Preserving the bird...!

Well, it's done?  I've turned my left over turkey into turkey and bacon rillettes and turkey confit.  And half of the carcass is now being cooked to produce a soup base to which I shall add some of the meat and new fresh vegetables, for I do so love home made soup served with warm crusty bread.

I used some lovely new Kilner jars and a few of my ramekins for the preserved meat and an old stoneware marmalade pot for the cooked belly pork.  I'm not sure how I'll use this last item yet but there is sure to be a way.

It's simply ages since I've done such cooking and I'd forgotten how concentrated an effort it could  be, still it was all managed and, even the dear SO said it was all handled very well  indeed!

But that was only half of it, as you might well imagine, for the kitchen was pretty well sabotaged by cooking pots and utensils and saucepans and the hot smell of butter and meat but mostly the lard used to finally seal the contents in the jars and pots.  That was the worst aspect of the scenery.  Of course, most of us now have not generally cooked with lard for quite a long spell and the once well-known and pungent smell, rather assaulted the senses.  I really had entirely forgotten the sensation and it was all rather shocking.

However, after liberal application of hot water, elbow grease and cleaning fluid, my kitchen was restored to its usual state of good order, and all was finally well again!!

We shall have to wait for at least a week to try one of the pots of rillette, with warm crusty bread and perhaps a pickled walnut or some red cabbage, and a glass of red wine, which will be something to look forward too.

And then I'll let you know how it was?

And here's some lovely roses and lilies sent to me by my children and aren't they just gorgeous, and seen to perfection here against my red gingham cafe  curtains?

My kitchen is all pine and cream and the scarlet just lifted the whole area into another entity altogether.

Red, and this particular scarlet,  has long been a firm favourite, worn as Laura Ashley dresses, wraps and scarves and, somehow, I've always felt the shade conveyed an extra degree of brightness  and style to any occasion, and indeed, the happy wearer.

Daisy

Turkey-bites!

Oh my, our lovely turkey was delicious...what's more, we now have quite a large amount of turkey meat to eat up, and soon, and without recourse to our small freezer!

It's my belief that cooked turkey meat should be fit to be turned into a confit item and preserved in a Kilner preserving jar, and stored in a cool place until ready to be used for all sorts of dishes.

So I have my turkey and some butter and oil, a few onions, carrots, plus some other ingredients such as black peppercorns, a bay leaf or two, sea salt and...........well, we shall see when I get going.

I think I'll cook my vegetables and spices in a good mix of olive oil and butter, a gentle saute, until the mix has gently collapsed and then I think I'll strain the hot fat over the meat, leave it to cool and then spoon the mixture into warmed preserving jars.

Then water bath my filled jars for the required time.

I think the mix will be delicious which I shall use in all kinds of different ways!

Happy cooking.....

Daisy

Festive After-glow

Well, that was fun, hey, and more than that, absolutely lovely to be with the Family at this time, for where else would one be by choice?

Television has not been absolutely  brilliant but flashes of inspiration and good humour and good timing have been available and things have been recorded for future watching, so all bodes well for all futures.

Christmas is a wonderful season but it can be difficult in all kinds of ways, for many people.  We have such high expectations of The Day, itself, let alone the rest of the holiday period so it's hardly surprising things fail to come up to our ideals.  The build-up begins too early and the crescendo hits us at our lowest ebb, when we're sure we'll not get everything done in time, so much so, we believe our own worst fears.

And of course, the shopping is a huge chore, especially if it has to be left to the last minute, so for those poor souls, that's the nightmare of the season.  Luckily most folk are able to organise their needs and wants to a higher level, and cope well with demands on their time and, quite frankly, if you do find you've forgotten something, its probably too late to do anything about it anyway, and you'll probably cope without whatever it was you'd forgotten!

I noticed our television chefs were all very keen on telling their viewers to prepare things early, as much as possible well in advance, to save that awful last minute hassle, endeavouring perfection for each and every Brussels sprout and every pig in blanket ever attempted.

So I do hope your Christmas was as super as mine was and you loved being with your family, and you're now still talking to each other and if you are, well done.  If not, forgive yourself and your loved ones, and keep in touch, and things will be well, in due time.

Daisy

Christmas count down, day one

It's late afternoon on Christmas Eve and we're all gently mellowing into the festive season.

The family are busy in the kitchen making more mince pies and some yummy-looking chocolate crunchy things.  Thankfully the boiler has now been mended, which means we shall have both hot water and warmth, for their engineer came today to fix it, and now it works again.

We had the leg of lamb for lunch, roasted to perfection, and with Yorkshire Puddings, roast vegetables and gravy, we had a glorious lunch; followed by cheese and biscuits, dried figs and dates and sugared ginger, plus wine and coffee and chocolates! I think we've got off to a jolly good start?

A nice afternoon of family activities then before bath time, we hang the boys stockings by the fireplace,  putting out a mince pie and glass of sherry for Father Christmas and a carrot for Rudolph. Traditional pleasures to be enjoyed and repeated throughout our children's' lives, they enrich and cultivate deep emotional feelings for childhood's golden age, to be held dear by the grown-up child.

Modern childhood can be so short a state in today's society, with little tots of three year's old, going on thirteen, kitted out in modish style, with their play-phones, jewellery and precocious ways.  Or for those destined to be part of their world's particular war-torn state, harsh drought conditions, disease or homelessness

Let children be children for as long as possible, whenever possible; and for those forced into adulthood before-time, sympathy and empathy and practical assistance, to help them cope with the world they're forced to live in.

We're having a very quiet evening with just a small supper for we've eaten very well today.  Tomorrow will begin early and be noisy and exciting all day long, for all of us, grown-ups and children alike, and it will be glorious.  A day to treasure all year long.

May all of you enjoy a truly memorable and magical Christmas Day, wherever you are, and with whom you are with.


Merry Christmas

Daisy

Don't you just love...........?

shopping, especially with your best loyalty card?  This was me today, shopping in Sainsbury's, for our Christmas food; buying the favourite pickled walnuts, crisps and snacks, mince pies and Battenberg cake.

And onto Boots the chemists, for holiday bits and pieces for my sponge bag and a bright pink shower cap, just for fun.  Then onto Cargo Home Stores for some special fun Christmas presents and....did you guess, they presented me with their loyalty card; what points will I get from my purchases in 2013?

A neat and tidy house, with knick-knacks under control, everything in its place and a place for everything to be stored in?

My shopping trip  also garnered wicker laundry baskets, two plastic laundry tubs, a towel rail and a wall storage unit for the bathroom and some rather cute hooks and decorative heart shapes for the kitchen.

I had hoped to buy new net curtains for the sitting room but I simply ran out of time but managed to find a new bright red dustpan and brush which I hope will be more efficient than the one we already had, which annoyingly, allowed dust particles to escape and remain on the floor!

Housework - a necessary chore we can never escape, so good tools are essential.

A few Christmas cards to hand deliver, then home to wrap up the last presents, supper with TV and then preparations for going away for Christmas with my daughter and her lovely family.

Phew!

And tomorrow a family party on my way to London....it's going to be a busy day.  Rain is forecast, and heavy in the West Country and elsewhere,  and folk are being warned about unnecessary travel, so things could be difficult for many,  Hopefully my drive will be OK but I'll take a flask of hot coffee and things like my torch, a small rug and boots, just in case of problems; you know, just in case of an emergency.  You can never tell what might occur?

And I must take my computer and camera, the turkey and lamb joint, fresh country eggs and, oh joy, my special treat - Croissants for holiday breakfasts!!!

Hey ho, bedtime I think???

Daisy xxx

Boxes.....

Still unpacking, sorting, some emptying but more than not, searching, re-sealing and finding somewhere to put the newly re-sealed, re-numbered and sorted box.   And luckily , the dear SO has been putting up shelves in the second bedroom for the boxes, which gives us a greater carpet space to walk on and Hoover.

And with the newly created floor space, we were able to tidy up His collection of pictures, enabling me to get to my Welsh dresser and its cupboard space, only to find the space was completely taken up with sheets, pillow cases and duvet covers, plus a few odds and ends.

Now the dear man has a clever device to squash into plastic bags, extra material household items, which wonderfully reduces another pile of things into a better manageable size and shape and thus things are getting sorted and organised and tidied up....Phew!!

The downside of unpacking was the discovery of broken kitchen items, scratched furniture and the non-discovery, so far, of the family chess board which my son is particularly anxious for me to find.

On the upside, however, I've rediscovered a rather good leather satchel-handbag I'd forgotten owning, my son's first collection of stones found on an early geological field trip, and still bearing scraps of the identification labels he'd so laboriously attached, favourite books and an entire box of shoe polishes, dusters and Marigold gloves.  Plus two feather dusters.

Life is full of odd mixtures of things, isn't it?

And boxes cleared and re-settled certainly give ones spatial awareness a boost and a lift to the senses!
I'm terribly good at gathering stuff and clutter which, becoming important to me, is awfully difficult to clear.  And what I've found, when you do dispose of things, it's an almost sure-fire certainty that five minutes later, or sometimes days, you'll be absolutely needing the very thing you've only just thrown out.  And more spending!!!

Our Christmas tree is almost dressed, the presents are almost all wrapped up and my cards sent and all we have to do now is a little more food shopping and then we're ready for our Christmas festivities, which is just great.

I hope you too are ready for however and wherever you will be spending the Christmas season and, gathered together with family and friends, will enjoy a happy and peaceful few days.

Goodnight,

Daisy

Awareness, spatial or not...!

Parking....why is it that sometimes one can't?  Out shopping today, meeting a girlfriend who was waiting to give me a book, mine which she'd borrowed for our book club, and I was trying to park..

So I parked, and then realised my car was skewed and trying to straighten it, I realised things were getting worse.

So what did I do, I locked my car and walked away.  And it was only a little bit skew-whiff, so I left it and just hoped it would all work out well for my car by the time I got back to it; when I'd done my shopping, after seeing my girlfriend, and when the owner of the car next to mine had driven away.

There was plenty of space for the other car to drive away and I just didn't want to make things worse.

The more I drive I now realise how easy it is not to be perfect and to make mistakes or to just get it wrong.

According to my dictionary and research, spatial awareness is a person's ability to fix their position with that of things close by.

Now you standing anywhere can easily see how external things correspond with yourself but it's my contention that, put into an external thing, like a car say, then what you have is a body within a box, trying to manoeuvre both objects as one thing, within the sphere of another spatial notion.

We all want our own space to develop ourselves and grow but movement can be tricky, at the best of times, and today was not the best of time for me.  So I stepped away from a situation I put myself into today and actually think I grew a little bit, which is kinda pleasing.

I shall do better next time.

Daisy

Time.....

is running away with me.  I wrote all my Christmas cards on Sunday, and now I've heard from someone I've not sent one to, so I must  buy more tomorrow.

And I've still one more family present to buy, and a few little things for the dear SO, and I need to buy a planter dish to stand our Christmas tree on.

Then I need to dash off to the butcher to buy a leg of lamb, festive foodie items for the turkey He is going to cook when I'm away...and the lights for the tree have still to arrive.

And the flat is still knee deep in packing boxes, there are piles of books to be sorted out, and some given away and I'm aching with all the exercising dog activities I'm doing to get myself energised for our forthcoming hectic family get-together.

Not to mention the chocolates I need to wrap up for my sisters!!

phew ....Christmas ...don't you just love it???

Daisy

Mince Pies

"'Tis the season to be eating mince pies".....

And don't we just love to but...if you have any problem with wheat gluten, such eating will be hazardous.

I remember trying so hard to produce a good gluten free mince pie but, pastry without gluten is just hard and unpleasant.  So in the end I gave up trying and used a Pate Sucre or sugar paste and simply restricted my consumption; or rather made tiny cocktail sized pies which made it possible for me to eat more!  I have to admit to being rather greedy for mince pies well, I mean, they're so delicious and more-ish, how can one resist them.

In one busy working kitchen, when I was required to bake several hundred pies each year, it was my chore to watch over my newly-baked pies to make sure not too many disappeared, for freshly baked mince pies are just so tempting!  My then boss was most particular that I should bake, cool and store as quickly as possible - and I was making hundreds!!!

So last Saturday I treated myself to some gluten free mince pies,  hoping they would be delicious, and they were not.  A great pity for myself and for the very ardent and keen artisan bakers. Ah well, back to the drawing board.

My son and I had a smashing Skype and we too talked mince pies and pastry recipes, cutters and home made mincemeat and I was able to send him two of my special baking trays and some pastry cutters; and also some very tiny star cutters, a crimping tool for his Australian Cornish Pasties and a new orange  pastry brush, all of which I was able to find in my very good local kitchen equipment shop.

They also sell smashing Emma Bridgewater mugs,, which we all love!

Daisy

Settling in...

that's what we've been doing since my return from London!

Boxes and boxes of china and books (so many) and things; things stored away and some not quite recalled with any exactitude.  Like opening Christmas boxes for the home; rediscovering objects and precious stuff stashed away for the move from one home to another.  Stored against another day's coming, another  home-coming, a new place to make your home, create and enhance with favourite possessions and fill with your favourite people and share with love.

We're not there yet, well, not quite, and it will take a few more days before we can begin to feel at home, here in our new abode, as we did in our previous home, a large and enlarged family home.

So yes, we've down-sized, which means less housework to be done but then less space to move about in, which will take some time to become accustomed too.  Yet we will.  It's nice inside, with all our favourite goodies about us, and with less time used up by chores there's more time for writing and reading, walking Alice and generally doing the things we've both put aside for family commitments.

All will be well, in due time, and the spirit of Christmas will certainly take hold, within and without, and life will be OK again.

And the view from our kitchen window.....I'm just longing to see our tree dressed in snow, very soon now!

Cheery-bye

Daisy

Granny's Grumble...

Pushchairs!!!

They seem to be so tricky to manage.  Almost impossible.  So I've practised hard these last two days to get a hold on things and I'm happy to report I now can.  But oh gosh, it's been a struggle!

Every lever,  clip and device is so stiff and difficult to manoeuvre and it's a matter of brute force to get the thing together, let alone use the foot brake with any ease!

Of course, our grown-up children use them daily and know all about their kids pushchairs and their little ways, and very kindly tell us how to work them, but it's not until you simply have to work the chair yourself, that you begin to master its difficulties.

Brute force and common sense, that's it.

Humour is such a redeeming tool, don't you agree?

Daisy

Guess what......?

I've just seen a fox in the garden!  I was standing by the opened 'fridge when, freezing on the spot, found a fox staring hard at me thru' the patio door.  Bright black eyes scanned the interior as I held my breath, waiting to see what he would do next, wishing him not to run away.  He was very lean and his brush quite deflated and he was obviously cold and hungry, desperately looking for food.  He moved away from the window out of my sight and I thought I'd lost him.

I crept cautiously towards the door and there he was, pacing about the patio, past the window again, onto the grass, looking carefully about and sniffing the cold breeze.  He raised his head towards the sky, seeking direction perhaps or scanning the clouds for snowflakes, for it was so cold.

Then, with a sudden leap, he was onto the garden seat and focusing on the fence, and with one graceful bound he was up and over, and away.

My visitor had departed and of course, my camera had not been to hand.  What a stunning photo that would have made and, what's more, it would have looked good beside the  photo of the strutting pheasant taken by the dear SO in his garden!

I know the urban fox is well documented but isn't it exciting when you see him for yourself, in your own space?

Daisy

Sunday, sweet Sunday...

A smashing day which had a somewhat unfortunate start in that I woke up very suddenly at 5.15 worrying about facts and figures and things not quite organised!!

Such as Christmas shopping, our monthly accounting and a list as long as two arms, of chores still to be organised and done before Christmas, notwithstanding the fact that I'm going away again to London tomorrow afternoon.  This time I'll be supporting my daughter and my darling grandchildren while my son-in-law is away on business, and mostly doing the morning and afternoon nursery run, keeping things running smoothly for all the family and trying to sort out my blogging facility; making it more user-friendly, accessible, colourful and connective.

Wish me luck?

Now today, my sweet Sunday.  After my too early wake-up, I returned to sleep-mode and enjoyed two peculiar dreams which, now I come to think of them, find they have simply evaporated from my mind!  But let me assure you, they were very fascinating, while they ran amok through my sub-conscious entity!

Finally when I awoke at a sensible hour at 8.20 am, I catapulted myself into action because I'd promised to attend church in our previous home village a few miles away, and my hair had to be washed.  Now I simply hate washing my hair because when I do, it often looks awful for a few days, nice for two days, and then it begins to look awful again and in dire need of more shampoo and conditioner, and to be dried, dressed and finished off!  Phew!

So taking myself firmly in hand, I dived into the shower and did what was necessary and suddenly it was 9.20 am and I needed to get going; and rather surprisingly, to me at any rate, I thought I looked quite presentable!!

And I did get to church on time, and the Service was very enjoyable, and I was very pleased to be in church.
It's something I do because I like to do it, and I'm telling you that I go to church, because that's what I like to do, in my life.  I truly believe ones religious identity is a personal and innermost conscious decision, based on family background, history and connections with the world one has been immersed in since birth.  It's an own fact and that's that.

After church I called on friends to deliver a birthday present and stayed for breakfast with them - mmmmm lovely hot porridge and coffee and much good chatting and laughter; plus an invitation to their grandson's third birthday tea party later on, which was most agreeable.  Now I'm really being very careful NOT to eat too much, and certainly no chocolate or cake, before Christmas time, you know, to give myself a little breathing space before the glory of the season's festive food bursts upon us all, and we surrender to its potent persuasion!

Dashing home to carry on with my determined efforts to sort out my boxed possessions brought out of our store place yesterday, I managed to do some good work before changing and hurrying off with Alice, much to her absolute delight, to rejoin my friends and their family.  And I decided to wear a new skirt, just to remind myself and everyone else, that I do indeed have legs; for you see, I am now so very often in trousers, one does sort of forget about ones legs, clad in a variety of different fabrics, even jeans, and totally hidden from view!!

Well, the tea, party was a delight  and we gave the birthday boy a teddy bear and to his new baby twin sisters, each one a teddy bear; one called Marmaduke and the other, Henry.  Now all these bears had originally belonged to me and won at festive work functions and had languished, until recently, in store boxes with my other belongings, whilst we searched, bought and renovated our new home.  And regretfully I decided that I really must find new homes for my lovely bears because they totally deserved to be cherished and loved by new owners.  It's as if I'm almost becoming a a recycling-bear facility, for I've already given two bears to new homes, and I still have another two bears to give away.  One is going to my youngest grandson, and then I'll have just one more to give to another new owner.  I just seem to collect teddy bears somehow, don't you?

Well we stayed rather  longer than intended, for I was allowed to feed one of the twins, and oh my goodness, they are absolutely perfect in every way, and utterly adorable.  Tearing ourselves away, we arrived home with time to continue my box sort out, walk Alice, sample a smashing home-made vegetarian Lasagne  made by the dear SO's son, do my accounting and....write up my busy day's activities!!

And now it's bedtime....goodnight,

Daisy

PS - in my younger days, I was always in frocks, and often Laura Ashley, which was so very nice.
And going out without having eaten breakfast....well, there simply wasn't time to eat anything at all, which is not a thing  I usually allow to happen.  But, well, today, it did just happen!

Ironing....and who does it? Do you??

Well, I do sometimes, and actually much more than my daughter, who loves to iron her duvet covers and pillowcases.  A girlfriend only irons cuffs and collars of her shirts, I mean the bits which show, and of course, all of her husband's clothes; but very, very quickly, so that she doesn't use too much electricity.

They are terribly conscious of not ever using too much energy for household things and always use their washing machine and dishwasher at night time to catch the Economy 7 rate, and I applaud their efforts to be cost effective.  However, even though my friend irons very quickly, she still manages to make the finished item look beautifully smooth and finished to perfection.  She also has an absolutely wonderful steam iron and a very wide ironing board, neither of which I currently possess.

Now my daughter actually has some of her ironing done each week by her cleaning lady, because both she and my son-in-law work have very busy jobs,  and I think it's mostly my son-in-law's shirts which are done, and possibly some of my daughter's work shirts too,  the duvet covers and pillowcases.  Of course, with today's modern fabrics and advances in technology. many clothes don't require ironing, being washed and tumbled dried almost to perfection, which is a great boon to many of us; especially those of us who have to  "do" for themselves, so as to speak, or who simply cannot bear to wear non-ironed items of clothing.  Like me!  I simply cannot stand wearing clothes which are wrinkled and creased.

Unless of course, one is wearing seersucker fabric made into shirts and children's' frocks, but I think I'm being a little old-fashioned, suggesting still the use of this particular cloth, as I'm not sure if it's still used.  Of course, I do know they can now use certain chemicals to produce a wrinkled finished product, and I've heard that the use of this chemical can produce very unpleasant side-effects for the workers involved in its production.  So perhaps fashionably wrinkled clothes are not really on?

So ironing is either a chore you love or hate.  Some people earn an income from its activity and another girlfriend of mine did just that; even I, in my younger, yummy mummy days, succumbed to the temptation of home enterprise earnings by ironing for others.  But not for long, oh no, not me, just too much hard work, and the deadline, just too inconvenient for family life.  Then another lady I know absolutely refused to do any ironing at all, even for her children, and now her son positively ridicules my sometime, passionate determination, to have beautifully smooth and wrinkle-free garments to wear.

So there you have it, or not, as the question goes.  To iron, or not to iron, is the question I have in mind right now, and it would be absolutely splendid to hear from you, or anyone out there, just what you think about the pressing matter of crumpled clothes?

Happy steaming........Daisy

Friday again...

Another week almost done and everyone's looking forward to the weekend.  I've loved being in London with my family, and taking care of my youngest grandchild has been pure joy.  Poor little darling still has conjunctivitis so his mummy and daddy will take him to their local walk-in surgery tomorrow morning, for he should be better by now.   It's so contagious and thus so easily spread from one eye to the other eye; it's a real problem for little ones who simply hate having their eyes washed out, and drops are a perfect nightmare for them.

And snow this week, the first of the season for London but none in Oxfordshire the other day; in fact they had a bright crisp and sunny day.

It's raining right now and windy but we're going out for a little walk soon for I simply have to get out for some exercise, and my little grandson is cooing to himself in his cot which is a good sign.  He's slept for about an hour in the mornings until today, so I think he is getting better, hurrah!

I shall go home this evening for tomorrow morning there's more clearing out of our store unit to be done.  We still have many boxes and books to bring home, plus my Welsh dresser and even more clothes, which I really need to have with me.

Doesn't it take simply ages to get oneself organised and properly set-up in a new home?  Hopefully by next weekend I shall be more at home with myself??

And as Christmas is almost upon us, that's a good idea, hey?  Of course, the trouble with getting most presents wrapped up in November somehow makes it harder to get on with the second wave, and the cards too, which often get left until it's almost too late for them to reach their destination before Christmas Eve.  It's puzzling, like living near somewhere, yet always being late!

Now it's Saturday morning, I'm back home, having driven back last night; but I nearly didn't, and this Post has not been published?  And Friday has whizzed past.  It was a lovely busy day, looking after my youngest grandson, taking him to see the family doctor and playing with him in the afternoon; after lunch and his post-nap snooze.  Then I finally decided I must  drive home rather than Saturday morning, for there are many things to do this weekend - more settling in, you understand.  The drive home would be exciting for I'm still new to London driving, and it's like a new experience every drive; the journey is never the same, and I do so love driving! It's sooooooo thrilling and I have masses of opportunities to catch up with.  My only worry about going was getting my car out of the wonderfully small space my dear son-in-law had manoeuvred my Mazda into earlier in the week, and he was off to a post-work leaving-do  Now I am getting better at this parking lark but the only empty space opposite their house was, to my way of thinking, just a little too small and frankly I was scared stiff of bumping into the cars in front and behind of me as I endeavoured to fit into the available space.  So what did I do, well I chickened-out and my dear son-in-law parked for me?  A brilliant solution it was, until of course, I had to leave!!

In the end, it was not a problem driving away, for the owner of the car that had been in front, had obviously decided he needed to be elsewhere, and his removal left a few more inches for me to use and, hey presto, I was able to extricate myself, all by myself!  And the homeward journey was perfectly trouble-free, if a little windy in places which caused me to slow down, for my little car very easily and freely moves sideways in the wake of a good stiff wind.  Ah well, I like to vary my speed and to move across into the slowest lane for a while is very conducive to my peace of mind.  I do like speed driving but being a fairly new driver, I'm very conscious of the effect this forward motion has on me!

So here I am, at my keyboard again, and eating my breakfast with regular milk instead of my lacto-free milk which, in the rush to leave London, I left behind.  Bother, must go shopping after we've gone to the auction where I'm hoping to find a shelf unit or small coffee table.

And the ironing needs doing!!!

Cheerio
Daisy
ps have you seen my extra pages?

Off to London again....

well, we did construct my Ikea wardrobe again today, at least most of it, now just the doors, two more drawers and more shelving to add; which should all be in place tomorrow - hopefully?

And of course, I've already hung up and folded up all or most of my coats, jackets, frocks, trousers and woollen, and things, into the waiting spaces and we'll collect and empty out my travelling cardboard wardrobe later on this week - and then all my wardrobe items will be gathered together again

Our book club meeting was great for we were discussing Charles Dickens and then reading our favourite portions from his various books.  So a most enjoyable and jolly evening which we kicked off with glasses of mulled  wine - delicious and so in season. Ho ho ho!

I'm off again tomorrow to look after my youngest grandchild who now also has conjunctivitis and we're all hoping he will have recovered before the end of the week and be able to go to nursery on Friday, for I've booked onto another walking tour of London, to view some of her City churches, which will be most fascinating to visit.  So I'm keeping my fingers tightly crossed that my darling grandson will be well enough to go to nursery on Friday?

Have you noticed my new look blog which I hope you like.  I think there's a missing link for you to use which I've not set up yet, which should enable you to comment on my content; I shall hope to sort this out soon.

And I want to add some pictures and other bits and bobs too so keeping watching this space, won't you?

Also, I had a double-negative in my notes recently - did you spot it - what a blunder!  Must be more aware of what I'm trying to say, hey!

Good night,

Daisy

Now where was I???

Ah yes, I was telling you all about my week.......OK so I've got on this walking tour of some of the churches of the City of London which I'm sure is going to be jolly interesting.  It was such a last minute booking - I was reading the previous weekend's Daily Telegraph, as you do, and the author was describing  this tour and absolutely on the off-chance I contacted the tour guide and, unbelievably, she said - "join us" !!!

And the tour is this coming Friday, so that means I can't see my girlfriend this week either; she can only be in town on Friday.  The dear girl doesn't drive, well, even I only learnt to drive two years ago; so she has to rely on her friend to get her to town.  And you know, I'm still meeting young women who cannot drive which saddens but not really surprises me, for it takes an awful lot of determination and effort to keep going out in your little car, with a good friend or instructor beside you, to get the necessary skills.  My dear SO was absolutely brilliant and my driving instructor very patient and helpful.  I was also able to drive into Oxford every  day which meant I had a great deal of driving experience before I took my test.  Phew, was I glad to pass that day?

Today, ah today, well a good walk on a nearby airfield, with Alice capering about and sky-divers floating down through the crisp morning air.  Do you know, they squeeze ten people into a small plane before soaring  high up into the atmosphere and disgorging them over the fields below.  And one chap was obviously making his descent last as long as he possibly could, and I bet once you get over the initial horror of falling out into a huge open space, it must be an enormously thrilling experience - floating downwards from the high blue yonder?  Somehow I don't imagine it's something I'm probably not going to try!

Then it was the dear SO's daughter's birthday and she wanted to visit a nearby Christmas market, so off we went and I think the cold weather must have kept stallholders away, for it was all rather quiet.  Luckily a chap was selling scrumptious toasties, which we eagerly sampled before we visited this super French Bistro, and here we  fell on a mix of ham and cheese baguettes, leek soup and chocolate eclairs, and mugs of hot latte, of course!

Now quite stupidly of me I'd left my 'phone at home and so missed an important call; and getting into the car earlier I  dropped my favourite woollen hat, that I didn't notice until we returned from our walk by which time it had disappeared - goodness knows where - so disappointing, for a good friend had given it to me for a birthday present many years ago - oh dear!

And I still had plants for a friends garden to put in, when we  returned home, by which time it was very cold and quite dark - almost gardening by moonlight, hey?  Goodness knows how many times I had to do this when my children were little?  And of course, the earth was frozen and I still had not enough  compost to bed in the plants,  so will have to finish things off next week.

Ah but to morrow, tomorrow, we shall build my wardrobe and tidy my desk and possibly even do some of my ironing; it's good to get settled in - nesting I think it's called, and I'm all for it.  What say you?

Daisy xxx

Are we really here.......?

Well I guess so, but it doesn't really feel like it yet.

Three weeks in and I still don't have my wardrobe up, so my clothes are still hanging about in suit and dress carriers and my shoes are in boxes beneath the bed.  Now my wardrobe is a huge Ikea model with different hanging areas, wire baskets and wooden sliding drawers beneath a middle section for hanging shorter items.

I can even store linen and towels if I need too, which is super - everything  in one huge space.  But, it's not here yet, so my daily life is almost on hold.  The ironing has not been done, for there's nowhere to store it carefully, and I can 't find anything.

You see, the dear SO has been recovering from the kitchen build - resting you see - and last week I was in London with my daughter and her family, one of whom was suffering with an attack of conjunctivitis; and when I returned, there was paperwork to be dealt with.  I had intended to visit a girlfriend in Sussex but had to postpone that, for various reasons, and now I cannot see her this week for somehow I've got myself onto another City tour of London this coming Friday.  I simply didn't think I