Growing outside

 I cut these 3 yellow roses on Friday, before the storm arrived, I knew they would not survive the winds, they do look pretty, I popped them next to my chair so I can enjoy them. 

This was taken on Friday morning, after a very breezy night we woke to a lovely blue sky, it's not as cold either, won't last for long. This time last year this was all mud as we were in the midst of the refurb. 

Hellebores are waking up, two out of my five plants are in bud, I do love the dark red blooms, the other is a white bloom.  

This bed is looking good, leeks, onions and one cabbage, I did have two rows but only one plant survived. I was hoping we could use it with our Christmas lunch, sadly it won't be big enough.

This second bed has a row of parsnips and loads of over wintering early broad beans, which are growing well, I deliberately planted them close together, hoping for smaller plants with a good harvest.  

The bug house is staying quiet dry, which is pleasing, sadly I won't know who will be sheltering in it, I'm just so glad we have it out. 

I have netted both veg beds as pigeons are a huge issue here, they will try and get onto every bed, I mulched the flower beds and they have trampled over them, most of the plants have died back, they are a huge nuisance. I'm not doing much outside, I water in the greenhouse when needed, I only look through the glass as I don't want to open the door too often, trying to keep the heat in, I don't have another heat source for there. 

Today we have no plans, the rain will stop us going out, I have things to do inside, I want to finish the edging of my brothers blanket, it has become a bit of a chore, so I do little and often, I really need to get it finished. The Christmas cakes require another drink of brandy, I will marzipan them later next week, and decorate the following week, I always do them late as I have to remove the icing and marzipan from my slice of cake, it's easier when they are both still a bit soft.  

Homemade and reused

 I made these advent bags in 2022 and I have filled them each season, this year hubby has filled them, they fit well into this big vase. 2 chocolates each day, one each, the week before Christmas we have 3 in each bag as my brother will be here. 

These are much older, I made them when daughters were young, they noticed we did not get a stocking, so these were made to keep them happy, we still use them every year.

Our cards are being used for the 4th year, when I suggested to hubby we reuse cards he was not happy, these days, I'm sure for a quiet life he goes along with it.

My brother offered to make me a tree decoration using his 3D printer, he sent me photo's, it's a bit different, I was surprised when I received it, it's too big for the tree, it kept falling off the branches. I've popped it up on top of my corner cabinet, I think it looks good, if different, he made the date hanging from the fingers.

I do love to make and reuse my Christmas decorations, I have things sewn, cross stitched and needle felted, which come out each year, along with the 3 cakes I make each year, it's a fun time to be doing seasonal things. 

It's been a busy week, Monday we were both had eye checks, hubby had great news after his cataract surgery, his glass prescription has changed for the better, still expensive as he needed new glasses, as he now has to wear them full time, varifocals were necessary. I have a small issue on my left eye, I went in to check what to do and had a full eye test, my eye is OK, but I do have the start of an issue which could become a problem, it's a case of watch and see. 

Tuesday morning we popped to Asda, our final trip to this big supermarket for this year, only getting bits we can't get in our more regular shop at Lidl, we did have a list and got most of what we needed. I took the kittens to the vet for a check up, little Lilly is not eating as much as the other 4 and daughter wanted her checked over, the appointment was at school run time, vet gave a glucose drink for all 5 kittens, she was not too concerned about Lilly, which is a relief. 

Christmas has arrived

 I managed to get my decorations up before Sunday, again I had spare stuff which I will take to a charity shop. The only big item new this year is my poinsettia plant, and a couple little white houses. This wreath on our front door, it's not new, I've revamped it, added a few coloured lights.

Our tree is huge, it is again years old, as are the decorations, mainly glass, it's the main focus in the house. Keeping George away is a struggle, look at his smile, pure joy, Molly is much better at understanding not to touch. I do love my tree and will use it until it falls to bits, I put the real candles on again this year, I don't like tinsel so you won't find any in this house, I like my tree to look old fashioned. 

Lovely to see them all together, taken at a good garden centre just under an hour away, they do Christmas so very well, this was their winter wonderland walk, pre-booked, so plenty of space for everyone. 

The village ladies took the poppy display down, and replaced them with Christmas themed ones, our lights were turned on last Friday, I was babysitting so we did not go, we are lucky to still have a huge tree and lights in the prescient. 

Whilst I decorated listening to Christmas music, it's a playlist I made a couple of years ago, from hymns to pop and everything in between, hubby was baking, he made mince pies, using my homemade mincemeat and sausage rolls, his pastry is so good. So many of our decorations are old, I revamp them each year, I have loads of silk greenery, no sparkly colour themed bits here, our house is feeling festive, with the spices from the baking, smells good as well. 

Friday I slept over at daughters whilst she went to the local fundraise for Portsmouth Downs Syndrome Association, she stayed local to the venue and had a wonderful lazy Saturday morning. The children whilst excited to have me there were so very good, each going to bed on time, George woke at 4.30am but went back to sleep, Molly woke at 6.45am, so an early start, Will is such a good boy as well. Other than being tired by such an early start it was the easiest sleep over, as they are getting older they are able to do more for themselves and less tears, daughter was worried (as I'm not getting any younger) it would be too much, I'm happy to say I'm still able to help where I can. We also picked up all the leaves from the back garden, I had my slaves (Molly and George) putting leaves into buckets as I swept, and emptied the buckets into a bigger container.

We had a lovely Sunday roast together with daughter and little ones,  they all ate well, both Molly and George asked for more food, afterwards our house was very quiet, still and very tidy.

November round-up

 I am still using items from my craft stash, the extra balls of yarn for my brothers blanket are not on here, that was taken from our Christmas gift total, not much in the garden, which is often the case at this time of year. I have purchased a few Christmas bits, and being lazy I've not recorded my spend, nothing expensive,  just small bits, even the poinsettia blooms were only £6 each.

Household spending was OK, we had to replace our kettle, the lid was sticking and we did purchase a bigger speaker for Alexa, we both love music and our current model would not stay paired with our sound-bar, which meant switching on the TV every time we wanted music. I think we have all we need for Christmas, other than fresh bits. I paid daughter £50 for Lilly towards her vet bills.

No waste again, we even made pumpkin soup with the real pumpkin I had in my display, not many harvest from the garden, just leeks and parsnips, both are smaller. 

I've been without my fitbit, so I am trying to move as much as I can, my weight is much the same, I did have my pre diabetic and cholesterol blood test this month, both results came back the same as last year, which was very pleasing.