Sunday 16 December 2012

200

So this is my 200th blog post!  I'm sure I would have got here a lot sooner if I could keep up regular postings though... More blogging is definitely going to be one of my resolutions for 2013.

I can not quite grasp that Christmas Day is merely nine days away. The whole of December right up to Christmas Eve has and will be a whirlwind of merriment and festivities, not including the fact the I'm at work until the 21st and have a tonne of things to do before I leave school for two weeks.  I have also picked up a monstrous cold in the last few days and have been proud that I have been able to power through my usual routine and two social gatherings while running on copious amounts of paracetamol!  Today is the first day in ages where I have vowed to do very little, although it feels very unsettling being out of routine and not feeling like things must get done.  I think a day of films, creativity and festive food is just what the doctor ordered for me to be feeling better in time for the holidays.

There are so many things I want to post, as always, so today's will be the usual accumulation of photographs depicting my recent adventures...

Not sure if you have noticed, but it's been cold.  We have so far had one day of snow where we live and lots of lots of frosty mornings.  Oh how I hate having to scrape the car windows in the morning, my hands always freeze and then take what seems like forever to warm up!


We took a nose dive into December; managing to get almost all of our Christmas shopping completed and we put up our Christmas decorations all on one Saturday early in the month.  We were really rather excited to be spending Christmas in a new home and our decorations had all been stored in boxes for two years.  We had forgotten quite how much stuff we have, including a ludicrous amount of lights.

Last Monday evening, I went for a Christmas meal with my old department, the lovely Textiles and Catering ladies!  This necklace was part of my Secret Santa present and I adore it.  It is made from paper which has been folded up, it's beautiful! 
I had the most amazing soup too, a pumpkin soup with toasted pumpkin seeds on the top and warm ciabatta bread, nom!



Even though my cold was in full swing on Friday evening, I managed to get myself to London to catch up with some of my bestest friends for dinner.  We went to Giraffe which is situated just off Oxford Street near Selfridges.  It was just what I needed, burger, chips and not breaking my limited budget!  Myself and Steve couldn't resist trying a salted caramel milkshake - I cannot explain how delicious it was!  We are always trying out salted caramel flavoured things, such as coffees and ice creams, but they are usually disappointing as they just taste like caramel.  This however, has the perfect balance of caramel and salt.  Wow, really wish I could get my hands on another one of these right about now...
My wonderful friend Sophy presented me with this utterly amazing brooch - Ruth also received one brandishing her name.  She announced how her children will love it (she teaches year three), I reckon I will come across as a bit of a maniac to my teenage students, but CAN NOT wait to rock this every. single. day.



Yesterday, we hosted a little Christmas gathering for our immediate family and it was splendid!  Everyone crammed into our tiny flat for food, drink, music and merriment! I did some baking - some vanilla cupcakes with oh so cute sugar snowflakes and a swedish cake from a book which I brought from Ikea a while ago - delicious! My Mum made the mince pies using my Nan's recipe and they are so incredibly tasty.  Might have to call her later and place an order for more, me and pastry just do not get on.

I hope that you are all feeling festive and keeping warm!  More festive blog posts to come soon!


Merry Christmas!

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