Thursday

Good morning, everyone.  Welcome to Thursday!  I'm awake at stupid o'clock, probably because of stuff buzzing around in my brain, but never mind.  I can always catch up later on, if I want to.

After some pleasant weather yesterday, when I even got one load of washing dried outside, down came the drizzle and it ended up pretty damp.  Today is more of the same, according to the Beeb.  Mist, gentle rain, heavy rain . . . dee-lightful!

Yesterday may have been expensive, like Monday and Tuesday but, by the time Matt had finished, the heating was on and working efficiently again, the radiators had all been sorted, there were super-new thermostats on them and the grab rails were back up in the bathroom, just where they will be most useful.  I'm happy!  And when the Golden Oldies' winter fuel payment hits the bank statement, it will go straight into my savings to compensate for a bit of what it cost.  Everything helps!

After mixing up the first stage of the Christmas cake on Tuesday (it's smelling great each time I uncover it to give it a good stir), I looked at the fruit I had left and Googled for a fat free mincemeat, finding one that is hardly low calorie with all the dried fruit, honey and alcohol but which looked worth a try.  It has many of the traditional things - zest, dried fruits, etc and is sweetened with honey.  It also has grated apple and, slightly more unusual, some grated carrot.  Instead of brandy, I used more of the cointreau (so now I will need to get some more when the cake needs feeding).

The bumph with the recipe says it keeps for about a month but, after the three day soaking, I am going to pop it into freezer pots and keep it that way.  Then I can get out just what I need.  It does smell great, so fingers crossed.  Before I freeze it though, I will add some chopped walnuts - I love nuts in mincemeat - although the recipe doesn't mention nuts.

Over lunchtime I went for my hour of PT with Lindsey.  She's definitely pushed things up a notch and has started working on balance stuff as well.  I found that hard so it's something to work on before next week.

Today the diary just says tuition and pottery.  That means I have time to sort out a few messy areas on the house as well as finishing off the week's washing, drying (indoors) and ironing.  Dad's coming here this weekend so I need to get the guest room sorted out; luckily, it's the week for the cleaners to do upstairs as well as downstairs, so I can leave that side of things for them.

I need to decide what to make next in pottery.  Perhaps another candle holder with a more Christmassy theme - holly leaves are fairly easy - or another pasta/tapas bowl.  Or I could make a slab pot in the shape of a Christmas tree.
Better take a look through my collection of photos and ideas and see what inspires.

Have a great day, everyone.  xx