Thank You Christine!

I met my best friend Chris in town last week, we had a cuppa and a chat. She gave my Christmas gift - another lovely Painted Bear calendar. I get so much pleasure from this gift, all through the year. The January picture is a good reminder to stop prevaricating!

I'm really looking forward to church this morning, Bob will be preaching on our "Verse for the Year" Romans 15:13 - all about overflowing with hope. 

They Once Were Lost, But Now They're Found

I freely admit to putting up lots of decorations at Christmas. And that means that regular everyday things get moved to unfamiliar places.  Extra foodstuffs mean the fridge and freezer get cluttered too. It is not surprising that somethings get misplaced during the festive season. 

It started with my gloves. I was going out to church and looked in my coat pockets and bags for these. I found just one. I hoped I hadn't lost the other, I am fond of them, they are smart. I put the solitary glove on top of a basket of Christmas cards. On Tuesday I was in the bedroom, and picked up the glove, resting on top of my library books ...hang on, I thought, I saw this in a basket on the coffee table earlier. Yes, for a whole week the two gloves had been languishing in plain sight, in separate rooms. They are happily reunited, and in the 'hat, scarf, glove basket' where they belong.

Then the eight 'everyday' mugs went missing. I have a dozen John Lewis Christmas Mugs, which I have been collecting since 2008 - enough for all the family to have one. At the start of Advent I put the everyday mugs away, and got out my JL ones. Last week I packed away the Xmas ones - 

then realised I could not find the others anywhere. I looked in the loft, in the sideboard, in the kitchen cupboards, even out in the old garage. It was three days before I found them - in the basket with the summer BBQ stuff! What on earth was I thinking to put them in there? The final lost items were the weirdest of the lot. 

Prior to going to Manchester I prepared a tray of Pigs In Blankets.

These were to accompany the Roast Chicken. Except it was a disrupted morning, I'd halved the chipolatas and wrapped them in bacon, and put them on the tray, all ready for the freezer. The doorbell went. A delivery guy, something to be signed for...as he left, Bob came home, and then we had lunch. Around 2pm, I said "where did I put those pigs in blankets?" A serious hunt ensued - but there was no sign of them anywhere. Then I found them - in the bottom of the garage freezer. I'd been so sure the doorbell rang before I put them away. Off to Manchester, Christmas, return ... and a decision not to roast the chicken. "We can serve the PIBs with the Christmas Pie instead". I said. And then I forgot. Jean mentioned putting her leftover PIBs in a cassoulet. Neither of us could remember where ours were, or whether we had in fact eaten them. At last I tracked them down - in the very shallow top drawer of the freezer - relocated when I was putting other foods away.

Finally there were the nuts I purchased as Christmas gifts at the showground. I'd hidden them and forgot where. They were delivered somewhat belatedly! The gloves are found, the mugs and  PIBs are found, and the nuts are rediscovered. I suspect I may be losing my marbles though..

Dry January?

Just before I went shopping on Tuesday, I nipped to the bathroom. As I dried my hands I observed that the blue towel was so thin you could hold it up to the window and see daylight, and the edges were faded and almost fraying. The nametag, sewn in place by my MIL in 1974 when Bob went up to Oxford was fading too.

I succumbed to a sale bargain in Sainsbury's! Most of my towels are blue or white, so I treated myself to this gorgeous habitat/Morris "Tulip" handtowel, half price in the sale, just £5. It is thick, and soft, and rather lovely imho. In January, my hands will be properly dry.

52 years is not bad going for a towel though, is it?

Angel Delight!

Among my boxes and bags of Christmas stuff being put away is a black binbag full of white strips. It is being very carefully labelled . I knew a woman once who wrapped all the Christmas presents in November and hid them in four knotted black bin bags at the back of the garage, without telling her husband. Yes, he did put them out for the refuse collection. Oops!

Bob is aware of this bag. It is a set of new wings for our Tableau Angel. In early December, we were walking through Dereham, and I noticed a stunning window display in the BigC charity shop. This is a Norfolk based charity, established 45 years ago, who do some great work, supporting people affected by cancer [patients and their families]

The display was an angel, in a fabulous cream silk gown with wings and a halo, and all beautifully lit up. I went straight into the shop and asked what would happen to her wings after Christmas. The manager asked why I was interested, and I showed her a picture of our tableau, and explained I was interested in getting better wings for the angel. She took my details, and left a message at the end of the year on our answerphone saying the display had been taken down, and the wings were packed up and ready to be collected! 

I went in with the girls on Saturday and she gave them to me. She was so pleased that we'd raised so much for the Hospice...and glad the wings were going to a good home, and not filling up her tiny store room. I made a donation to BigC and came home very happy. 

At last I can dispense with that curtain track/net curtain arrangement for something properly wing-like! Maybe I should think about upgrading the seraph's robe too [perhaps adding some lace trim?] That task can wait till November...

Zipping Along...

 
This is how a zip [zipper] works. Such a simple idea, developed at the start of the 20th century by Gideon Sundbach, a Swedish-American engineer. We have been using them on our clothes, boots, furniture and purses ever since. In 1937, French fashion designers raved about the use of zips in men's trousers, and declared the zip had beaten the button in "The Battle of The Fly".

Zips are splendid, when they work properly. They save time, they help in the process of teaching small children to dress themselves, and they reduce time spent fumbling with buttons. But when they go wrong...Here is the one I removed from Rosie's jacket last Friday night. As she zipped it up, the coil of nylon teeth came completely adrift. "Can you fix it? Should we chuck it?" asked Liz.

I checked the Great Stash, and I did have a nylon open ended zipper of the correct length, but it was navy. I carefully unpicked the damaged zip, pinned the replacement in place, and then tacked it carefully. It is a Mountain Warehouse coat, with lots of inner layers and flaps etc. It took ages to get it all correctly aligned. I went to bed at 10.30, and got up early.

My sewing machine, with its walking foot made short work on stitching it down. One line of stitches close to the edge, another strengthening line 5mm in. It all went smoothly. I was a bit bothered about not having a matching colour zip, but the family liked the contrast and it was declared "a statement zip". Best of all, it was done without buying a new one and Rosie was only briefly without the jacket. They have all gone back to London now, term starts on Monday. 
This was my first sewing project of the year, definitely a Restoration, and in keeping with my #word365. Now back to that overdue-two-by-two!

Love Your Leftovers

There is not much Christmas cake left.  So the little resin figures have been carefully washed and dried and replaced in the box till next year. After the near disaster 4 years ago I don't soak Pauline's angel anymore [*she is sugar not resin]

How have we been managing our leftovers? I had bought a chicken which didn't get served as a roast dinner, so Bob put that with leftover ham** and veg into a splendid pie. That was served up on New Year's Day to Liz and family, along with lots of veg. We all like mash, so we had sweet potato mash, celeriac mash, and regular mash, alongside roast pots and parsnips, plus carrot coins and Yorkshires. 
The pie made 10 servings so kept us going for a few days. 

Bob mixed the various leftover mashes together. I took eight scoops, and some breadcrumbs [leftover crusts] to make a tray of croquettes for the freezer. 

Meanwhile Bob blitzed the remaining mash along with a can of chopped tomatoes, and we have plenty of delicious soup in the freezer. We had a bowl each on Sunday evening with homemade whole meal bread. Very warming!

As we were away for 6 days, I have fewer Christmas leftovers this year. All there is now are a few mince pies. I might make this recipe later. * the angel, not Pauline! **Liz took the final piece of ham to add to a rice based meal.

How have you managed with your leftovers? 
Do you have a favourite 'leftover' dish?

A New Word For A New Year

Last years #word365, proved a good choice - there were things which had a real impact on our world, and on our communities, as well as on ourselves.
And there were certainly many times where I was aware that my choices were making an impact on myself, my loved ones - and other people, and the planet. I was stuck for a word for 2026, and I had the germ of an idea, so I asked Bob. His suggestion chimed perfectly with my thoughts [which had been something about "putting things right"] He said "What about RESTORATION?" Perfect! thank you

There are lots of aspects of this - the dictionary offers these ideas

1. the act or process of returning something to its original condition [by repairing, cleaning etc]
2. the act of bringing back something that existed before [eg peace, a monarchy, a relationship, good health, animals in a habitat]
3. the act of returning something that was stolen or taken
4. [theological] the act of bringing a soul back to God

And so there seems plenty of scope here - I love The Repair Shop - the way things are restored 'to their former glory'."Please can you make it as it was when my Grandad first saw it?" they say, as they hand over the shabby cap, damaged instrument, smashed pot or filthy, painting. Sometimes just a little TLC, more often, hours of painstaking craftsmanship - but the team do create remarkable restorations. Mending, fixing, making things useful again - these are skills I enjoy practising.
Things that existed before - I am sure every one of you longs for peace in Ukraine. But there are other things to try and bring back. Four weeks ago, people in Norfolk were celebrating the sighting of a wild beaver for the first time in 500 years!

Personally I would like to restore my body to a slimmer, fitter state than it is right now. 
I'm not too sure how restoring 'something stolen or taken' fits in with my personal blog. But I know issues will arise this year on that one.
The theological one - as a preacher, I love the opportunity to point people to Jesus - but also know that I must keep my own 'spiritual walk' moving in a good direction too.

Restoration is such a positive word! In what way does "restoration" resonate with you?