Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

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Good morning everyone. Shocked by the dreadful news from Australia and all those poor people. I loved visiting Bondi beach - such a beautiful place - which is now marred by that mass shooting. I will never understand how anyone can do something so horrible. Apologies, said my piece and now I will leave it as we do have wonderful things that balance the horrors. I hope today brings everyone happiness as we continue our preparations for Christmas.

 

Morning @Ladybird4, I'm also shocked by that awful news. There are also emerging stories of quiet heroism which helps to offset the horror.

Drizzly here which was unexpected after a beautiful day yesterday. I placed all my new slate plant labels where I could remember planting bulbs but have so many I will re-order more labels after Christmas. They are very elegant, good quality and look to be lasting.

Not sure what I'll do today as the weather's horrible. I had hoped to do more tidying up in the garden.

 

Good morning all.

Horrific and sad news from Australia. Well done the man who wrestled the rifle off one of the terrorists.

They've dug out half the village pond and the green is a mess. The pond was suffocating with reeds and weeds.

Forecast says cloudy but it's quite sunny so I'm off to the garden.

 

Weather is absolutely vile here - like yours @lizzie27. Its heaving down. Are you sure you are in the same country as us @Busy-Lizzie?

 

Good afternoon,

Yes, dreadful news from Australia.

The weather has been awful here, heavy rain and heavy sky, but it does seem to be easing a bit now and the sky looks a touch lighter. I doubt we’ll have the sunshine we got yesterday though.

Waiting for the heating engineer to come to service the boiler and fire. Due any time between 12 and 6, so in for a long wait, I think.

 

Good afternoon ladies & gentlemen,

Yesterday's forecast rain never came, but today's forecast sunshine has just arrived

I'm steeling myself to cut back the remnants of my Californian poppies after lunch. I had almost zero expectations when I sowed the seeds in Spring (here having a very different climate to California), however they proved to be trouble-free with a long, long flowering season. I think I'll plant more next Spring.

The people on this thread certainly know how to eat well, I'm greatly impressed.

Have a wonderful day everyone whatever the weather brings you.

 

Drizzly here, but at least it’s not cold. Last rubbish bin collection before Christmas tomorrow, so I’ll have to prioritise that, but first I’m going to and put the tree up!
Chicken pie (bought) with leftover cauliflower cheese for lunch! Yum!

 

Afternoon from a very wet Wales.
I hope Monday is treating you all well.

I’ve done a few jobs today so it’s time for puzzles and feet up now.
I’ve tried to be savvy with food shopping over Christmas so I don’t have to do the ‘big shop’ next week. I have one click and collect order for the end of this week and one for next Monday (booked weeks ago). You can add items up to the night before so if anyone in the family needs anything I can add then. I dread to think what the shopping list and cost is for a big family gathering these days!

Many of you are cheese fans I see, but what else is in your essential or treat list?? For me it’s smoked salmon, bread sauce and a big ham.

 

Good afternoon to you all!!

Vile weather here too - it's raining now ferociously and nearly dark.

The news about the Bondi shootings is dreadful - I hope the PM is as empathetic as Jacinda was for the Christchurch shootings. The poor families - so near the festive season, (Hanukah or Christmas) it is family time.

I like cheese and I like chocolate - so France is a good place to be. I also like smelly cheese like the blues they have here, crusty country bread and red wine. Comté is almost as good as a mature cheddar. Smoked salmon and festive fare are always welcome at this time of year.

I had leftover cauliflower cheese at lunchtime too @Ergates - with a cold slab of chicken in gelatine. The egg and poultry lady at the market saves me the carcasses and she gave me two last week so I have made a nice rich chicken soup with veggies and pearl barley in my slow cooker for evenings.

Tea and stollen for afternoon tea to chase the blues away!!

We had an interesting weekend. After taking Fizz on her bike/run, we went into a toy store to get the Christmas presents for my friend's grandchildren. He had "orders" so it was quickly done. On the way home the sun came out and I saw a Border Collie "colleague" walking down to the village with his wife for lunch in the promenade. A lightbulb moment so we deposited wares and had a lovely lunch by the sea. Seafood sauerkraut for him and monkfish in a creamy sauce for me followed entrées of seafood and a smoked salmon salad for me. We went the a concert that evening with another couple and ended up drinking champagne at their place with some lovely nibbles. We got in at 1.45am none the worse for wear. The gentleman singing was Daniel Guichard who is now 77 and a well-known figure in France and internationally. Mainly ballads. Lovely audience contact. He, in fact, lives just around the corner and can be seen buying his baguette - he always says hello with a smile.
So we can see him anytime - except he doesn't sing in the bakery!!!

The Christmas decoration box is down but that's as far as it has got!

Have a lovely evening.

 

Good afternoon, mostly dry but very dull day, turning drizzly now.
Our tree is finally done, it has taken nearly 2days to do what we would normally have done in an afternoon. Admittedly we haven't been at it non stop but even so. We've convinced ourselves that the "bug" we both had in late October has left us with some kind of post viral fatigue. It seems we only do one little thing.....
Ah well all the boxes are back in the loft so that's done till twelfth night when it will all have to be put away again. Hope i can summon up the energy to go to yoga later, last one for 2025

 

There was a short lull in the drizzle so I shot out into the Courtyard to do a job that had been annoying me - lots of birch tree leaves lying on the slate chippings bed I had covered over with plastic, not a good idea so I won't repeat it. On my hands and knees on wet paving, picking up wet tiny birch leaves off wet slate chippings was not my idea of fun. I got most of it cleared, then more drizzzle stopped play.

Really pleased to see my ancestral village featured on ETTC today featuring a lovely young and very talented newly married couple with a big zest for life. Really made me smile.

Chocolate and oodles of it for me at Xmas @AuntyRach. Most essential. I've got a delivery booked for Thursday and another for Sunday, just for emergency things I might have forgotten!

Glad you had a good time with your friends @Tui34, especially with champagne - my favourite drink.

I've just this minute decided to make an apple and blackberry crumble for a pud tonight. I have all the fruit I picked earlier this year sitting in the freezer but consider them fattening in puds so don't cook any - barmy! A treat on a wet, dark day. Baked salmon, veggies and rice for lst course so that will be fairly light.

 

That's the last time I send hub to choose a tree. It's too big! We've spent all afternoon just getting it upright and secure. Mind you, it is a magnificent specimen. I've ordered more baubles, as some of ours are now looking rather jaded.
Like @Allotment Boy, we took it slow, but we haven't even started decorating it yet.
What a lovely concert that sounds @Tui34
G'kids have the sniffles, so they've kindly stayed away tonight. Shame, as we could have used them as slave labour to decorate the tree!
Apart from cheese, we have our yearly box of Guylian shells, cointreau for liqueur coffees, smoked trout from Lidl and some charcuterie (I really like the salami with fennel seeds).

 

Chocolate and/or smoked salmon for me @AuntyRach - but not at the same time! It has been heaving down all day but seems to have eased off now which is just as well as I like my walk to my friends' house for my lift to the quiz. Last quiz of the year tonight and we are playing our A team so it is a home match. I am quiz meister tonight so the inner 'not quite hidden' school ma'am will be let loose. I'll bid you all good night now and catch up with any further news tomorrow morning.

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p.s. @Badly_Maintained I have sown Californian poppies this autumn hoping for a good show next season. Time will tell.

 

Yes, but much further east! It has been a nicer day than forecast, sunny periods and mild. The lawn was dry for a change so Cedric mowed up leaves, hope that's the last of them, and I spent 1 1/2 hours in the long border.

This afternoon I booked the ferry to go back to France mid-January and a hotel for a night en route. I also washed the kitchen floor.

 

Evening all. Haven't seen any news today so have that to come this evening. It's been a beautiful, sunny day.

Last patch session of this year today. It only seems 5 minutes since we started again in September. Everyone in fine form and looking forward to spending time with family for the festivities. Lots of fun and laughter and discussions of menus and favourite dishes - plenty cheat and do huge trays of fruits de mer which involve no cooking. Wouldn't do for us as we don't do oysters or slimy crawly marine version of snails.

We haven't discussed menus yet apart from our traditional duck breast with red wine and juniper berry sauce, dauphinoise potatoes and broccoli. OH wants some flapjacks to take to golf on Friday for a pre-Xmas friendly game.

@Ladybird4 and @Badly_Maintained I sow my California poppies in plug trays cos I didn't know they don't like being disturbed. I shall carry on doing that as my soil is ex pasture and full of weed seeds and bindweed and will all be mulched with composted wood chips this winter so not conducive to first sowing.

@Penny_Forthem I like a decent sized tree but OH and Possum like them bigger. I have to put my foot down sometimes. This year's tree still in its netting in a bucket of water. I refuse to put it or any other decs up till we've had a good clean over, under and behind furniture and all the windows and floors. That'll be Wednesday. Then the tree can come in and sit for a couple od days while it relaxes its branches.

Have a pleasant evening all.