At home

 If you drive along M27 near junction 10, you will see this huge concrete box, they have been building it for months, the plan is to turn the limited junction into a full working junction to support the huge housing development planned.

Everywhere there are warning notices, from 8pm on Christmas eve until 4th January the motorway will be closed, from J9 to J11, where a huge hole will be dug across the lanes the box will be moved into place and the motorway restored around it.

It's going to impact on us, if we travel to town or daughters house we have to join traffic from J9, daughters house is near J11. Even the bus route will be effected, as it has to negotiate a huge roundabout near J9, the traffic lights will be reconfigured to help the increase in traffic along the A27. We are planning a stay at home throughout, if we should want to go out, we could head towards Portsmouth, which will not be impacted.

My final gift arrived on Friday, everything is wrapped, the gifts we have here will be taken on Christmas morning, everything is going to plan.

I worked in my greenhouse on Friday afternoon, I put the plastic cover on my tiny greenhouse, which sits in the centre of my glass house, in here are tender plants, I checked my various flowering plants, all are doing well, just a bit of a tidy around and dead head some summer plants. The garden is looking after itself, hellebores are in bud, my dark red almost black bloom has no sign of life, I will be sad if it has died, I did look for another the same colour, without finding any.

Saturday was a busy day, we walked to village, my sister sent me money to get gifts for daughter and her family, I really did not want to go to town, so we got a bottle of wine for daughter and small gifts for George and Molly and money to Will. Later we watched the Strickly final with a neighbour, glass of wine and party food, it was fun, a much later night than intended, felt very festive. 

Read, new, done

 This is a brilliant book, english couple living in USA, difficult to say much about the plot, it could have made a great slap stick film in places, I really could not put this book down, I do like this author. Book 80 read this year.

I ordered a silk cyclamen, it was a toss up between red or white, I settled for white as it will blend in with my other Christmas silk plants, and still look good against our green walls. It won't arrive until after the holidays, my real plants are full of tiny flies which is driving us mad.

I got my pottery back, I'm so pleased with this plant pot, I tried to blend the leaves and add a colour wash blend on the main body. It will live on my kitchen window sill. 

Daughters plate is stunning, loads of lovely colours,

 should bring loads of pleasure in years to come.

I have been to town 3 times this week, Monday for our normal wander, Wednesday to get the camera lens cover replaced on my phone, today to get our pottery, each time I took the bus, we are extremely lucky to have a great service, which runs from Portsmouth to Southampton, and calling in at our small village and on to town, the buses are new electric models as both cities have emission charges.

Thursday was dire, heavy rain for most of the day, it did not stop, so I cleaned the house, making sure both bathrooms are shining, hubby was bored enough to help. We both were tired by early evening, happy to have it all done. We did pop to Lidl for a few bits, just the fresh veg to get next week.

Thank you for your understanding of my comments regarding my brother, he has changed he does not go many places and stays home alone. He does not see the need to interact with other people, he is lonely, but won't admit it, I worry for him, its the same path as our older brother, who is now in secure home unable to care for himself. I try speak to him a few times each week on a video call, we text most days, getting older is no fun. I don't want to inflict our lifestyle on him, that's not my role, but I do wish more for him.

I am feeling a bit better, these past few grey dull days have not helped, today is blue skies, sunny and mild. Daughter and the little ones are busy in their last few days at school, her cousin from Somerset on her dad's side is visiting her, so we won't see much of them, I am sleeping over on Monday, no reason, just time together.

In a dip

 As part of my Christmas gift daughter got me a plant, I chose this white hellebore, daughter told me to plant it now, so its here under the acer in the slate, I think it will stand out more here and be in shade in summer.

The spring pots have loads of shoots, its always the same at this time of year, I'm not worried, they will die back and reappear next year in the correct season.

I've started reading this book it is truly funny, just loads of his stories, he is a clever comedian, he takes what we know and expands on it, life growing up in the slum's of Glasgow created this fine mind, even today he can hold a audience, pure genius.

I have loads to read, I've not read much this month, my last book I abandoned, just too boring, I also have a couple on my Kindle including Rob Rinders 3rd novel, so plenty of relaxing ahead.  

My brother is safely back at his home, its almost a 3 hour journey, he did say its probably his last visit here, he is two years older than me, apparently its up to us to visit him and wider family from now on, my sister is unable to travel, she hardly ever leaves her home, hubby is 76 and oldest driver. I adore my brother and having him stay, sadly his attitude has slipped so much, he often says he just doesn't care.

I'm feeling flat, the spare room is clean and ready for our next visitor, probably Will on a sleepover before going back school. I expect after a few days with hubby I will bounce back, the children are very excited, which cheers me up. We have very little to do, just last minute perishable foods for the fridge, just the two of us from Boxing day, so not huge amounts.

Thank you for your recent comments, Will is tall, almost as tall as me, he has shot up this summer, he is very caring towards George, sadly he and Molly are often arguing, nothing huge, they just are not good at sharing the same space, Molly is still too young to understand her older brothers needs, so the photo is special.

Finished

 This is my brothers cake, I cheated and used simple purchased decorations, along side are my individual cakes they are a bit deep, the balance works well, I have a marzipan top with a icing star, mine are without the marzipan.  They taste great, I will make smaller ones again next year. I have left the top of ours bare, same as daughters, I have no desire to create any decorations and daughter has her own reusable one.

Daughter visited on Saturday with her three to see my brother, Will is feeling much better, he has bounced back quickly. The children played in the garden for a while, it was a dry day, I had planned to do some crafting but it was just too busy, so I sent this paint yourself nativity set home with them, Sunday they visited Santa so they can paint afterwards. 

Sunday the children went to see Santa, George and Molly were very excited, Will is now making commitments about him being fake, at 8 years old the bubble has burst. Daughter asked them to sit on the snowman seat together, I loves this scene, this seat has featured in many of our Christmas photos. 

Sunday my brother spent a few hours with his daughter and grandson, we walked to our local Co-op, did not need much, I got a nice selection of cheeses and patè, we got some fresh veg as well. Once again this year hubby received a £50 voucher, its a brilliant gift from his former employer, just to those who completed 20+years service. In previous years its taken a few trips to spend the whole amount, this year we spent over half on our first visit.

It's quiet here my brother does not want to go out much, he's OK walking to the village, no stopping for coffee and cake, does not want to walk to shore or castle. Hubby does get bored staying in every day, so I'm juggling two different men to keep everyone happy. My brother does not accept compromise, even at our house he likes things on his terms, which as I become older is hard work. I love him dearly but I wish he was just a little more accepting to our ways. 

I have wrapped all the childrens presents, and was surprised how many bits we have for the grandchildren, I lost track of my purchases, should have made a list, they will be happy. I managed to find daughter a gift, it should arrive by midweek, then I am completely done.