A Sunday Treat

This is the last but not least member of my family to appear. With eyes glued firmly on the telly although goodness knows what he finds to watch that isn't either a repeat or football!!!! Anyway, I have a very short attention span so the somewhat dubious delights of the small screen very rarely appeals to me. So I did what I usually do on a Sunday afternoon. Install myself in the kitchen and create. I don't know about anyone else but after all that Chrismas food it's difficult to know what to eat but I thought a quiche might go down rather well.

Plus a glass of wine maybe. I love the idea of jewellery for a wine bottle.

Leeks, smoked bacon and good flavoured Cheddar cheese went into this.

A jacket potato and some simple salad completed the meal.

Time to go and check out the evenings' offerings on the telly now, I wonder if I might just find something worth watching?

Bye for now,

Sandi x

The Snow Fairy

We didn't have any snow here this Christmas, no surprise there then. The only thing to do is invite the Snow Fairy in and ask her to sprinkle some of her special snow around. She kindly obliged and I took some photo's.

Here she is at work.

The vintage fairy looked on with great interest.

She even sprinkled snow over my book.........

.......and some of my Christmas gifts, but I think they look quite pretty under a layer of sparkling iridescence.

This escaped her attention but I think it has its own snow white beauty.

Time for tea now but unfortunately the tea fairy isn't around so I will have to put the kettle on myself.

Bye for now,

Sandi x

Blowing Away Cobwebs

Well here's a first. A (much too close up for comfort) snapshot of yours truly quaffing a large glass of Bailey's. I must be feeling reasonably relaxed to actually put this photo on, but what the heck. It will be a reminder of a really enjoyable Christmas Day. It is nice to put a face to a name anyway. I hope you all enjoyed your festivities too. As usual, we did plenty of drinking, not all of it alcoholic mind, I do love my cups of tea.....

a reasonable amount of lazing around..........

and a lot of eating. The sherry trifle was particularly enjoyed by all. So after all this excess there is only one thing to do.

Go for a long walk to blow away the cobwebs. This is a beautiful area called The Long Mynd in Shropshire. It certainly did the trick, it was extremely windy up there in the hills.

Good gracious, another picture of me in the same post. What is my world coming to!!!! Despite being well and truly wrapped up I was still rather cold.

Still, it was worth it. Enjoy the rest of the photo's.

Bye for now,
Sandi x

Has He Been Yet?

We always like to leave a treat for Santa and the reindeers.

Such a very busy evening for them.

A nice bunch of mistletoe bought from the market.

Home made Christmas cookies and rum truffles.

Chocolate russian dolls.

The stockings are ready and waiting.

The tree is decorated. And yes - there are gifts under the tree.

Lots and lots of them.

Prettily packaged.

Has he been yet?

Yes he has!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas

Warmest wishes to you all and I hope you have a very merry Christmas. Peace, Joy and Happiness.

Comforting Food

These Clementines looks so cheerful and bright on this dark and chilly winters day. I love the glossy leaves and to me they look like a bowl of edible Christmas baubles.

These lovely fresh vegetables also have their own kind of beauty and are destined to be made into a lovely country vegetable soup to tempt my family's appetite. When illness strikes the last thing anyone wants is food but once on the road to recovery the trick is to eat something which doesn't put too much strain on the digestion. So this afternoon, to the strains of classic Christmas music, I chopped and diced the vegetables into a huge pan, added stock and herbs and tinned tomatoes, then stirred and simmered until everything was tender and tasty.

Garnished with chopped, fresh parsley and eaten with good wholemeal bread this soup needs to be served in a generous bowl and is surprisingly filling.

Yum.......delicious.

Bye for now,

Hugs,

Sandi x

Winter Ills

All of my family are ill. First my son, then husband and daughter. I got my virus over and done with last week, but sadly it's their turn this last few days. Boo hoo. We were planning to get all the decorations down from the loft this weekend but the best laid plans..........We have bought a real tree this year and I have to say it is the smallest tree we have had for almost 30 years. Earlier in the summer we had a new sofa and chairs, two chairs replacing the previous one. As a result, the corner that was ideal for the floor to ceiling Christmas tree we usually have is now taken up with the extra chair. So we have had to buy a tiny tree that will stand on a coffee table.

This sweet little gold tinsel tree was a bargain from a charity shop this week. It is vintage and cost the grand sum of £1.00. My husband bought the tiny battery operated fairy lights to add the finishing touch.

This pretty jar is also a recent purchase from my favourite antiques centre in Church Stretton. I made the decoration from some old buttons.

When the house is full of invalids who don't really want food it is difficult to know what to cook. My husband asked for fish cakes, but not the frozen, ready made ones. Oh nooo, I'm talking home made with fresh fish, mixed with creamy mashed potato. Lightly seasoned with mace and parsley. Dipped in beaten egg and coated with bread crumbs. These are a real favourite and the least I could do in the face of all the illness surrounding me. Poor loves, I hope they all feel better soon.

Hope you are all managing to keep well at this very busy and often stressful time of the year.

Take care.

Hugs,

Sandi x

Happy Birthday

Today is my husband's birthday so I made him a chocolate cake. We have just enjoyed a lovely meal and some mulled wine, made by Zoe. I love to spend time at home with my family and David's birthday is the start of our Christmas. My mum and nephew also have December birthdays even nearer to Christmas Day and we try to get to see them around this time to take our cards and gifts for all the family.

Mulled wine is seriously potent and very pleasant!!!!!

Mmmmmmm...............

Zoe seems to be enjoying herself, taking a rest between preparations for the meal.

Happy Birthday to my dear husband and all the very best for the year ahead. Birthday wishes from Zoe and Dan and not forgetting sweet Dante who sends woofs and licks to you.

Hope that you enjoyed your special day.

Hugs and kisses,

Sandi xxxxxxxxx