A Christmas Miscellany
Not having my own internet connection is proving a real nuisance - I can only impose on Lil's machine for so long. So no fest commenting or fic posting. But at least I am getting on with more crochet and knitting.
On Sunday we celebrated the Solstice by failing to light the floating candles found at the back of the 'gifts that may come in handy one day' cupboard. Fortunately the rather more practical 'emergency lighting' candle that lives in the dining room provided a beautiful 'light against the darkness and warmth against the winter cold' offering. (It also yet again demonstrated the superiority of ancient tech over modern eco-bulbs by providing a much more instant and bright light than the electric fittings.)
On Monday night my bedroom door fell off its hinges for the second time - on this occasion shearing through the top hinge completely so at some time after the holiday I will have to get to a hardware merchants for new rising hinges (not something one can really brave the holiday shopping crowds for). For the moment I am carefully jamming the door into the hole and hoping that it stays there overnight in order to separate the dog from the cats.
Made the usual Christmas visit to my sister on Tuesday to deliver presents and have a very nice dinner with one of my aunts (sadly my godmother couldn't make it so I must sort out a trip South of the River sometime next year). Got home in time to listen to Cabin Pressure - a very satisfying end to the series - though I'm glad Finnemore is wise enough to finish now before the quality falls. 26 episodes is quite enough for any series. I am leaving Good Omens until I can listen without falling asleep.
Wednesday as mostly spent cooking a light evening meal (lentil flan) from the 'Almost Vegetarian' cookbook, which required making hot pastry and then an hour of stirring lentils in milk, and another 45 minutes in the oven. It turned out much richer than I anticipated and would have easily served four (despite me making two-thirds quantities and using a six inch rather than a 9 inch flan case). One for any vegie guests next time.
Christmas day was bright and sunny - we put the dogs (who opened proceedings with a spat during which I was stupid enough to attempt to part them and Draco mistook my thumb for a rat and attempted to kill it) into their festive gear (Bren has a posh red and gold collar, Draco has a Christmas jumper) and drove out to Roding Meadows for a very pleasant walk (even without dogs I have always enojyed a Christmas day walk - out of the house and away from the fuss). The we had a leisurely Christmas dinner (roast beef and all the trimmings) while watching the Proms performance of Kiss Me Kate. After which we took the dogs for their evening walk (thank goodness for the reflective jackets), and came back in time to watch more dogs at Battersea on POGDOS, thus avoiding Dr Who. Lil went off for a post-dinner lie down and I watched Call the Midwife and Jonathan Creek (visual wallpaper) while attempting to figure out how to knit cables without making holes. The coffee and bed. I'm getting quite good at 'putting the wood in the 'ole'' as my Father used to say. Even without the use of hinges.
This entry was originally posted at http://inamac.dreamwidth.org/92342.html. You may comment here or there (or not).
On Sunday we celebrated the Solstice by failing to light the floating candles found at the back of the 'gifts that may come in handy one day' cupboard. Fortunately the rather more practical 'emergency lighting' candle that lives in the dining room provided a beautiful 'light against the darkness and warmth against the winter cold' offering. (It also yet again demonstrated the superiority of ancient tech over modern eco-bulbs by providing a much more instant and bright light than the electric fittings.)
On Monday night my bedroom door fell off its hinges for the second time - on this occasion shearing through the top hinge completely so at some time after the holiday I will have to get to a hardware merchants for new rising hinges (not something one can really brave the holiday shopping crowds for). For the moment I am carefully jamming the door into the hole and hoping that it stays there overnight in order to separate the dog from the cats.
Made the usual Christmas visit to my sister on Tuesday to deliver presents and have a very nice dinner with one of my aunts (sadly my godmother couldn't make it so I must sort out a trip South of the River sometime next year). Got home in time to listen to Cabin Pressure - a very satisfying end to the series - though I'm glad Finnemore is wise enough to finish now before the quality falls. 26 episodes is quite enough for any series. I am leaving Good Omens until I can listen without falling asleep.
Wednesday as mostly spent cooking a light evening meal (lentil flan) from the 'Almost Vegetarian' cookbook, which required making hot pastry and then an hour of stirring lentils in milk, and another 45 minutes in the oven. It turned out much richer than I anticipated and would have easily served four (despite me making two-thirds quantities and using a six inch rather than a 9 inch flan case). One for any vegie guests next time.
Christmas day was bright and sunny - we put the dogs (who opened proceedings with a spat during which I was stupid enough to attempt to part them and Draco mistook my thumb for a rat and attempted to kill it) into their festive gear (Bren has a posh red and gold collar, Draco has a Christmas jumper) and drove out to Roding Meadows for a very pleasant walk (even without dogs I have always enojyed a Christmas day walk - out of the house and away from the fuss). The we had a leisurely Christmas dinner (roast beef and all the trimmings) while watching the Proms performance of Kiss Me Kate. After which we took the dogs for their evening walk (thank goodness for the reflective jackets), and came back in time to watch more dogs at Battersea on POGDOS, thus avoiding Dr Who. Lil went off for a post-dinner lie down and I watched Call the Midwife and Jonathan Creek (visual wallpaper) while attempting to figure out how to knit cables without making holes. The coffee and bed. I'm getting quite good at 'putting the wood in the 'ole'' as my Father used to say. Even without the use of hinges.
This entry was originally posted at http://inamac.dreamwidth.org/92342.html. You may comment here or there (or not).