dEAr diary ~ a bit of a ‘Crisis’

A really pleasant day today, the sun was shining, which is always encouraging, and I was looking forward to the Crisis at Christmas coffee morning at our local church to see all those friends from the village that I don’t see often enough.

I arrived early to avoid the crush and have a good look at the stalls – plants, home baking, pots of jams and chutney, books, crafts, cards, bric a brac and the customary Tombola.  There was a good turnout; plenty of hustle and bustle so I would think that they will raise well over the £3000 they reached last year for Crisis (Crisis is a charitable organisation who help the homeless to rebuild their lives and also provide a dinner and shelter at Christmas).  My selection bags had nearly all been sold by the time I left and most of the stalls were looking quite empty. I came away with a pack of sweet shop jars for £2.50 for Little L (who has asked Santa for a shop this year) and selected two books for a donation of £2 – they look brand new; the murder mystery one I will pass on to my mum when she visits – and The Winter Children I was attracted to by the title and I live in hope that I will find some time to read at Christmas.

I had a cup of tea, a home-baked cake and a natter, made a few promises to have a catch up and get together over the festive period and then came home.After lunch I spooned more brandy into the fruit for the cake (I might even need to buy another bottle), the lemons are reserved to make lemon curd.  The aroma in the kitchen is just lovely at this time of year it is certainly the best place to be and through the kitchen window I could see the birds scurrying around in the undergrowth and checking the bird feeders for peanuts which to their dismay were empty…so armed with seed, peanuts and a half coconut shell of fat I went outside to refill all the feeders. Apart from the cold it was quite pleasant in the garden and I stopped to take a few photos as there are one or two little pockets of colour here and there – the silvery leaves of the Honesty and the glorious bright red berries of the Cotoneaster, they almost glow in this grey winter light.Yesterday we had to go to B&Q for a piece of wood for DH to finish the shelving in the shed.  We have reused as much as we can from the old melamine wardrobe but he was short of an upright.  B&Q have started a waste wood bin like Ikea and you can take what you like for a small donation (Ikea is for free).  We were out of luck though as the wood in the waste bin was not a suitable size this time.

Whilst on the retail park I went to look around Home Bargains, a huge shed of a place, I don’t go very often but you can often find a bargain.  Amongst all the stuff piled floor to ceiling I spotted this – a small wooden letter rack painted white, can be wall hung and being quite shallow a perfect size – and only £2.49.  I bought one for my notice board in the kitchen to keep my Care Cards in (see HERE for new readers), and one for the laundry room to keep my washing instructions in.  I think I might go back for a third for the office so I can put the outgoing mail and cards in.  I know it says letters on it but this could be painted out.During the afternoon I spent some more time on designing my Christmas card – mostly playing around with ideas and sketches.  I think I might have a design at last and hope to start cutting the lino tomorrow after I have made the cake and lemon curd.

Tonight DH went to another of his concerts – the one last week must have been a prominent composer as it was attended by the BBC for a live broadcast.  He had to leave around tea time so cooked himself some of the fresh ravioli from a packet that only takes 3-4 minutes, while he was out I made a vegetable lasagne with green lentils which takes more like 40 -50 minutes but will cover two nights meals.  I don’t know about you but I am enjoying cooking and eating some of the hot meals that we haven’t eaten for a while.

More Christmas makes and bakes tomorrow…