Christmas Planning......Good intentions (yep I know the road to hell is paved with them...lol)

 Okay I'm always late ,,,,perennially late...habitually late...Alice in Wonderland late.... so let's see if in this very peculiar and far too interesting year ..if a little early planning might help? who knows and what the heck!

22nd November Stir Up Sunday

As it say's in wiki "Stir-up Sunday is an informal term in Anglican churches for the last Sunday before the season of Advent. It gets its name from the beginning of the collect for the day in the Book of Common Prayer, which begins with the words, "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people". But it has become associated with the custom of making the Christmas puddings on that day"

OK Stir up Sunday is the Sunday before Advent... so this year that's November the 22nd...

So check out the recipe....My Mum like Marguerite Patten recipe books and had these cards ...

 

and this is the recipe we made each year....I definitely recommend the addition of the carrot.

So it's gather the ingredients time and mark the calendar! 

Festive reading to go with this task...The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding by Agatha Christie and when I've reread that I'll think what to add to my list!

 

More to follow

Shall I compare thee to ......... an absolutely enormous Steller sea lion

On a day in a Summer of no long awaited trip to England...
No Camping ...at flippin all
A sprained ankle caused by the family dog being jumped by a Pit bull that scaled it's fence and tore across the park...it's all fun here
 I hasten to add that dog and self lived to tell the tale...dodgy few moments though ..when we found to our relief that although the Pitbull wanted to fight a dog ..it wasn't used to it's victim being embraced by a sitting down woman saying good dog enthusiastically ..the fact my glasses had fallen off so I was blind as a bat..and I was totally incapable of standing up at that moment made this just as well.
Much circling of embracing couple...fortunately after the initial attack the resulting cuddle  puzzled the pitbull .and whilst deciding what to do next the circling dog was retrieved by it's errant human ....never has "he's friendly" been more unconvincing.

Well we processed rather a lot to wood ...last load to go..who needs a gym?
Looking at the size of the pieces in the last load we may well need a physio or an ER...

Well back to the Sea lion. The dreaded it shall not be named pestilence has vaporized the tourist industry  here , so we, along with others set off to support the Sealife center in Seward ..a 2 1/2 hour drive but well worth it .We communed with Puffins, ducks, seals, octopus and lots of fish (we even saw Sea otters in the sea that washes up to the buildings a Lovely (masked and distanced) visit..

But we also saw the humongous resident Steller sea lion he's big!

Apparently they can reach 2,500 lbs... say no more and whilst engrossed in reading said information off the displays ...someone shortsighted...guess who? hadn't noticed that the floor beneath the signs was a built in scale...just so you can see how you compare with a sealion in the blubber stakes...

Well after a Summer of being rather too close to the Fridge apparently I could give the sealion a run for it's money.... not helped of course by the sneaky teenage foot that had joined me on the scale...

Much myopic peering at the flashing display catching the attention of the World....what is that ....

If there is a Guiness record for fastest scale leaping off ..I'm a contender...well the teenagers were amused.

Snaps of the outing....

Oddly no photo of the sealion ...would a selfie do?

When life gives you lemons....

Reread...

Carve her name with Pride by R.J.Minney
A biography of Violette Szabo (nee Bushall) Who was the daughter of a French mother and an English father who grew up between France and England.
 She was charming, brave, adventurous, loyal, tough and she  died bravely and  far too young after being captured by the Gestapo in France whilst on an operation for SOE.

I read this long ago ..it is an easy book to read and also a very hard book to read and probably wasn't the best choice in some ways for the moment because the loss of such a vital life is so sad.
Her behavior was so admirable and the contrast to the evil abroad was great.


I'm still enjoying "To War with Whitaker" a lighter War read.... if only because I know Hermione Ranfurly lived to be an old lady!


The sun is still shining and our ducks (Good quackers that they be) are still laying so after managing to buy a bag of gloriously shiny and beautifully lemon scented lemons I decided to make Mircrowave lemon curd and also two trays of Meringues....

Recipes...
Microwave Lemon curd.
4oz/1 stick/226g butter
grated rind & juice of 4 lemons
1 cup/198g sugar
8 egg yolks
large heatproof bowl
............
mix melted butter with lemon and sugar add egg yolks whisk
zap in microwave for 1 minute
whisk
zap for 1 min
whisk
zap for 1 min
whisk
keep going until mix is thick enough to coat back of a spoon and a thermometer registers at 185 degrees f
spoon into clean dry jars
cover, cool and store in the fridge
Result 3 pots of rich sunshine yellow, tangy and totally Yummy lemon curd.

Meringues
Beat/whisk the 8 egg whites till stiff
add 1 cup/198g sugar
and 1/4 tsp cream of tarter (if you have it)
Beat/whisk till stiff
spoon onto baking sheet
bake at 275 f of 2-3 hours

I was going to take a snap of these but the family (and I) didn't want them to risk going off so we ate them .....lol ...if one is hiding in the tin I'll take a snap.

On the neighborly  front  my neighbour who likes a good golden age mystery asked if I had "And then there were none" by Agatha Christie ...the answer was yes and no ... I have the green penguin with the original title and almost wrapped it's cover in brown paper when arranging a socially distanced hand over.
I also found my copy of Murder on the Orient Express which she hasn't read yet ..a much easier book to loan. We had a nice chat and she kindly sent our Guinea pigs some apples and then  retreated with the books and a pot of lemon curd.

Now I think it's a pot of tea and some tangy lemonness on toast.

The sun has started to shine...

Thank goodness the sun is breaking through and the difference it makes on my mood is striking.
Trying to do a reset from the strange surreal World we are drifting in now. I decided to watch some nonsense telly that appeals to no one else in the house.

 

Midsomer Murders ...not the greatest of plots but quite stuffed with familiar actors and I enjoyed the first couple. The quality of some acting shone past the plot weaknesses  Anna Massey comes to mind and Peter Jones and Roger Allam were highlights . I'm not too sure how many of these I'll watch but they snapped me out of a rather foggy maudlin blur.

Next the youngest daughter decided I should watch some Monty Python with her so we watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail squashed on the sofa with the dog curled up with us too.
It was very silly and rather fun! The riding of imaginary horses in so matter of fact a way continues to amuse me ..bring on the coconut shells .

I've started to read again.... whoo hoo first an Ann Cleeves "A day in the death of Dorothea Cassidy" -Inspector Ramsey book 3 (chosen because I like the look of the cover ...this illustrates the depth to which I've fallen lol)... It kept my attention for the first 1/2 then petered out for me ...I sort of flick staggered to the end ..ah well I guess it was an earlier book before she hit her stride ..It was well written I just couldn't maintain my interest in what happened to the characters.I wasn't fond enough of them to care. Still find the cover attractive though. haha

Next choice was a winner for me though "To War with Whitaker" by Hermione Ranfurly I'm charging through this gem of a diary and am dying to get back to it in a moment. It is a diary of both a time and a place that I am fascinated by WW2 and the Middle East.
 I love diaries and have a personal interest in WW2 in the desert and Greece as Both my father and my Uncle were there during the war. Both my Father and my Mum's brother were in the desert as  Desert Rats. When Ranfurly mentions the Long range Desert force it reminds me of my brother saying Dad went off out with them one night but once was enough as they were crackers!
Dad's younger brother did join the Special boat service although I didn't realize this as a child not until long after his death, I never twigged that when he was jokingly regaling my dad with stories of paddling a small boat off the coast of (Greece?) in the middle of the night reciting nursery rhymes and roaring with laughter at the comical absurdity of it.... he was actually talking of secret night pickups ...

Hermione Ranfurly also draws a fascinating picture of Freya Stark that fits in well with my memories of her writings ..long ago I had a real phase of reading travel  tales and read/have quite a few of Freya Stark's rewarding  books.

So the Sun together with some baking ..ANZAC  biccies's, Carrot Cake and Brownies  (the Brownies were a cheat from a box mix and I find them a bit sweet for me if I'm honest) a bit of Telly ..and a lovely book my mood at the moment is somewhat less gloomy (strict rationing of news helps too ...not none ..just a time limited daily update... avoiding the dark rabbit holes too easily available on the internet.)   So we shall see how it goes along.

Oh and after watching an inordinate amount of useful how to make a face mask videos on youtube (and very useful they've been) I came across this one... It is a very well done spoof by a known comedy actress who stays in Character all the way through ..It's silly and I hope you find it amusing too (Her real name is Stephanie I believe) just as light relief.

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO

 

Any way I'm off for a cup of tea and a read of my book , Stay safe!

Possibly going slightly round the bend?!

Trying to retrieve a little umph I enthusiastically chopped logs into sticks ..took some effort but I felt a satisfying feeling of accomplishment... not so much so when standing at the sink this morning wondering why my back was twinging ...oops
Perhaps chopping one log per day would be a better idea..or every other day...or perhaps stand up and drink wine (swift vision of swigging from the bottle) and just think about chopping sticks? (Back is not so keen on lying down at the moment..ho hum)

Well this morning a little Sunshine peaked through the clouds which was nice..but it fell on the garden ..far less pretty in Breakup ..when the snow melts away leaving a wet muddy mess and the uncovering of anything that has been well hidden by gorgeous white sparkliness for six months or more... but I avert my gaze as it's not yet melted or dry enough to do anything about.

Cabin fever may be emerging in Spring here instead of the usual Winter ..how odd is that. I'm glad it's OK to take the dog for a brisk walk ..my bum would be in danger of getting permanently numb otherwise. Obviously I don't have the personal will power to suddenly become an indoor fitness guru... considering my school PE experience I don't know how that fantasy even made it into my subconscious...no idea at  all.

Well reading progress....far too many bleak articles...no problem...ordinary books No chance.
Although I did try...I romped through the first third of Case Histories and it is well written, amusing descriptions really appealing writing just the story was too darn bleak for me to  cope with!
So back to Agatha Christie audiobook....onto a reading of Poirot's early cases. Familiar pleasures,

 

This morning I was deciding to pretend to be brisk and efficient put a load of washing in, forget to feed the dog, run a sink of bubbles to make washing up inviting (or because I forgot and left the tap on ..take your pick)  when the dog indignantly reminded me of my error with a sharp woof..so I apologized ..as you do ..grabbed 3 milk bone biscuits ...remembered the laundry...dropped a bowl to wash into the suds put down the biscuits ..ran to the washing machine closely escorted by dog ..ran back and couldn't find the biscuits..odd...stared at sink bubbles....No ...stared at bowl not in sink...odd got more dog biscuits (dog was happy) stared at sink again...decided No I wouldn't have ..they'll turn up ... wash up and darn me in the bottom of the sink find remains of very soggy dog biscuits...wash up again.       

I think I better walk the dog ...and possibly search for straight jacket patterns on pinterest?

Tuesday...

Well the World is still wobbly and out of kilter...and I'm still discombobulated.

So some chores whilst listening to BBC Plays by Agatha Christie..
two Old favorites
The ABC Murders and also Murder on the Nile,..John Moffatt as Poirot.

The Ducks continue to lay well .....good ducks,

Everyone is working or studying at home here and the cats and dog don't seem to mind the company, in fact the Guinea pigs are getting quite demanding squeaking for treats like bandits,

At last breakup seems to be upon us and the temperature sometimes remains above freezing at night ..the steady drip drip of snow melting off the roof...varied by the tinkle and crash of falling icicles is the background default at present and although most of the roadways are clear our paths are snow or ice on snow or even more joyful water on ice on snow.... lots of gravel/sand thrown on this as visits to ER never a desired event would be even less so at present.

Well I need my energy and umph back ...it's hiding at the moment ..now there is a log in the stove and I have a hot drink in my hand so it's retreat to bed and a book...Kate Atkinson's "Case Histories" became available as a digital library book ...it's been on hold so long I had forgotten all about it and so it was a surprise hopefully a good one.

Is it Saturday?

Is it Saturday? Is it Easter? It must be as my calendar says so but there is a feeling of unreality about time at present that is very odd.
My sister says life feels quite 'discombobulated' at the moment and I think she has a point. There are elements of normal and huge deviations from normal...most strange. I haven't yet quite worked out how to take it.

Here it is so odd ..it feels like the calm before a storm at present .the air is calm but could it be crackling with tension or is that just my imagination? .anyway it's a storm we hope doesn't arrive  yet it sounds like New York and parts of the UK are in the centre of Maelstroms ...so heart breakingly sad and to those going about their lives there it must have been unexpected...

But should it have been unexpected ? later I wonder if accountability will come and that concrete changes will be made to ensure that responses to such events are vastly improved and good people are not unnecessarily placed in the position of placing their health and lives on the line when for many I am afraid it need not have been so.

Why would I say that? I don't think this because it's easy to be wise later but more personally because around late January. I finally got on line to buy tickets for a much delayed trip to visit family in the UK.
To our great disappointment circumstances meant that in both 2018 and again 2019 plans for trips were dashed.
Still 2020 was a definite. Iceland air was the flight of choice ..tickets chosen
 but before clicking buy...an uneasy wariness overtook me as I'd noticed reports of a virus spreading in China that had the potential to be a pandemic and what I read unsettled me.
I wasn't looking for such alerts just kept noticing them when browsing.
The tickets we bought would be expensive...worth it but pricey.. so just in case I checked if insurance would cover us if the virus kicked off.
As best I could tell it wouldn't so I made the decision to delay buying tickets and took the view that we could look for tickets closer to the date and take the risk that they would still be affordable....not ideal but better than losing our ticket money ..after all we could delay one more year ...we didn't want to but we could.

I never envisaged the World as it is now. But some people did. It was their job and they did it but they appear to have been ignored or side lined and that was so not OK people have paid with their lives because of it . If it was obvious enough for an ordinary person to notice those in charge have no excuse..what were they thinking? .... I could ponder more on this but don't think now is the time. Now like it or not we have to do the best we can in the circumstances we are in and hope we all live to tell the tale.

Staying sane .(well ish)

 “Never promise to do the possible. Anyone could do the possible. You should promise to do the impossible, because sometimes the impossible was possible, if you could find the right way, and at least you could often extend the limits of the possible. And if you failed, well, it had been impossible.”
― Terry Pratchett.

 *****************************

   At the moment Trollope has been delayed by youngest (now 17!) reading Terry Pratchett out loud while I puzzle over sewing....

Story so far ...Moist Von Lipwig survived his execution and I have been introduced to the puns of Pratchett ....which make me smile ...no mean achievement at present ....



 Masks so far.....

after some mistakes I think I have a pattern I am able not to mangle.
Hopefully I will have some masks achieved later today Yesterday it was mixed results .
1 -OK but not the greatest fit...
2- well that didn't work out
3- Ok for me in an emergency (Ok it is an emergency wore it myself)
and finally
4. a different design a pattern compromise .. it's the shaped face one.
Con's ...seam down middle ...not keen onsewing  holes in centre of mask
Pro's ...much better face fit and it's 3 separate layers so centre line sewing holes don't directly connect.

Layer 1 cotton
Layer 2 Olyfun polypropylene craft fabric (think j cloths cousin) as a filter but also provides structure.
Layer 3 cotton

Ideally there should be 2 layers of the centre filter fabric but I'm having technical difficulties matching my skills with 4 layers...  so 3 layers for now and I'll work on my technique.


It's the third mask style described by a great woman ignore the silly pirate eye patch she takes it off..

snip from youtube video

CLICK HERE FOR YOUTUBE VIDEO (SHE'S REALLY GOOD HONEST)


Pattern link ..(It printed out the correct size on a sheet of a4 for me)
PATTERN CLICK HERE 

Se also linked How to safely wear  ie put on and take off a mask
How to instruction HERE

And useful filter information she linked HERE 

Stay safe