Busy doing nothing

I struggled with the start of this book, not knowing where the plot was heading, then everything twisted and became interesting, I guessed who done it by the middle of the book, the reveal was given with a quarter of the book left. The final sections of the book were brilliant, with a final twist. This is the second book I have read by this author and he is excellent at misleading in plain sight. Book 74 read this year.

I am reading off my Kindle apt, so another book by the same author, another very different plot, what happens when your husband disappear, how do you cope, what's happened to him, this book follows both of them, definitely not a who done it, not my favourite book of his. Book 75 read this year.

  My soft trainers were looking shabby, they are pale pink and show every mark, I have washed them a few times they are 4 years old, I looked at my favourite site, https://www.clarksoutlet.co.uk/ and found some great prices, I am not keen on big solid trainers, preferring softer styles. As the site implies these are the end of line items, so now was the best time to find lighter weight summer styles, I regularly get Clarks shoes so I know the size I require. I can't remember the last time I paid full price for shoes, £63 for both pairs, free postage and easy to return should you require it, they fit perfectly and I'm happy. 

I have done a small sewing task on my duffle coat ready for this cooler wet weather, when I purchased it back in 2023 I was disappointed with the string and rough wooden toggles, I thought it did not match the quality of the rest of the coat, so finally I removed the string and wooden ones and replaces them, sadly the toggles are plastic, I think they look much better. The first photo is the true navy colour of the coat, I don't know why the second photo is so washed out.

We are back having homemade soups most days for lunch, hubby in the past few weeks made two batches with my tomatoes and one batch with my butternut squash, this week we have minestrone, which doesn't have any homegrown veg in, it is my favourite. We are halfway through a ginger cake, he is going to make a red velvet cake, Will's favourite, and he makes it free from dairy so both George and Molly can eat some, it's half term so we will see them a few days.  

I worked in my area behind the garage, I have emptied the leaf mulch bins, some has gone into bags for use later, both hubby and I have been collecting leaves for my two black bins, I have used the chicken straw bedding from my neighbours hens in both composters, it's dry which is necessary to make the magic work. It was lovely on Saturday, so I spent loads of time outside, Lilly was with me keeping an eye on me, I attached the climbing rose behind the garage to the chicken wire, I would like it to fill out and hide the scruffy sight behind in neighbours garden, I also cut back my climbing rose by the front of the garage, the stems were above the fence height, I have cut them back hard, which hopefully means it will bloom much lower and grow again.

It's so lovely these modern days, we only had two clocks to change from summer time, all the rest automatically change, for years we would find a clock we forgot to change, the last clock to be done is always the one in our car, we don't use it so often these days. Sunday was sunny and bright but cold, the house is warm and snug.

What's new

This was a brilliant book, a good story line which we all can recognise a daughter looking after her mum, then the handy man arrives and sorts everything out, a little too much, what followed was a battle of wits, each getting the upper hand on the other, so many twist even to the final couple of chapters, I could not put it down. Book 73 read this year.

I made 6 cupcakes from my second batch of Christmas cake mix, which we loved and had the idea to make small cakes, I had loads of the ingredients left over, I did not have any glace cherries or mixed peel so it's just mixed fruit, this made 14 cakes, these are slightly overfilled, so I could have made a few more. Both brother and daughter have asked for smaller cakes, so this might be a better solution, too late this year but going forward.

The metallic cupcake cases I have had for ages, and will last for years having 60 of each colour, I got the tiny edible cake decorations, just too fiddly to make, I will leave in cases and cut circular marzipan and fondant icing for the top. Much simpler and should look good, some of these will be gifted to Sharon as a thank you for her eggs.

I could not resist this little decoration for my office, it is just the head and stand, the wool (yarn) I already had, just a bit of fun and not too expensive, I think they started out as a toilet roll holder, this is much nicer, He's called Owain, pronounced Ewan. 

It's been a busy week, all 3 little ones had parents evenings, Will's good as always, he's hard working, willing to learn, well behaved in class, one new to us comment is that Will often chooses to partner another boy who has special needs, and helps him with the task, not really surprising as he is so supportive of George. Molly's as expected was good, interactive throughout the day, she is loving school, George on the other hand has issues, daughter has already had a meeting at school with teacher, 1-to-1 and his support assistant, who is steering the teacher onto a path more suitable for George. He is settling into his day, but he is frustrated and has had a few melt downs in class, which is reflected at home, he gets really upset and lashes out at mummy, he is a strong little boy. Regularly I get video calls to help calm him, I chat to him until he is calm again, these episodes only happen on school nights, he's so calm over the weekend, it is sad to see him behaving like this, he had been calm for much of the last school year.

I visited the dentist this week, I'm still NHS, but more often now any treatments are being recommended to be done privately, as the NHS solution is never now the best, every way they want your money. Hubby had another appointment at hospital, this was solely for checking other things before the cardiology specialist decides the next steps, a few solutions have already been spoken about, hopefully soon decisions can be made, including a medicine review, he takes huge amounts of tablets, me I just take a statin.

I went to my third evening at our village WI, this being my first as a full member, I am enjoying the group and find the ladies most welcoming, this time we provided gifts, which we wrapped and signed loads of Christmas cards for local nursing homes, we also had a lady in chatting about the charity she works for associated with our local hospital, it's the groups chosen charity for this year, they do great work supporting people in hospital.

Changing colours

The leaves have started to fall around our garden, the magnolia tree leaves go very dry on the tree before they fall, these will need shredding once they drop before going into my mulch bins. The red acer leaves are also curling a sure sign they are about to drop. Behind the fence our neighbours virginia creeper are beautiful colours, it's not a plant I would want in our garden, we are always cutting back roots along the fence. 

I moved my forsythia a while ago, I am really hoping this is just the leaves dying back and not the end of the plant, this is a perfect spot for it, I will have to wait until the spring, I have already put a deep layer of mulch around it's base.

My trio of acers leaves are curling, the red one always sheds first, it's sad to see these colours fade, but on the flip side it's always wonderful to see them come back into leaf each spring.

I adore primroses, they remind me of a great childhood growing up in rural Somerset, the hedgerows were always full of them, I have clumps around the back section of my gardens, I regularly split them. 

The season has really changed here in the last week, the cooler air and no rain is a good signal, these photo's were taken on Saturday before the rains came, my pots were dry again, it's been almost 3 weeks since we had any rain fall, it's still a dry year here. The rain finally came on Sunday much later than stated, it was very wet on Monday, a grey dull overcast day, I'm happy to see the rain, I was beginning to think I would need to water my pots again. Monday was diabolical and its fuel to be extremely wet tomorrow,  so day of housework. 

The heating has finally be turned on, still often when the radiators should be warm, they are not, the house is keeping the heat in, all the work in previous years is now paying off, nothing beats a warm house. Neither of us like the house too hot, I am enjoying wearing my jumpers and socks again, it's comfortable for me, hubby just never feels the cold, I'm not such a cold bod as I used to be.  

Days at home don't bother me, normally I have loads to do, I'm still very undecisive what to be crafting, I was pleased to have made my Christmas cakes, I really must find something to do, I'm spending too much time playing 'arrows' on my tablet.

Christmas cake

 I've used the same cake recipe since the late 70's, the only change I make is to leave out the almonds, thus allowing me to eat some. Here is the 3 main components, mixed fruit and peel soaked overnight in the zest and juice of three oranges, the brown looking sludge is dark brown sugar, butter and eggs, the dry ingredients are plain flour various spices and halved glacé cherries, all stirred together, the flour mixture stops the sticky cherries clumping together. 

Everything is popped into the huge bowl and mixed together ensuring there are no white flour left showing, this makes a huge cake, both hubby and I love Christmas cake. Into a double lined cake tin, with a wet tin wrap on the outside to stop it over cooking, years ago I would have wrapped newspaper around the outside of the tin. Bake for 120ºfor 3 hours. 

Once cooked I turn the cake upside down so the top is flat and start to add brandy, I do not put brandy in the dried fruit soak, I prefer the citrus flavours in the fruit. Cakes need 3 drinks of brandy before they are marzipan and iced, which I leave as late as possible, so the almond paste does not seep to far into the cake. I always trim my slice of cake never eating the edges.

Every year I get this sheet of paper with the recipe typed by me, originally it came from a magazine, I do have a copy on my computer, but it's rewarding to see my messy sheet, things have been spilt on it. I have made notes for cooking times, these have changed over the years as our ovens get better at their job.

The tip of putting the cherries into the flour was given to me by my mum, in senior school there was a baking competition we had to make cherry cake, I followed mum's instructions and won first prize, my cake was the only cake where the cherries did not sink. My prize a huge cookbook, called Colour Cooking by Good Housekeeping, which I still own, sadly it's rarely used, it's falling apart at the seams.

This is my domain, hubby bakes all through the year, but I always make the Christmas cake, infact I make 3, second for daughter and third for brother. Last year I started making mincemeat, which is easy and taste much better, I also want to make puddings, which won't be ate this year, I will do the same as my mum and store them for a year to infuse flavours.

The house smells of Christmas spices, it's warm with the oven on, I cook our big cake first and on the next day the two smaller ones. 

Now to decide how to decorate them, I make all the decorations, daughter and I did a course a few years ago, nothing too fancy. I always use fondant icing, which I purchase ready to roll.