Saturday

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. . . and the Christmas holidays have started.  Even for me with my one day a week contract.  OK, so for the next week I will likely be working a jolly lot harder than the one day of teaching but never mind, it still feels great.

So what did I do yesterday.  Well, first of all I had a lazy start.  No alarm.  No rush.  Two leisurely coffees.  I had a long and lingering bath before getting dressed.  I pottered around getting the downstairs more or less tidy for the cleaners.  They are very obliging but I do pay them to clean, not to tidy so I needed to get sorted!  I have treated myself to three more hours of cleaning next week - a Christmas present from me to to me!

It all worked out very well.  I went into school for the now traditional Carols by Candlelight which was lovely.  I thought back to when I started this, quite a long time ago now, and felt glad that it has become a non-negotiable part of the school's Christmas tradition.  Last year we all had to cram into the school hall which was simply too small and therefore pretty uncomfortable.  This year we were all in the lovely new, big hall that accommodates the whole school, adults and children, with room to spare.  Not only that but it has great acoustics for singing.

Then it was over to Morrisons for a bit of shopping and then home.  I looked on the 'free from' shelves and found some gluten free stuff.  Isn't it expensive though?  Absolutely shocking!  After seeing what I had to pay for four rolls, I bought a bag of Dove gluten free strong flour and I will have a good go at making some gluten free bread tomorrow.  There's a recipe on the back of the bag and I have the chickpea flour it asks for.
If any readers have good recipes, please do share.
I was pleased to get some little fancy pork pies that were fairly significantly reduced because of date.  They're now in the freezer and I will defrost them and cut then into quarters for the buffet on Christmas evening.  One thing off the list!

Once home, I expected to see the cleaners' van outside but it wasn't there.  They had finished, done a good job and I must have just missed them because the kitchen floor was still slightly damp.

I've watched a few cookery programmes (aren't there a LOT at the moment).  Normally I like Tom Kerridge but I have to say some of his Christmas recipes really didn't do it for me.  I LIKE a big turkey with lots of leftovers!  I want leftovers - you can do brilliant things with leftovers.  The turkey breast rolled with stuffing did look nice but no thanks.  Where's the carcass to pick over, the bones to boil up for stock?

Anyway, that was yesterday.  Today I am devoting my energy to sorting out the small bedroom (aka the dumping ground) as it will not only be needed next week but also tomorrow night.  I suspect the wheelie bin will be a lot more full by this time tomorrow.  This evening is the Strictly final and I want to be all ready, alcohol to hand, nice dinner ready, so I don't miss a single bit.

And then tomorrow is Christmas Tree Day!  Woo hoo!