Bright Blessings....Welcome to the New Sun!

Bright Blessings....... the year is turning....what will this new sun bring?

Just look at the lovely pink glow of the sky... this was taken about 3.30pm... just as the sun was setting on the shortest day.

This is the view from my doorstep.... the 'tower' is an old windmill, now home to bats and owls...and the odd pig!

What have you been doing today?

Its been too cold to venture very far....so baking seemed a good warming occupation.

Pies for tea.

And Gingerbread biscuits.... I haven't got any 'shape' cutters, Gingerbread men and the like... I fancied a Christmas tree shape.... must lookout for some. One will turn up at the car boot sale ... everything you could possibly need turns up eventually.

A little more Yummy Treacle toffee.... for gifts.

This afternoon a surprise bunch of the most glorious Holly from a friend... I've never seen so many berries!

I wired it up into swags and pinned up above the beam with my lemons.

I gathered some together in this pot.....this seems to be a less 'spike-y' sort of Holly... so many berries.

Do you like my new chenille style tablecloth? Its just one of a pair of old curtains....but it looks the part....very festive.

So glad I got my stack of logs in....and they say we are in for more snow!

xx Take care xx bye for now xx

Snow Bound Bits Of This And That!

Well..... how are you all coping with the weather.... isn't it just beautiful! The sunshine on the snow this morning is just lovely.

Shame its such a pain too.... its okay so long as you don't have to go anywhere or do anything!

We have had a fair amount for Anglesey.... usually we get very little or miss out completely, but its had us 'snow bound'!

Our big 'useful' van we bought for carbooting is useless in the snow.... so we've had a few days mooching around at home.

Gave us time to appreciate the glorious spectacle....... the wonders of the snow, and care for our little birds. I've been putting lots of high energy foods out for them... peanuts and suet etc alongside their seed.

Mr Robin looked rather colourful and smart against the snow.

Its amazing how it sticks to everything..... coating everything in its path.



The back of the house must be a bit more sheltered, it seems a bit less snow-y.

I've started to think about Christmas..... not that we make a lot of it here. I think really we celebrate the season rather than the Christian aspect of it. We use it as a time to reflect on the year and spend time with each other..... gifts are are simple and often homemade.... a nice gentle time.




I managed to get some choccy treats made for presents..... always a winner.

On the thrifty/wholesome cooking front ..... its soup all the way!

My Girls... the chickens....need their warming 'mash' too, lots of nice veg peelings boiled up and mixed with a handful of porridge oats.

Ummm Yummy!

Not having a tree this year... I will only have a rooted one if I do have one, so that it has a chance of living on in the garden..... but they are so expensive I really couldn't justify the buying of something that was simply to be used for a few days.... and simply an ornament at that .... I know I sound a miserable Old Crone!! haha!

I would much rather have something that represents 'us' and our life here... a bit of greenery that we have grown in our garden... to celebrate our life and family.

I found some nice Holly.... buried under the snow! Gave it a shake off and together with some prunings of the Bay tree.... brought them inside.

Looking around the place for other natural materials......... I should have been more prepared and dried some seedheads from the garden .. but well .. I didn't! so I found a few dodgy looking lemons, sliced them up and dried them in the oven.

I found a jar of cinnamon sticks in the cupboard and some pretty, festive red ribbon.

Sat and watched an old film and strung them together.

They look rather festive hung along the beam of the inglenook.... and they smell good too!

I'm hoping we can get the van out today... provisions are running low.

xx Do take care in this slippy, slushy weather! xx

Keeping A Girl Occupied On A Winters Day!

Another cold day..... too cold for me to want to be out and about.

I've been quite happy pottering about the house.... bits and bats of jobs, and happy family to visit.

I eventually got the 'summer' lightweight curtains washed and ironed and put away ~ somewhere 'safe', ready for the sunshiny weather returning in Spring.

Lets hope I don't forget where the 'safe' place is... like I did with the last set of Winter curtains... and have forever lost, resulting in me having to make some more for this Winter!

Anyway not very exciting but its a job done....

Poor Hubby P has the most dreadful poorly chest..... yet off he went today to earn a crust, I think lots of us have coughs and colds....

What we need is something soothing, something to sooth the throat and warm the cockles.... I looked in the store cupboard to see what I had....

Uummmmmm.... the makings of Treacle Toffee!

I know its well past Bonfire Night when its traditionally made, but I am sure its really a

Winter-y sort of thing... got to be good for coughs and colds.

I just made two little toffee tins of the delightfully rich stuff .... full of proper ingredients like real butter and rich dark sugar, non of your nasties in good old Granny's toffee.

Although you 'score' it well it never breaks as it should does it!
So I put all the odd shapes in an old sandwich tin .... a kind of help yourself tin.

And wrapped the larger pieces in greaseproof paper .... these can be sneaked into a pocket when venturing outdoors in this chilly weather. I'm sure I will need a stash on Sunday when we go to the Carboot Sale.

A sweet little stash on the dresser!

And for Hubby P ..... coming in from a long cold day....

his absolute favorite...... Shepherds Pie!

xxx Take care for now xxx