26-12-25, Boxing Day and the First Day of Christmas . . .

 Good morning, everyone.  Did you have a lovely time yesterday?  I did but more of that later.

We are now into the Twelve Days of Christmas.  I looked it up.

The 12 days of Christmas signifies the time between the celebration of the birth of Christ on Christmas (December 25) and the celebration of the arrival of the three wise men, also known as the magi, called Epiphany or Three Kings’ Day (January 6), according to the traditional church calendar. No one really thinks these are the days these historical events happened; rather, the church began celebrating certain biblical events around the calendar both to teach illiterate Christians about biblical events and sometimes to replace pagan festivals. 

So there you are.  While I do start putting some of the Christmas clutter away, the Christmas tree and certain meaningful decorations do stay up till Twelfth Night and I treat myself to gifts (not quite like the song though!!), bought at points during the year that I wrap and try to forget - not always successfully but at least I try.

So, here we go.  All together now . . .

On the First Day of Christmas

I gave unto myself . . .

A Jamie Oliver book.

(no rhyming here - modern poetry doesn't have to.  😆)

I bought this when the programmes came out and decided it would be an ideal Twelve Days present - great self control was needed not to read it straight away, I assure you.

Not that the healthy eating will start for a few days.  It will probably be Sunday before the decks are clear enough and the freezer contains more again!  At least there's not as much leftover food as usual.  Beth and Alex have that joy this year!

So that's Day One.

Did you have a good Christmas Day?  I had a lovely time round Beth and Alex's with them, J and I (Beth's friends).  Everyone liked their gifts, J and I loved those stylish champagne flutes I showed you a while ago and I have come back with a stack of useful, enjoyable and/or pretty gifts.  I will mention just one.

I already had the other two card decks - the granny square one and the stitch square one and when I was at the Knit and Stitch show I was sorely tempted but, because I had an idea that Beth might be getting it for me, I resisted.

It wasn't from Beth, though, it was from Alex, and I am thrilled to bits.  
Such a lovely gift!

 What did you receive that you were really happy about?

One more photo.
I fancied making some blinis to gave with cream cheese and smoked salmon for breakfast yesterday and I wanted to use sourdough discard because it was building up a bit.

So I searched around and found the perfect recipe on Veronica's site, La Recette du Jour.  You will remember that Veronica reads here sometimes and was a great help when I was starting my sourdough adventure.  She is very knowledgeable and her site is a recipe treasure chest.

I'll link the blini recipe here but do have a wander round.

https://www.larecettedujour.org/2023/10/sourdough-blini-2.php

Thanks, Veronica!

As I said, I had the best time at Beth's and, of course, we applied the ancient principle of 'She who doeth the cooking doeth not the washing up!' so Alex and I made short work of getting stuff cleared and in the dishwasher or done by hand, leaving a few things in soak.  It was a delight to see Mum and Dad's 'best' china in use as it used to be when they did the family Christmas.

Once home again, I settled down with a glass of bubbles and the Royal Ballet's 'The Nutcracker', recorded earlier in the day.  Fantastic dancing and such glorious music - it was an absolutely delightful end to a lovely day!

Today I hope to . . .

• pop round to Morrisons when it opens to see if they have any post-Christmas bargains
• slice a fairly generous amount of turkey left from the crown and get it in the freezer - there was a lorra meat on that crown!
• do some washing, drying and ironing (it doesn't go away, does it?)
• go back to Beth's for lunch (leftovers) and to help her sort out stuff - a role reversal because usually she and Al come to me to sort out . . . etc  I will take some plastic storage pots with me and I am sure both our freezers will be fuller than the are right now
• slice, wrap and freeze the Christmas cake 
• sew in a few ends and lightly steam press the Advent blanket - yes, it is finished
• read some of my new book
• continue with the maple leaf blanket
• sort out all the yarn leftovers
• watch recorded stuff
• tidy the kitchen
• start a leaven
• chill

(not necessarily in the order, of course)

Have a really good day, everyone, whatever you have planned.  Stay warm (it is cold round here), cosy and safe and enjoy.  

Happy Boxing Day!   xxx