Christmas Eve: Advent day twenty four

 Good morning.  It feels chilly outside but nowhere near frosty - just chilly enough for turkey-in-the-shed safety.  The forecast temperatures have gone down for these three festive days but are nowhere near snow level - fine by me.  :-)

I got loads done yesterday.

First of all, I don't think I mentioned earlier, but in the last high wind we had, one of the two archways I have that go from bed to bed in the garden fell over and when I checked the whole of the bottom was 'rotten'.  It would, of course, be the one with the survivor passion fruit plant on it but, when I looked, the other was just as bad and one 'leg' had broken anyway.
So yesterday I detached the plant from the archway, pruning it right back as I did so.  Lewis came  and took both archways to dump for me.
I could, of course, just have the whole plant up and binned, but I don't want to - it is a sort of resurrection plant , having been dormant for several years before deciding to grow and I like a survivor.  Also, it is an evergreen and anything that provides foliage in winter is welcome.  I was going to prune it back anyway, having read that they don't flower unless they are cut back well. 
So - what to do?  For now I have just laid it gently along the bed and I think I will buy some sort of pyramid support thingy.  There's quite a long stem before it starts leafing and that could go round and round the bottom as it's still nice and flexible.  I'd need to prune back some surrounding bushes a little but basically it is where the large rosemary was so there's a bit of a gap anyway.
Still pondering though.

When Dave and Anna were round Wednesday evening, I realised that my dining table was a bit wonky so I had a good look at the internal bits (it's an extending table), tightened several screws and now it is rock steady again.   

I got three loads of washing done, dried and almost all ironed.  I will get the remaining items ironed first thing and then all the stuff can go away for three days.  Happy Christmas washing machine - enjoy the break!

The lovely Victoria brought round my table decoration and candle.  It's just what I wanted.  Nice and simple with a thicker candle so it will burn for longer before being too close to the foliage for comfort.  I had a little doorstep chat to her and, after the huge success of the wreath making days (she and Hazel ran eight of them during late November and December) and they are planning more courses like that - something for Easter, perhaps, and maybe an Autumnal wreath course.  She's keeping me informed!

(apologies for the ironing basket in the background)

The turkey and turkey breast rolls arrived late afternoon and the whole box went straight into the garage.  It's well boxed, chilled and insulated so it will be fine.  Today I will cut the breast rolls into manageable smaller roasts for through the year and the turkey will be well wrapped and frozen briefly until next Wednesday when it will come out again to thaw for New Year's Eve dinner.

Today will be busy.  I have Slimming World first thing - just a drop in and be weighed session for an hour and I will try to get out of being weighed if I can.  I'm going along to help really.

Once home, it is into the kitchen for me.  I have a ham to cook, a lovely piece of belly pork to start dealing with and some turkey to sort out, veg to prepare, things to get out of the freezer, gravy to make with some stock from the freezer, stuffing to make and then, after all that, a kitchen to tidy!  I will enjoy every moment of it.

There's things to take upstairs to the small room, just to get them out of sight but apart from that, the rest of the house is in good order and needs very little work.

My aim is to get it all done by about two o'clock (and I'm sure I will) before sitting down with a late lunch, my knitting, my Kindle and the telly.  The highlight of the evening will be some festive nibbles, a glass of something and Carols from Kings.  Doesn't that sound lovely!

I'm so glad I am an introvert, a lover of peace and 'me-time', not needing parties and general knees ups for my well being.

I will post tomorrow and hope that in the meanwhile we all have a wonderful Christmas Eve, packed with lovely things to do and enjoy.  Whether you are solo or whether you have family around you today - enjoy the day, be happy and stay safe and well.  xxx

Today's Advent music just HAS to be the Christmas Eve carol, Once, in Royal David's City.  I will be thinking of that choir boy, only learning around ten seconds before that he was singing that iconic solo.

I still feel shivers down my back at those first few, stunningly beautiful notes!  Angelic.