Monday 30 November 2020

Monday

 Good morning, everyone.  It's a dull and gloomy start to the day round here.  Misty and damp, not nearly cold enough for a frost but too cold and too damp to hang the washing out.  Maybe it will clear later on, fingers crossed.

Well, we have had our Christmas Tree Day and it was lovely.
We started off with lunch - lasagne, chips and salad (the salad makes it healthy, right?) and then tested one of the little Christmas puds I made.  It was very, very good indeed.  Lighter than the usual kind both in texture and colour but with that Christmas spice vibe and a gentle citrus tang about it.  I'm really looking forward to having some more.
Getting the tree up and decorated was great fun.  I dearly love real trees but have a beautiful artificial one for a number of reasons.  Quite apart from the shedding needles that can get in the eye (that happened to me once; it was horrible and the devil to get out), dealing with a real tree is a nuisance, they are comparatively expensive over the years, given that my last tree lasted, oh, it must have been well over twenty years with me and then, two years ago, it went to a charity that uses it in their shop and I'm expecting this current one, new last year, will see me out (or until I can't manage it any more)

After a while we had a break and our first G&T.  It helps to take a break and then take a critical look over the tree to see where the gaps are.  At that point it looked like this - photo taken on Beth's phone.  Explosion in the Christmas tree factory!


After a bit more work and some general clearing up . . .

. . . and that's pretty much how it will stay now in that corner until twelfth night.  You can see that the duo of Guardians of the Christmas Tree (yes, we're bonkers!!) have become a trio - Beth's old ted has joined the honourable pair (sitting in the middle).  In front of each is an owl holding a letter to spell out J O Y - most appropriate!

The rest of the day passed as planned.  A buffet tea and we watched The Snowman and Father Christmas (I thought I also had The Snowdog, but it seems not) followed by the Polar Express and then The Muppets' Christmas Carol.  

All in all, it's been great.

Today should be quieter.  Jeff has just finished doing his fortnightly tidy up and general maintenance in the garden, bless him, Beth is still fast asleep upstairs, I've cleared everything from yesterday (too tired to do it last night) and there's washing in the machine.
This afternoon, I have my post purchase 'demo' with Leonie where we make something in tandem.  I've chosen meatballs which will show me how the blade cover and the slow cooker functions work so guess what I am having for dinner tonight!  I wouldn't usually slow cook meatballs and will be interested to see if it makes any difference.

So that's my day.  How about you?  xx



14 comments:

  1. After all that I reckon you should really be in Christmas mode!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really was, thanks - it was a super day. xx

      Delete
  2. I'm glad you had such a good time with Beth yesterday. Your tree looks spectacular xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you - it certainly adds colour and sparkle which was what I wanted. :-) xx

      Delete
  3. The tree looks great and I'm so glad to hear that you both had a good time.

    Interestingly, your house with the position of the stairs and front door looks very similar to the house I lived in with Ced.

    Hope the cooking demo thing goes well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is interesting. I suppose it's a fairly standard design - many of the houses round here are similar with small variations. The demo was good, thanks. xx

      Delete
  4. That sounds like the perfect day to me. Your tree topper looks very similar to ours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's very pretty and quite heavy. We have to place it carefully or it falls sideways. :-)
      xx

      Delete
  5. Oh wow, your tree is just gorgeous, Joy! What a fun day you had with Beth decorating, enjoying delicious food and having fun watching Christmas movies. I love lasagna and salad but here in the US we don't typically have lasagna with chips (french fries?). I will definitely have to give that a try at some point!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was brilliant, Debbie, thanks. Yes, our chips are sort of French fries except that here, French fries are much thinner while chips are chunkier. What you call chips are our crisps, I think.
      Lasagne and chips is not usual - we were being piggy plus I had the lasagne in the freezer to use and Beth loves my actifry chips so we had both.
      xx

      Delete
  6. Smashing Christmas tree Joy!!! Lovely star on the top! Those guardians look as if they are whispering to each other! :-) Sounds like you have had a fantastic day...a Christmas tree day!! keep well Amanda x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe they do communicate in a teddyish way. Who knows? lol
      xx

      Delete
  7. Oh Joy, it's beautiful. It sounds like you had the perfect day and I suspect you look forward to your Christmas Tree Day just as much as Christmas Day itself. I hope you're both now well rested after all your hard work. X

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right, absolutely I do. It's great fun without any of the 'big meal' expectations.
      xx

      Delete