Happy New Year

It's New Years Eve and I've just got round to sorting out the Christmas photos. The weather is now very mild and amazingly, some of my roses are still flowering. Above is 'Mary Rose' an 'old english rose'. We have all had a nasty sick/tummy bug which is going around so haven't been anywhere over the holiday, not even to Church, so as not to spread the germs - a quiet time, very little cooking but lots of book reading. As everyone knows, we love chocolate, and I can't believe how many chocolate goodies are lying unopened !! piles of it - I don't think the diet will be starting as planned on 1st January.

Winter Jasmine looking great on the fence

Spring is not far away - the bulbs are just peeping through

Christmas dinner table and below Santas been!!!!

Happy New Year !!

Christmas pie .....

I was so inspired by Gordon Ramsays recipe (Gordons Christmas Pie - BBC Good Food Magazine) that I just had to try it out. Then I read another recipe for a chocolate desert which contains not one, but two Terrys Dark Chocolate Oranges, Grand Marnier and loads of double cream - I've bought the two choc oranges, but will try to wait until Christmas to make it!!As well as eight hard boiled eggs, it contained a fillet of pork, a pound of pork sausages, a tin of lean ham. a chicken breast and a small onion, all wrapped in a hot-water-crust pastry. I served it for tea on Sunday and it had almost disappeared by bed time!! I will be making this again between Christmas and New Year.

We really enjoyed the Rat Pack concert on Saturday night - here I am with my little sister Jackie during the interval. Dean, Frank and Sammy D. Jr almost sounded better than the real thing, and yes, they did sing loads of Christmas songs - excellent.

ps The missing Santa tree ornament has still not turned up ..... oh dear, I think he's run off with Jaki's (Australia) bird ornaments - she's can't find her box of six!!

The first snow of winter ........

Saturday 8th December and we've got the first snow of winter! The weather men have promised snow in the past few weeks, but it keeps missing us out. It's very wet snow, but is just starting to show on the grass in the garden. The red geraniums up on the deck are STILL flowering, even though we've had a number of frosty nights - amazing. It's very chilly, but the house is decorated for Christmas, the fire is cosy and warm, the bread is rising in the kitchen for tea and tonight we're going to the 'Rat Pack' show at the Sage in Gateshead with Jackie and Joanne - sure to have a great night and I hope whoever is singing Dean Martin songs includes 'Let it Snow'

The fireplace is decorated for Christmas

Christmas Tree 2007 - will try for a better photograph later in the week. We've been searching for a missing decoration this week. Andrea's Nana gave her 6 glass Santa Claus ornaments when she was a baby and five of them have been broken over the last 31 years. The remaining Santa lives in the china cabinet, inside the sugar basin of the Japanese tea set, to keep him safe and we all saw him there just a few weeks ago - however, he's completely disappeared!!