Friday

Good morning everyone.  As a young friend said, it is now Christmas Eve eve and so it is!  Welcome to it!

Well, yesterday turned out to be a long and busy one but it went really well.  The shopping was all done, the beds were all made, everything has been wrapped and the house smelled wonderful - a mixture of bread, shortbread, biscotti and stollen.  So festive.

Stollen, using the James Martin recipe.  Probably not authentic but, my word, it smells good.

Nigella's cranberry and pistachio biscotti.  Very easy.

My usual bread - wrapped for the freezer.

Snowflake shortbread.  I'm really getting the hang of it now.  It needs dredging with caster sugar before serving.

I was a wee bit unfrugal at Morrisons and treated myself to some flowers.  I'm glad I did - a bit of natural is nice amidst all the red and gold and shine.

Finally the nativity crib is finished.  The last little bits seem to take for ever but I got there.  A very nice gift for someone special.

Today I have the morning to finish stuff off and then my visitors arrive.  I still have a fair old list of things to do but none of them are really crucial.
Christmas starts today!

Today's Christmas music - two again - are old favourites of mine.
'Oh little one sweet' with those wonderful Bach harmonies.

and 'Unto us is born a son'