Happy New Year 2015

Love Karen xx

Quick Make over

Today I have been thinking about the 2015 Sealed Pot, it's definitely something worth doing, it's amazing how the odds and ends of change mount up over the year.  I will be opening this years on Wedensday night so I will let you know how much was in it on Thursday.

 I have my new pot ready for the new year......something I made earlier today...

A recycled Lidl yogurt bucket covered in sticky backed plastic, in true Blue Peter style :-) the lid has been glued down and well sealed, it won't be opened again until new years eve 2015. I like the idea of recycling these little buckets as you get to eat the yummy yogurt first :-)

Are you doing the Sealed Pot Challenge, if so what kind of pot do you use? 

Back again tomorrow

Take care

Karen xxx

Quick post

Nice to get back to 'normal' eating.

Tuna Mayo, bit heavy on the mayo :-)

Last of the Boxing Day Wine.

Feeling healthier already :-)

Stay warm and safe in this freezing weather.

Love Karen xxx

Walking off the Christmas excess in the snow.

Did you all have a nice Christmas? Have you eaten more than you should have? I think we did :-( I cooked Christmas dinner both days, once for 5 and then again for 7 of us, it was delicious! 

We didn't have the traditional crackers with paper hats and silly jokes this year, we had table presents which Willow gave out after we had eaten, they were chocolate goodies and guess what...it was the only chocolate I got....do you think they are trying to tell me something :-)

Boxing day my parents came for lunch and we had a lovely time, 3 generations sat round the table enjoying some excellent food and great conversation, I love these occasions. We spent the afternoon relaxing and by 4:30 my Mum was getting weary and my Dad a bit anxious to get home before the forecasted snow started.  My son and daughter in law took them home and made sure they were settled and fully locked up before they left.  At about 6:30 the snow started to fall, quite gently at first and then more heavily and it started to lay.

We went to bed aound 10:30 pm and it was still snowing.

When we woke we had had quite a good covering and it was the perfect opportunity for a snowy walk on the moors to enjoy the cold refreshing air and walk off some of the stodge we had eaten. Here are a few photos taken on the nature reserve just a couple of miles away from our house.

The pathways were very icy and quite slippy underfoot, you had to be very careful not to fall.

Proper Yule Logs with a pretty sprinkling of snow.

Lovely hubby in his fleece hat :-)

The icy cold water wasnt stopping this beautiful swan from preening.

It was so graceful, silently gliding through the water.

This is looking over the Peat Moor, its mostly underwater today, but in the summer months you can walk over it.

The heathers poking their heads out of the snow to try and get a bit of the winter sunshine.

Not much snow here but the water was covered with ice.

Back towards the car park it was very slippy, frozen peat and wet squidgy snow!

When we got back home I couldn't resist a photo of our back garden, the sun was shining and making the snow glisten.  It's 6pm now and the temperature outside has dropped down to freezing and the snow has gone 'crusty' I think we are in for a cold night.  Time to snuggle down with a hot drink and those Christmas chocolates....yum...

Have a lovely evening and if its snowy and you have to go out please take care.

Love Karen xxx

Merry Christmas

 Thank you for all your lovely comments over the last year, I really appreciate your friendship, long may it continue.

Merry Christmas to you all.  I hope you have a wonderful time.

Love Karen xxx

Willows Christmas Collection for the Mayflower Animal Sanctuary

About a month ago my grandaughter Willow needed a bit of a project to do on the run up to Christmas and as her wider curriculum subject is Animal Appreciation I thought it would be nice if she spent time helping the local Mayflower Animal Sanctuary in her village.  As you have to be 16 to help out there i suggested she do a collection for 'Give a Cat and Dog a Christmas Dinner', her Mum got in touch with the centre to make sure it was ok for Willow to collect on their behalf.  Willow and her Mum designed a leaflet to put through letterboxes round the village with a collection date for donations on 20th December.  I helped by doing my own bit of collecting and some people donated cash for me to buy the food.  It was a resounding success, just look at this lot!!

An estate car full of food, blankets, clean towels, toys and treats. People were so generous and full of praise for Willows efforts.

We all trooped down to the Mayflower Animal Sanctuary in Austerfield yesterday for the handover. Jenny, the manager was astounded at how much had been donated and told Willow she was an amazing young lady.  We are all so very proud of her and I m sure the cats and dogs will be very grateful.  Happy Christmas to all the staff,  and to all the animals at the Sanctuary I hope you will get your forever home in the new year.

Today as a pre Christmas treat we took Willow to our favourite eatery, The Mayflower Bar and Eatery, Austerfield, they are renowned for large portions so we asked for three small ones and we were still stuffed full!

                                                            Well Done Willow! 

Thank you for popping by,

Take care

Karen xxx

Assorted Christmas makes

Yesterday was our Thimbles Christmas Tea Party and it was decided that we would all just make 1 card each and scatter them round the table so everyone got one each, it saved the problem of writing multiple cards and hoping they turned up to the party to receive them, a much better idea. This was mine, its a pattern I have used many times and its from Stitching Cards, if you fancy a go they have free downloads on their website.

This week I managed to get Willows cushion done to match the raggedy quilt I have made her for a Christmas present. The only bits of fabric I had left were scraps so I straightened them up joined them together and to add a bit of strength (because my seams were tiny), I backed it with wadding and a thin fabric, i did stitch in the ditch to quilt it and then made it into a cover with an envelope back in black fabric. I think its turned out better than I expected:-)

Today a spot of Christmas baking,  2 dozen mince pies, 1 dozen Lemon curd and a Cherry Pie, using canned filling from Aldi. I will do a bit more on Tuesday, I need to make hubby and my son a Cherry Cake and my Dad a Sugar free fruit cake.

Tomorrow is a day for delivering presents and having tea with our dear friends.

Time for a cuppa and to test those Mince Pies :-)

Back soon

Take care

Karen xxx

Pastry recipe for Twiggy.

250gm cold Butter cubed (because it's Christmas and I like the flavour. You could use block marg)

100gm cold Lard cubed

350gm SR Flour

350gm Plain Flour

100gm Caster Sugar.  Could use Icing sugar. I wanted a sweet pastry but you could miss this out.

Good pinch of salt

Enough cold water to make into a dough just soft enough to handle

Usual method of

Rub fats into flour until fine breadcrumbs, add sugar then add enough cold water to bring everything together, add just a tablespoon at a time.  Dont add too much or knead your pastry as this makes it tough. Rest for 10mins.  Roll out gently. Think opposite to making bread.  I baked mine at 180*c fan oven for 15-20 mins the pie about 40 -45 mins. Hope this helps xx

Doctors and Comfort Food

Thank you all so much for your concerns and good wishes, I knew I could rely on my lovely bloggy friends to cheer me up. Well, what a difference a day makes... 24 little hours......there is a song there somewhere:-)  Today I feel so much better, I had a rough and sweaty night but after a nice cooling shower and hair wash I started to feel 'human' again, Im hoping thats the worst of it over and it disappears as fast as it came. I will continue with the hot lemon and honey and the paracetamol for another couple of days as a precaution.

As I said yesterday, I had a Doctors appointment to see if he could fix my dry throat and tickly cough thats been recurring over the last 6 months, I had a quick look online last night and just about frightened myself to death! I hadn't seen this new Doctor before, he looked about 15 :-) but was very nice, I think he is the first english Doctor we have had at the local practice, he looked down my throat and had a really good listen to my chest, which was clear and after a few questions he thinks its either Postnasal  Drip or Reflux.  I have been given a Steroid Nasal Spray and some Lansoprazole, a months supply of each and I have to go back in 3 weeks to tell him how I feel before we can proceed further, I also have to go for a chest xray just to tick the box.  Lets hope I see some improvement quickly.

We had an early dinner tonight and comfort food and vitamins were called for

Sausage and Mushroom Pasta with crunchy salad.

It was a cheating dinner.... I used a jar of Aldi Roasted tomato and Mozzarella stir in sauce :-) with

3 leftover Lincolnshire sausages

4 sliced Mushrooms 

3 handfuls of dry Pasta cooked

It gave enough for 3 portions, so I can have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Time to make a cuppa.....Doctors orders!   He told me to drink plenty liquids :-)

Thank you once again for such lovely comments.

Karen xxx

Unwell

                                                           Google images.

Feeling unwell today :-(  up half the night coughing, shivering then too hot, not a happy bunny today.

Very quickly popped into town this morning to pick up some jeans, also called at the market for fruit and veggies, I need lots of extra vitamins just now to help shake off this cold before christmas. This afternoon I snuggled up on the sofa and went to sleep. I have rung the Doctors and have an appointment for tomorrow afternoon, I know there isn't much he can do for a cold but I have had a re curing dry throat and tickly cough for a while and its starting to worry me, lets hope its nothing to really worry about!

Time for hot lemon and paracetamol.

Take care

Karen xx

It's beginning to feel like Christmas.

The tree is up!!

Saturday morning was spent cleaning and washing paintwork, the furniture was moved and hoovered behind and everywhere was clean and sparkling.  Time to put up the tree :-). Hubby had been busy in the front garden clearing the creeper from the front of the bungalow in the morning and after lunch he went up into the loft and brought down the boxes of decorations.  Assembling the tree is a two man job and I like him to sort the plugs out for the lights, then I do the decorating, I like to do this by myself, I know where things go so he just lets me get on with it. All the boxes were put back into the loft and a quick hoover of all the bits soon got the lounge tidy again.  During the evening I finished writing all the cards and stuck stamps on ready for posting tomorrow.

This morning I made a Christmas present and wrapped a few up, I will finish that job tomorrow, just need a few bits and bobs.  My parents had invited us for Sunday lunch, it was delicious, why is it that food always tastes better when someone else has cooked it?   We came home stuffed full with 2 ready plated dinners for tomorrow, another no cooking day :-)

My daughter in law rang this afternoon to invite us to go with them to a Brass Band Concert at Harworth Church, it was a wonderful evening, they played lots of Christmas songs and carols and everyone had a jolly good sing.  There were refreshments of tea and coffee with hot mince pies during the interval included in the ticket price of £5:50 each.  We all thoroughly enjoyed it and it's finally started to feel like Christmas.  Lesley you missed a treat xx

Not sure what our plans are for tomorrow, we will decide in the morning.

Thank you for popping by.

Take care

Karen xxx

Christmas Lunch

Oh my, its been so windy here and the rain has been lashing down on and off all day, an altogether dark and dreary December day.  Thank goodness we were going out for lunch with our friends, its been Christmas Lunch day at our study centre and very nice it was too.  It was three courses of delicious homemade food, finished off with coffee and chocolate mint thins, the cost....£6 per person for as much as you could eat.

I still have lots of bits to do before the big day, still have cards to write and post and all the presents to wrap! I really need to get a shuffty on this weekend if I want to get the tree up! I might go shopping on Monday and get the last few bits, that will just leave the fresh veggies and fruit to buy, we dont go mad, its only a posh Sunday lunch with Crackers and a daft paper hat :-)

I will be out again tomorrow, its the Christmas Coffee Morning at the local Library, then a few of us are going to my friends for lunch before going on to our Thimbles group in the afternoon. So, thats my day sorted tomorrow, I just hope hubby is going to do the friday clean on his own......fat chance lol that will get done on Saturday instead :-)

Is everyone on target with their Christmas preparations or are you just bumbling along like me?

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my last few posts, I love reading them xx

Take care

Karen xx

Baby Seals

Just back from a weekend away with our dear friends, nothing exotic, just Skeggy Butlins :-) The Great British Folk Festival, not quite what we anticipated but very enjoyable. Good company, good food, good entertainment, and fair accomodation.

On the way home we called at Donna Nook to have a look at the baby seals, it was bitter cold so we all wrapped up warm and braved the windy east coast. It was worth every minute, what a privilege to be so close to such beautiful creatures, they definitely have the ahhh factor.  

Here's a few photos for you

Beautiful aren't they.  The warden said they had counted over 1,500 pups so far! 

Back tomorrow, the wind is howling down the chimney and its forecast heavy rain tonight.

Take care and stay warm

Karen xx

Christmas Fair

Yesterday i took part in the Misson Christmas Fair, our Thimbles group had a stall selling all our surplus makes and Christmas goodies.  We had a lovely few hours and we did quite well, although most folks were only buying small items there was a jolly atmosphere and lots of tea and mince pies were being consumed. For a small village I was surprised how many turned out to support the event. I didn't have much to sell, just a few bags and some decorations but next year I will be more prepared.

I sold all of these hanging decorations for £1 each.

All my cards sold at 50p each, these were left over from last year and .i wanted rid.

I also made some small stuffed owls but cant find the photo! Must have deleted it, I will look on my camera tomorrow see if its on there. 

Here it is

Sold for £2 each.

I made buns for the cake stall at £1:25 a box, they went like hot cakes! :-)

This was our stall, we could have done with lots more hanging space for all the bags, they weren't displayed to the full advantage but we had the biggest space!   Thats my friend Liz :-). I'm not sure how much we took between us but there was quite a bit in the tin at the end of the afternoon :-) I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Today we cleaned out the freezers and took note of whats in there.....lots!!  Then by lunchtime I had a really sickly migraine :-( this afternoon I have slept on the sofa in the dark until it passed, the headache is still lingering but I feel much better, I hope it's cleared by tomorrow. 

Its time for hot milk and a snuggly warm bed, hopefully I will manage to have a bit of a read too.

Take care

Karen xxx

Special Delivery.

Today is my Mum and Dads Diamond Wedding  Anniversary,  60 wonderful years. They recieved lots of lovely cards and flowers plus a telephone call from my Dads cousin in Toronto, but the cherry on the top was this special delivery from Buckingham Palace.

They were thrilled to bits!

Happy Diamond Anniversary Mum and Dad xxxx

We are having a big family celebration on Sunday. :-)

Love

Karen xx

Day out.

Yesterday was my Mums birthday, she was 81 years young, so today we took her and my Dad out for lunch. They like to go to the huge garden centre at Brigg, about 45 minutes drive, they have a lovely restaurant there so we knew we would have a nice lunch.

It was all trimmed up for Christmas and looked very festive, we browsed the gift section and had a quick look at the bookstall before heading out into the covered bit where the plants are. To our surprise we found a little stage set up with dancing musical bears! 

The music was all Christmas related and they were so funny!

Mum just had to have her photo taken with this great big bear!

After a good look round we headed off to the restaurant, it was very busy, but we quickly found a table and ordered our food......fish and chips...yummy!

They are very generous portions so we just had the smallest one and it was just enough, no one wanted dessert we were full up 

I couldn't resist taking a silly photo of my Dad with Christmas decorations as horns :-)

We had a lovely day, Mum bought some flower seeds, Dad some Lawn Feed and Weed, hubby some Winter screen wash and I bought 2 Christmas decorations, not a lot spent but we came home happy :-)

You probably can't see but my Mum fell and bumped her head bending over near the bathroom wall on Monday and has a bruise on her forehead and a black eye, she is ok now and laughing about it. Its been a busy day for them both, I bet they had a nap after we left them.

Shopping day tomorrow, I need to take my boots to the cobblers to have new soles and heels ready for the winter.

Do you have your shoes mended at the cobblers or just buy a new pair? 

Take care

Stay warm

Karen xxx