Sunday

Good morning.  Apologies for the lateness but I overslept and then got started on other stuff.  It's a gloomy old day, not cold, now warm.  A nothing sort of day really.  I thin k I prefer those crisp and frosty mornings, even if the heating does have to work a bit harder to keep me in the warmth to which I have become accustomed now that Matt has sorted out my radiators.

I got my trip into the town and had a really good old wander around, looking here, there and everywhere for those perishing dried cherries.

I went into Holland and Barrett but no luck there.  All sorts of dried fruits including some I'd hardly heard of but no cherries.  I decided to take a detour through the Riverside Centre because I haven't been there for ages and, lo and behold, we do indeed have a Grape Tree shop.  A lovely place with all sorts of things, including some not-so-sweetened cranberries (which I got) but no cherries.  I asked and she looked a bit blank.  Surely I can't be the only one?
(I bought some dried pineapple, thinking it would be a nice substitute, if necessary).

I tried M&S although I was sure they wouldn't have any - and they didn't.  They did have some Christmas loo paper though so guess what!

Along the way, I picked up all sorts of other bits and bobs.  A nice ribbon for the cake, some white baubles for the bedroom tree (there's spoiling for you), some white acrylic paint for the clay decorations, some poly bags in Lakeland, oh - all sorts of bits.

To get to my preferred bus stop, I have to go through the market.  I stopped off at the haberdashery stall for some lace and then was just turning into the pathway to the bus stop when I remembered that there's quite a good little wholefood stall.  Herbs, spices, pulses, fruit, grains - really, all sorts of stuff, loose so you can get the amount you need (within reason).  How could I have forgotten?

So I went there and, finally - YESSSS - he had sour dried cherries, just what the recipe had ordered.  It was lovely and old fashioned, 100g (not that old fashioned) scooped out into a paper bag can carried home triumphantly.
Those biscotti had better be the best ever.

In the afternoon, I got on with knitting the Dickensian mouse I had started (as part of a rather late order) and this morning I got her finished.  A cook, holding a Christmas pudding on a plate.  I think she's really cute; what do you think?

Onto the next one now which will be the main focus of my day!  Tomorrow's tuition is all planned and ready so I can concentrate on crafty things.  Should be a really nice day.  I hope yours is too! xx