This, That And The Christmas Other!

Well, just 7 sleeps to go to The Big Ho Ho!

Tuesday was my last post so here is what the last couple of days have involved; various things going on in and around the house. (You may want to grab a sherry and a mince pie as this may go on for some time!)

Thursday was the day for baking biscuits for the teachers; I made them and Alfie helped decorate them. I gave three teachers biscuits and the headmistress some of my mince pies and one of the Merry Christmas biscuits. The little bags are the ones I found in Lidl a couple of weeks ago and were just perfect then I made tags for the boys to write on and the job was done. Just had to hope the boys got them to school in one piece!

The boys and Jon finished for Christmas on Friday and the boys came home with cards and bits and pieces they had made in school. This was made by Harry and I decided the perfect place to put it was right on the front door. I LOVE it!

I made a no-bake celebratory chocolate tiffin for the boys and Jon being home for Christmas and it came out really well. It is quite sweet so you wouldn't want to eat a lot of it at once but lovely to have a nibble of with a drink or after a meal.

The boys normally have pizza and corn on the cob for tea on Fridays as they go to Youth Club and it is a quick tea. They like the sausage stuffed crust from Iceland but I decided to make it myself this week and it didn't look too shabby an effort.

Yesterday we went into Aber for lunch and some festive family fun and shopping. The boys were pointed in the direction of a couple of things Jon and I may like for Christmas and took them to the counter and paid for them by themselves! We came home with a few things such as my Kilner jam pan and half a dozen new jars; 

I'd have had to wait until my birthday in September if I hadn't got them now. I have not wrapped them and Jon's new reciprocal (don't ask) saw in the black and blue case is also not packed but very gratefully received as were my goodies.

At our last house I managed to keep the same poinsettia going for five Christmases, yes five! However the one I bought last year does not seem to have the same level of enthusiasm so was very jealous when I saw this big beauty in the Tesco cafe whilst we stopped for a warming latte.

In Lidl later on I saw these darling little poinsettia plants. 

Sadie, a life in the english rain , lovely blog to visit, here is where one of the Oxo box comes into the picture, literally! (Not the best quality photo.)

I haven't shown many photos of the outside recently but here is my garlic coming on really well....

and my onions, too.

I did manage to plant some daff bulbs in one of my small planters a while ago and look here!

I am always tweaking the decorations and the easiest way is to make something quickly. I can't get a good photo of the one of these I've made for the beam in the kitchen but this is basically the same apart form the ribbons I've used to attach the pennants to; really pleased with both - nothing like a bit of Christmas crafting.

I took Alfie to his last piano lesson before Christmas this evening and i am proud as punch. He will be taking his pre-test in March and has his books to start preparing for it in January. He only began his lessons at the start of September but he is coming on beautifully!! The books are not cheap, £17 for the latest three, plus £10 for each lesson but I truly think it is worth every penny for the results we are getting.  If he goes down to the cellar for something he just CAN'T resist playing a few notes which I flippin' love!

In other news, I promise this will come to an end soon, we have a booking for our letting room for Boxing Day for two nights - can you believe it? That will pay for a good chunk of the Christmas food bill for really not a lot of effort.

Right, I'm going now as the final of The Apprentice is on shortly.

I will have pictures of the finished parking space project soon as Jon has been working really hard on it for the last couple of days and it is looking fab.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx