[LAT]

That's one reason I don't like Christmas cake as I don't like marzipan. So we never bother with a cake in our house. Now nice biscuits are different!

I have also been making honeycomb today as the first batch, made a couple of days ago, just didn't seem quite right. Hopefully this batch will be better. The fudge was fine though. And the biscuits which I did yesterday.

And I will eat some of all the stuff although half of it will be given away.

Really hoping I don't have to work too long tomorrow though. I gather it's up to the whim of the MD but is usually at or just after lunch time.

oh, and why are the mince pies in the shape of windmills Bunny?

[Bunnylump]

You won't eat it because you don't like it or because the gannets will get there first?

I do like it but I am trying to lose weight. Only 16 months until K's wedding!! But, also, the gannets will get there first. We will have Dibble descending tomorrow, after all, and since he appears to have been living on a diet of cereal, pasta and beer, I expect he'll do a spot of gorging on "proper" food!! Don't worry, I'm going to cook 8 different vegetables (not including potatoes) for Christmas to compensate for all the carp!

oh, and why are the mince pies in the shape of windmills Bunny?

For the hell of it?? They are like this


The Christmas cake was because I don't much like icing, but K (AKA "Little Miss Christmas") always wants ALL the traditions upheld. So much so that she was all disappointed when I told her that Father Christmas had told me that he couldn't be bothered to wrap up the presents in her Christmas stocking!! (She's 25). So (on the cake, not the presents) I put marzipan and icing on one half, and glazed nuts and fruits on the other. Simples!! Actually, it looks surprisingly good!

I've also finally cleared out all the dislodged chimney contents from the fire so that Father Christmas doesn't get dirty when he comes down the chimney (I subjected Scurra to the fumes of burning bits of crow's nests etc. when he was here the other day!! )

[LAT]

Wonderful!

Will eating Christmas goodies now really have that much bearing on your weight in 16 months' time?
After all you've got another Christmas to get through before the wedding!

My daughter remarked to us that it is only 52 and a half weeks to wait.

(Think she's counting down to when she can have a 'proper' Christmas!)

[giraffe]

I have just made two green cheesecakes. They are a recipe for lemon cheesecake, but I can't always get lemon jelly, so sometimes use lime, which gives it a green tinge.

My neice made some cake pops with the machine I sent her for her birthday.

[LAT]

They look fun!

[giraffe]

Apparently they are chocolate cake with milk and white chocolate on them.

[Wulfruna]

Watching horrible pictures of flooding in the South West - all those poor people whose Christmas has been ruined......
We are not affected here in Exmouth, but more rain is forecast.
The railway has been totally cut off just between Taunton and Exeter, and not likely to be restored by the weekend.
Fortunately, that is not the route used by Scurra when he comes here, so we are still hoping he will manage to arrive here somehow tomorrow - though the trains on this alternative route (from Waterloo rather than Paddington) are likely to be packed to the gunnels with all the people who have been diverted onto it because of the disruption..... not much fun.....

[Bunnylump]

I must admit I was watching the news and did wonder about that! Hope you (and the cat) get there safely, and without too much trauma, Scurra...

[giraffe]

My friend has a cottage in Braunton. Water stopped 2 feet from the door.

[Wulfruna]

Let's hope it stays away - there's more rain forecast for today up there, I think.

Whereas at the moment the sun is shining in Exmouth.... waiting for Christmas visitors (I am assured they are on the way and the trains all running fine on that route.. )

[SparkOut]

Don't worry, I'm going to cook 8 different vegetables (not including potatoes) for Christmas to compensate for all the carp!

Mrs S has just looked at me with a frown and said "I normally do a dozen vegetables, I've only got 11..."

[Bunnylump]

That should keep you regular!

[Bunnylump]

Playing with my new Kindle Paperwhite. It will be a relief to be able to read things again (I can adjust the font AND it has a back light!)

[gill216]

Cursing our old banger of a car. We bought a brand spanking new one in October because the old one had next to no chance of not costing a small fortune come MOT time. Guess what it did? Sailed through it. So I've just had to tax it for the next year and while its nice to have 2 cars we don't actually need to have 2.

Typical!

[Bunnylump]

Commonly known as the law of s*d...

[Bunnylump]

Had a whole housefull of people for lunch, which all went really well. It was so nice to have all the generations here together. Mind you, I'm now UTTERLY kn*****ed and the house looks like a bomb had hit it!! The problem is that I have this horrible feeling that "lunch at the E's house between Christmas and New Year" could become a "tradition"... When I get a chance, I will write up the white chocolate and sour cherry cheesecake recipe. That was yummy.

Oh, yeah, and I've found time to write some horrible puzzles for Scurra too! (So there's not a hope he'll gravitate away from his laptop and speak to his family... )

[gill216]

Putting up with the OH who has decided he has the ohnovirus (thanks for that one Vlad!) plus flu and anything else that might be going around right now.

He actually has the sniffles!!!

[LAT]

To the Tate to see the wonderful exhibition on the Pre-Raphaelites. Some really beautiful stuff on display including sculptures, tapestries and furniture as well as paintings.
We also looked in on the Turner prize finalists' show and I found the drawings by Paul Noble fascinating. I didn't know his stuff at all but the detail is amazing, they are the sort of drawings that the more you look at them the more you notice - very rewarding.

[LAT]

On a different note I've been rather sad today as my husband's uncle died yesterday. He was 90, still working (manual outdoor, mainly gardening and ground maintenance) although admittedly not full time for the last few years. I think he had rarely taken a day sick in all his working life and still grew virtually all his own veg and kept hens. It seems he had what he thought was a vomiting bug in November but never really recovered so two weeks ago they did a scan and found he had pancreatic cancer. At the beginning of this week he was given a week to live and died the following day. Our aunt must be in complete shock, they had been happily married for nearly 60 years - a party was planned for later this year to celebrate. Last time we saw them in the autumn he seemed as fit as a fiddle and really spry. (We came back laden with apples, potatoes, eggs and some other veg!) It seems difficult to believe he has gone.

And almost exactly a year later his widow died suddenly today - of blood poisoning.