Some Hanky Panky With Rosie, Followed By A Visit From The Local Police...

Sunday afternoon Liz and co came round. Rosie has a bit of a sniffle, and asked very politely if I could make her some proper hankies. She had a very soft muslin cloth, which was bought when she was a baby, and we turned it into 9 hankies, hemming them on the sewing machine at the dining table, while the rest of the family chatted in the lounge, and Jess did colouring.

Later on we were just settling down to watch Death In Paradise* when the doorbell went. Our new neighbour from the top end of the close, a local police officer. She'd been out for a run, and noticed Joseph had fallen flat on his face! She kindly stopped to alert us, and came in for a brief chat. She said how much she liked the Tableau, and also asked if we knew if any church locally had a Midnight Mass Service on Christmas Eve. [our nearest is happening at 10pm, because the residents of that Village told the vicar that midnight is too late for them.They still call it Midnight Mass though. Normal for Norfolk!]
We noticed on Sunday morning that someone had rearranged the manger, the little mouse is now sniggled up right next to Baby Jesus! A number of folk have suggested we have a Charity Donations Pot. Next year...

*I like a theme tune to have lyrics which I can sing along to ]Like Only Fools and Horses]. If it doesn't I make them up. DIP has not inspired great poetry. I usually sing "Dead! they're all dead, they're all dead, they're all dead!" as that seems to fit.
Monday was a general purpose housework and food prep day, then visiting Christmas Lights in the evening, Today - lunchtime Xmas Nibbles with friends, followed by Carol Singing at the Hospice. One more sleep...

Christmas Pain!

Don't worry, we are all ok - but here's a French Christmas recipe for you. It was featured one day last week on my beautiful Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar - a set of traditional seasonal recipes. This year's calendar has a Parisienne theme. So here is Pain D'Épices.

PAIN D'ÉPICES - This classic spice-laden quick bread is served alongside savoury dishes (such as foie gras or cheeses) or warmed with butter.

• 250ml/9fl oz milk
• 250g/9oz honey
• 170g/6oz rye flour 
• 125g/4oz plain (all-purpose) flour 
• 50g/2oz brown sugar
• 1 tsp of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) 
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1½ tsp finely grated orange zest
• ½ tsp black pepper
• Mixed spice (adjusted per your taste):1½ tsp ground cinnamon, 1½ tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ½ tsp ground cloves, ½ tsp anise seeds

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, brown sugar, bicarbonate of soda, orange zest, salt, pepper and spices. Warm the milk and honey in a small saucepan, stirring until the honey is dissolved. Gradually add the milk and honey to the flour mixture, stirring until a smooth, uniform paste is achieved.
2. Pour the batter into a prepared, buttered and floured, loaf pan (23x5cm/9x2in). Bake in the centre of a preheated oven at 165C°/325°F for 40-45 minutes, until deeply browned. Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack for 10 minutes, then tip out of the pan. Allow to cool completely before slicing and serving.

I decided to make this on Saturday afternoon. Bob was a great help - I had no anise seeds, so he ground up a little bit of star anise in the pestle and mortar. 

The method was very easy - but I needed slightly longer in the oven than I thought - 50 minutes. The finished loaf looked, and smelt great!

And while it cooked, I took down all my spices, wiped the jars, removed outdated stuff, and put them back in proper alphabetical order! All ready for a New Year of Baking.

I have hung a few late arrival random decorations on the rack, along with the lovely spice star Liz bought me years ago from a German Xmas Market. You can just see my jug of twigs and baubles which was a fiver from a Dorset CS in 2018. This year, under the twiggy 'tree' I've placed a shepherd. He was £1.50 in a CS in Manchester last month. Bob and I both liked the simplicity of the figure.

As I was pottering in the kitchen, Bob came in and said he thought he'd heard a car and voices outside. I went to check, in case we had visitors. It was a young family who had driven into the Close to look at the Nativity Tableau. They had brought their little boy last year, and he'd really loved it, so they decided to visit again. This charming 5 year old had all sorts of questions, and wanted to tell me about his baby sister, who was asleep in her car seat. We chatted for a while then he went home with his family, with some Christmas Chocolate. A delightful unexpected visitor.

The JWs had come round a little earlier, wanting to ask me what I thought about Jesus. "Which way did you come into the Close? from the left or the right? They pointed , and I said "So did you see the tableau? I believe Jesus is the Reason for The Season" Had I actually read the Bible recently? "Yes," I said, "this morning. I'm sorry, I have to go, I am in the middle of baking. God bless you!"

Advent 4 - Stars

It was inevitable really,  my first Advent post was about circles, and then I had to find different shapes for the next 3 Sundays, and after squares came triangles...but the most common Christmas shape has to be a star, doesn't it?

The Bible is full of references to stars - the one we'll hear most this week is from Matthew's gospel

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and asked King Herod “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” [Herd had no idea!] And they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him, giving gifts of gold , frankincense and myrrh

But from the very beginning, stars have been important, and Jewish tradition has referred to the Messiah as the Star of Jacob.King David chose a star for his royal seal, and the Star of David has long been the symbol of the Jewish people.
In the old Testament we read about God's creation of the stars [in Job 38 and Amos 5]
Where were you when I created the earth? …While the morning stars sang in chorus and all the angels shouted for joy? 
The Lord made the stars, the Pleiades and Orion. He turns darkness into daylight and day into night.

The Psalmist is overawed by the beauty of the night sky, and marvels that the One who created the galaxies created and cares for mere mortals

When I look at the sky, which you have made, at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places—what are human beings, … that you care for them? And yet you crowned them with glory and honour. O Lord, our Lord, your greatness is seen in all the world!  

In the book of Revelation, Jesus is called the Bright Morning Star

And,here's a challenge, we too are called to be like stars. Paul's letter to the Philippians says...

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may be innocent and pure as God's perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people. You must sparkle among them like stars lighting up the sky, as you offer them the message of life 

How many references to 'Star' can you find in the Christmas carols you've heard recently? Here is John Rutter's lovely "Star Carol" 

Reason For The Season

Here's one of our two CoverStory pieces, which should have arrived with Kirsten by now, I draped it over a box before I posted it, it gives you an idea of how far we are progressing [although the vertical  lines have got a bit distorted]  My December piece is on the left, made with Christmas prints - one mixed strip, top to bottom, and two thinner red strips filling in the gaps around my "Orange Vintage Ads"  panel

Initially I had thought to make my December strip very sparkly, but Kirsten's blue November piece is like that. I determined instead to use up some of my scraps of Xmas prints [trimmings from the tissue holders in my shop] I was going to use the "strip and flip" technique. But I got a little carried away and incorporated triangles and narrower strips into my design, exposing sections of the red foundation fabric.

If you look at it carefully, you may be able to read a very special Christmas word, reminding us that we're celebrating God With Us

A Season Of Gifts And Yellow Fruitfulness

 As the poet Keats didn't quite say.

We were eating some fruit the other afternoon and Bob asked the difference between a tangerine and an 'easy peeler'. I wasn't sure, so I have been down the Research Rabbit Hole and discovered so fascinating facts.

Tangerine is the old name for the Mandarin - and that is the generic name for citrus fruit from several trees. Tangerine is the popular term in the USA, but in the 1960s, the British fruit industry phased it out in favour of the more exotic term Mandarin . Older people [like me!] often say "And we always had a tangerine at the bottom of our Christmas Stockings"

As well as a piece of fruit, Mandarin can also mean the standard, official Chinese language, spoken by over 730M people, or a high ranking civil servant, or a slightly dodgy Lego figure. Tangerine is also the name of a deep orangey red colour.

Satsumas are a variety of mandarin, popular for being easy peeling, and seedless. In 2005 , Tesco actually launched a Save Our Satsuma campaign, because growers in Spain and Morocco were changing satsuma orchards for other more profitable options. Britain is the world's biggest importer of satsumas - parents love them because often children who don't eat fruit will eat these.

Just don't tell the children that satsuma, a Japanese word, is also the name of a type of land snail,

It can also be beautiful Japanese pottery, richly decorated, with crazing on the glaze and embellished with gold.

Well what about clementines, then? Do they have anything to do with the darling miner's daughter? Nope - they were named,  for the french missionary priest and nurseryman, Father Marie-Clement Rodier who grew them in the garden of the orphanage in Algeria where he worked for half a century. Originally he called this hybrid cultivar a mandarinette but it was renamed for him in 1902 a couple of years before his death.

I can understand why supermarkets like the general term "easy peelers"

One final thing - the mandarin is an "ancestor" fruit. There are three ancestor citrus fruits, and all our other citrus fruits are hybrids of these. The other two ancestors are the citron and the pomelo. From the citron [called etrog in Yiddish] are derived lemons and limes. The latter is also called the shaddock [named for the British Sea Captain who first took the fruit from South East Asia and set up plantations in Barbados in 1640] The grapefruit is a pomelo/mandarin hybrid [and do be careful, grapefruit can interact with prescription drugs] 

I found this chart quite appeeling!

We should all be eating more fruit!

Basketwork

Many years ago I blogged about the expression "Basketwork" meaning a Friday afternoon lesson where children just work on paper, and at the end of the day, it is just screwed up [unmarked] and put in the waste basket. Not an activity I would ever do with the children!

This week I have been doing different 'basketwork'

I have three laundry baskets, the brown one I got in 1977 when I had my first flat, then two larger grey ones I got in the 80's when two growing children added considerably to my washload. I admit to not being very diligent about pitting away laundry, and sometimes one basket is full of last week's 'dry washing to be put away' a second is 'stuff to be ironed sometime' and the third is in use carrying this week's washing between the machine and the whirligig dryer, or the Drying Rack in the Futility Room. Bob clearly had a few 'formal' events in the last fortnight, as there were more shirts than usual in the brown ironing basket. I did get them done though [whilst catching up with Strike]

I put away all the other washing, and used one of the big grey baskets for my wrapped Christmas presents. That job is[almost] done and dusted now.

My sewing basket has been full too...I have been working on my CoverStory stitching this week. Rosie has asked for a bowtie for Cat-Cat [her bedtime toy since she was a baby] and in November George requested pjs for TeddyDinosaur and Kezzie commissioned an embellished teeshirt for a colleague who wears different festive outfits all through the last weeks of the Christmas Term.

This was a fun challenge- as requested,  I embroidered a crown with snowflakes and Christmas Clothing Queen then added sparkly ribbon trim, five colourful pompoms, and lots of spangles and sequins. Then I appliqued it to the front of the teeshirt Kezzie had sent me. That is now safely in Essex.

Then there's the shopping basket [I suppose technically called a trolley, or if you are in the USA, a cart] Bob kindly came with me for the Big Shop yesterday - which began with an early start and bacon baps in Costa! Mainly Aldi then a top-up in the Sainsbury's across the road. Mostly OK, we stuck diligently to our carefully planned list.

 But for the 3rd time in a row, I had to have a rescan. I am beginning to suspect the Smartshop App on my phone is dodgy - every time, the final item appears to have not scanned properly. Bob said to the assistant that he had been watching me and seen me scan each item - and if I was trying to con them, surely it would be on the large chicken, not the tube of toothpaste. She was really nice about it, and suggested next time I should use a handset, and possibly uninstall and reinstall the app on my phone. I still felt like a criminal though.

As we unloaded the bags into the car, the pot of cream split! That was a bit messy to say the least. But otherwise I think we have more than enough food for the festive family feasting.

A Post From The Past

I rarely re-post, but I was looking for something else, and found this one from December 2013. It seems to me that it's still relevant [still trouble in Syria]  That year I posted each Advent Sunday about my Willow Tree Angels. 

‘Angel Of Courage’

This angel reminds me of the importance of the ministry of encouragement. The dictionary defines that word as “to inspire with hope, courage or confidence; to hearten."

I love this angel so much, because this is a pose I so frequently adopt myself. I throw my arms in the air, and shout “Hallelujah!” or “Yessss!!” or “We’ve done it!” or “Jesus, you’re amazing!” or “It’s finished!” [sometimes my fists clenched purposefully, other times, hands open, fingers pointing heavenwards]

I walk through the busy streets, and see the people hurrying along, getting ready for Christmas – many look harassed, fraught, anxious, worrying about whether they should spend their money on all this stuff, whether they can pay off the Credit Card bill. Others are struggling to carry loads of bags [probably full of inappropriate, overpriced gifts, many of which will be forgotten very quickly.] In the shop, the lady behind me in the queue is talking about a family member who has been diagnosed with major illness, and a neighbour recently bereaved. At the bus stop, they are discussing what will happen to their jobs next year, and how yet another local firm has gone into receivership, and how they will struggle to meet the mortgage payment in January.

And I want to encourage each one of them, and say “Christmas is not about giving stuff from Argos and Tesco and M&S…it’s about receiving hope. Not about feeling a failure because you cannot provide all the material things that the ads imply you must have if you are a ‘perfect’ family, it’s about triumphing gratefully in the many blessings you have been given. Love, friendship, home, family, friends, food and clothes. Not about being anxious about the things that might [or might not] happen in the New Year, it’s about receiving courage to face what lies ahead.”

I have no idea what your situation is, what you are facing right now – or what you will be facing in the year ahead. But be encouraged, because Christmas reminds us that the Son of God became man, he lived and died – and rose again – for us. Immanuel – God with us. And He will walk with us through every day of our lives - to give us hope, and inspiration and courage. 

I'm not perfect – I have ‘wobbly moments’ [usually around 4am] when I start stressing about things [great and small ]…the lack of Supply Teaching Income, two daughters living 100 miles away, the many tasks I have ‘left undone’, the odd socks lurking in the bottom of the laundry basket forever seeking their mates, the latest proclamation from Mr Gove, my inability to make gravy, the troubles in Syria…but then God’s gracious Spirit reminds me that He is there and He does care. And then I throw up my arms and shout “Hallelujah! Thank you Lord!”  and I get on with my day [unless it is actually 4am, in which case I stay very still and rejoice silently, in case I wake my beloved ]

Be strong and of good courage. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go

I'm Knot Convinced!

We had a brilliant time at our Craft Group Christmas Get Together. We chatted*, and ate festive food and played games - and Janet taught us to make Macrame trees.

Our results were very diverse because we had different thicknesses of string. I was fairly happy with my little green tree, but I'm not planning to make any more!

After lunch I sorted out the freezer food, and made a sensible shopping list. 

We watched the final episode of Wolf Hall on Sunday night. I wasn't quite sure about the end... I must check the book again.

George was a sheep in his school nativity play yesterday, and remembered his line. I'm very proud of him for overcoming his shyness, I'm so pleased his Mum and Dad were able to go and watch the production. I sometimes feel there's a lot of pressure put on the youngest children in school. 

It's only "eight more sleeps"and I'm not convinced I'll be fully organised for the 25th, but if things don't get done, that doesn't matter. 

*one person asked us not to say who had won Strictly as they had yet to watch the final on iPlayer. How had they managed to avoid finding out for 36 hours? I don't usually watch the show, but I saw the last 10 minutes on Saturday night, and was very happy about the result. 

Upside Down And Back To Front

I finally got my bakeware sorted! It has only taken 4 years! When we came to Cornerstones for Christmas in 2020, I realised that in the 11 years since we'd got this property, I'd been accumulating bakeware here.

If I was here for a week or more, and I wanted to make cakes or pies, I'd pick up tins in CS, or sales. And when we retired, I brought my pans from Dorset, and I had a lot of duplicates! On Saturday afternoon, I pulled the two huge plastic boxes out of the relatively inaccessible corner cupboard and sorted everything out.

I now have a large box of perfectly good, but surplus, bakeware, ready to go back to a CS. I've admitted that the still wrapped silicon macaron sheet is never going to be used, and the heavy shortbread mould brought back from holiday 20 years ago, and used twice, is a waste of space.

I have reduced the collection by 50%, and made a careful list of what I have kept. And also noted that my large rectangular springform pan [as used for big celebration cakes] will only fit in the right hand oven, below the fan, with the oven shelf put in upside down [and needs 1½ times my regular Xmas cake recipe] The cupboards are much tidier.

I had an unexpected flash of inspiration last week. I want to wear my pretty blue skirt over Christmas, and I wanted a simple plain blue sweater to go with it. But I've been very strict all year about clothes buying. 

I suddenly realised that I could wear the pretty blue cardi which Steph gave me a few years ago, but put it on back to front! It goes beautifully, and looks great under my black jacket. Wearing B2F was very popular in WW2 during clothes rationing. 

Have you done any successful decluttering recently? 

Do you ever wear things B2F? 

[I know Kezzie tucks in dresses to wear as tops] 

Advent 3 - Triangles

Since I posted last week about squares,m we have realised that all but 3 of our cards are square shaped. It is definitely the fashion this year. 

But triangles -  where do they fit into the Shape of Christmas? 

Well, again, at the meal table- I often cut sandwiches into triangle shapes and fold my napetties along the diagonal. And the children's cone shaped party hats look triangular...

Christmas trees are definitely triangles

And my house is strung with triangular Christmas bunting

But what about the Celtic Trefoil Knot, with its essential "threeness", representing both earthly body, mind and spirit, and also the divine Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Often in Advent, we think about the birth of John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin, [full story in Luke chapter 1] Bob made a very interesting point in a sermon the other week.

He said that when Mary went to visit her pregnant cousin Elizabeth, to tell her of her own pregnancy, Elizabeth praises God, and we read...

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favoured, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

That is, she prays to God the Father, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, and she calls Jesus Lord. Bob suggested that therefore Elizabeth could be described as the first Christian. Now there's a thought for you to ponder on!

Some more triangle bunting, wishing you Christmas Joy [my Grandmother said that the best way to find JOY is to thing first of Jesus, then of Others, and then finally of Yourself]

The Icing On The Cake

I gave up the marzipan hunt, and decided to buy another pack after my hospital volunteer session. The unit was looking very festive - the tree from the town festival is on display in the entrance, and there are seasonal decals on all the windows. There were quite a few empty beds, I think they're trying to get folk home for Christmas.

 

The patient I played chess with recently was in his wheelchair by the door, his bag beside him. He apologised that he didn't have time for another game. I had a long chat about knitting with another patient, who was wearing a beautiful jumper she made recently. She told me that as well as her fall, she'd had breathing problems "All my family suffer with their bronickles"

I left and went to Lidl to buy milk, mushrooms, mouthwash and marzipan [I love it when my list is alliterative] The first three were easy to find. But not marzipan. I asked an assistant "we stopped stocking it at the end of November" he replied. What?!? I can't be the only person needing marzipan for their Christmas cake this week?

I went across to Tesco [it's on the same site] They had three options, pre rolled sheets, ready to roll "golden" marzipan and "nutty" marzipan. I'm not paying someone a quid to roll out my marzipan. So I must choose between golden and nutty. "Golden" promises to add a soft, nutty layer, and "nutty" will add a soft, sweet layer to the cake. Golden has more sugar, and added colouring. I chose nutty.

But my question is this

If all marzipan is made of almonds, isn't ALL marzipan nutty? 

[Being an Almond myself I have strong feelings about this]

The cake is now marzipanned, iced and decorated. It's smaller than last year's cake, so the figures are standing closer, and the Magi are just strolling round at a lower level! 

Have you made/iced a cake this year? 

Lost And Found

If pace was my Word of the Year, I think I have totally failed. The pace of life has been rather too fast - except for poor Bob, for whom many activities have  been conducted at a much slower pace than in previous years. But Pilates is helping the back/ankle issues, and in the New Year he will be starting regular sessions at the Leisure Centre. And having a Blue Badge means he can at least park nearer his destination and reduce the amount of walking he has to do, we are very grateful for that. But we seem to have had a very full calendar in recent days. 

We actually scheduled last Monday as  Date Day - time to be together with no commitments to outside activities. I am taking time over the next couple of days to wrap Christmas Gifts.

Most of these have been bought over the last two or three months, and put on the top shelf in my wardrobe, But not everything - there was a stack of things on the spare bed at one point, and when I discovered Rosie and Jess were coming up to Norfolk for the weekend, I promptly hid their gifts. I didn't want surprises spoilt.

On Wednesday I got myself into a real panic because I could not find some gifts, and had completely forgotten where I had put them! Bob helped me locate 90% of  them [all in bizarre places]

Then there was the Christmas cake, which I originally planned to ice before Julian came.But he's not really fond of Christmas Cake, so I decided to wait. Could I find the cake on Wednesday? I hunted high and low, declaring confidently "It is in a round tin" Bob looked on the top of cupboards, and took the lids off the various round tins, only to find smaller round tins nesting inside. All empty! Eventually I found the square tin, neatly labelled "Christmas Cake" with the cake inside it [in my defence, the cake itself is round!] I have found the pack of fondant ready roll icing,but not the marzipan. The cake remains uniced as yet. [is uniced a word? it looks so similar to unicef, but pronounced so differently]

I returned the unsold craft goods to the loft, and went on to my 31:13 website to manage the inventory. And discovered to my horror that the mice were mistakenly listed as out of stock.No wonder none has sold for a few weeks! I've reduced some of the Christmas items.

We now have a clearer idea of which family members will be around, and when, over the festive season. So I shall make some serious menu plans and tidy the freezer and food cupboards next week.

I recently had a Waitrose voucher, and decided to stock up on tins from their Essentials Range. I am always intrigued by the items they consider to be 'essential'! These are currently on trays, slid under the spare bed. 

On Saturday morning, as I prepared for Christmas Lunch #1, I could not find the cranberry sauce [which I serve with roast chicken as well as with turkey] I knew I had bought a jar. We managed to find three in the end- one in the kitchen, one in the Futility Room anc one under the bed. 

"I once was lost, but now I'm found" is the soundtrack to life at Cornerstones this week

A Frayed Knot

There were jingle bells in the Close, on Tuesday as Santa came calling. His sleigh was being towed by a car... and the parking situation being crazy as ever, the poor driver had to reverse really slowly to get back to the main road. 

On Wednesday, the Shed Project had their Christmas Mardle. A dozen or so turned up, and it was great for the wives to actually meet. Bob was thrilled that everything has come together so well, and the Shed really is achieving good things.

It was chilly, I was grateful for my warm golden jacket with its fur trimmed hood. I came home and found an email about next Monday - the craft group Xmas get-together. Janet is going to teach us to make macrame trees like this. The email said "please bring string and wooden beads" 

l decided that the macrame plant holder I made18 months ago should be dismantled. It was not fit for purpose [the pot fell out in the slightest breeze] So Wednesday evening I watched the Repair Shop, then Shetland, whilst untying all those knots

Eventually I ended up with the string and beads I needed, Bob kindly wound the lengths into tidy balls of yarn. 

I may post tree pictures next week. 

I don't really think macrame is my craft of choice! 

Who Were Brian, Eric, John , Milly And Marion?

Well done if you recognised the names of members of the Apthorp family. They were potato merchants in London, but when the original business was bought out by Ross foods in 1968. John started his own company selling frozen foods. He took the initials of the family members, plus A for Apthorp and came up with BEJAM. At the time, less than 1% of British households owned a freezer - but as more women went back to work, and wanted food which was on hand, and easy to prepare when they got home, freezer ownership grew. The company began selling freezers as well as the foodstuffs, and then microwaves...and then. after 20 years in business. was bought out by Iceland.

Yesterday I went to the Food Warehouse at Longwater - it is about 11 miles from Cornerstones, and takes 20 minutes on a good day. The Retail Park also has The Range,the M&S foodhall, a large Sainsburys and more, with an Aldi on the other side of the road. 
I have mixed feelings about this shop
plus points

• on a Tuesday I get OAP discount, and 10% is worth having [especially on pricematched items like milk and butter]
• they were the first UK company to go palm-oil free
• their bags of prepared frozen veg are very convenient when my I'mnot getting produce from the Raised Bed
• for quick and easy party food and BBQ items they are excellent

minus points

• if I'm not careful I can 'overbuy' on the "3 for £5" offers
• there are a lot of orange UPF products which I am trying to avoid [I notice many now have 'air fryer cooking instructions' printed on them
• in the Food Warehouse, the nonfrozen items are often noticeably more expensive than in Aldi or Sainsburys, and it is tempting to buy in the FW rather than drive to the other end of the complex for just 2 or 3 items.

I don't really like their TV adverts. Nothing to do with Josie Gibson, I just don't like them!

The staff on Tuesday were helpful, as were staff in The Range and Sainsburys. They all seemed very busy, restocking shelves quickly as customers were filling their trolleys. I wasn't buying a lot, just a few specific items, and needed to find them quickly without going up and down all the aisles. I have decided to be Relentlessly Cheerful in shops over the next couple of weeks. There are quite a few Grumblers and Grinches around at the minute, and a smile or cheerful greeting can defuse possible difficult situations.

We've eaten up the frozen stuff I'd bought in for Julian's visit [including the large chicken we ate Saturday night,  Aunt Bessie's Yorkshires and the Emergency Loaf] but I need to stock up again before Christmas Day.

Do you have regular frozen goods on your shopping list?

Mine would be a bag of frozen peas, a pack of unbaked croissants, an emergency bread product, some frozen fruits, a pack of butter, and pack of bacon, a pack of sausages,and some pukka pies [proper oven bake ones,not the microwave abominations] and some icecream/

I reckon those things will provide meals if unexpected guests turn up.

What are your ideal freezer 'constants'?