Happy Christmas.

Dear Bloggers, 

I wish you all, wherever you may be, whatever weather you may be battling, be it fire or flood, a
  Very Happy Christmas. 

I hope that you will keep warm enough or cool enough throughout the holiday period 

and enjoy good company and good food.

Kindest regards,

Rosemary.

And the winner is...

Our elder daughter made a passing reference to her father in the national press about his efforts to retrieve the bucket that he'd dropped down the well. She mentioned his various 'Heath Robinson' attempts at retrieval. (The man does have form!) He had exhausted the grappling hook and the large magnet loaned by our neighbours. (He had also exhausted the patience of his wife.) The letters editor of the paper was amused by the response that came from readers offering a variety of novel suggestions.

Himself set to work and taped one of our mole traps to a long pole.

Was he successful?

Sadly the answer was no.

I'd been seeing this headless body for weeks!
(What would Freud have to say?)


Back to the drawing board, or, more correctly, back o the garage to construct a 'well creeper'. He made it from a cast iron ring that is a spare part from the wood burning stove, an old meat hook, five more hooks made from an old coat hanger, all attached with various bits of string.
 And GUESS WHAT? It worked!

Thank you, Georgina Wragg!

Just look at that bucket. What a wreck! And it has a hole in it, but he was determined not to leave it down the well.
Just to round the year off well his letter of thanks was printed  in the Times.

Braised red cabbage

The windfalls don't keep for long, I've either got to cook and freeze them or put them in a recipe such as this one from Delia Smith's Christmas book. I made  a batch at the weekend, happy to be in the kitchen while outside the rain beat down and the wind howled.

The red cabbage looks so beautiful when it is sliced through. 

And it tastes good!

Frost and sunshine

A cold but beautiful day today.

Frost in the far field rendered the sheep invisible.

We set to work to prune the fruit trees.

Moss and lichen on the tree trunks give a good indication of the sort of weather we get!

We have a big ball of mistletoe growing on the Bramley apple tree and there are plenty of berries on it this year - I hope the birds will leave enough for me to bring some into the house at Christmas.

Some of the prunings, but more to come.

Low- fat mincemeat

I'd intended to start pruning the apple trees today but it was bitterly cold out. Just harvesting some leeks and parsnips from the garden for Sunday lunch was quite enough of the outside for me, thank you very much. Instead I stayed in the warmth of the kitchen. Now that it's December it's time to start preparing for Christmas. I brought in a bucket of Bramley apple windfalls, just the thing for making mincemeat. I make a low-fat recipe every year, mindful of the fact that we shall be stuffing ourselves with chocolate, cream and other delights throughout the holiday season!

Ingredients
2lbs cooking apples peeled and finely chopped
1lb mixed fruit, currants, raisins, chopped apricot etc.
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
2oz slivered almonds
2 lemons rind and juice
6oz soft dark sugar
a slug of brandy or apple juice or whatever you fancy.

Melt the sugar in the liquid/juice and add the chopped apple. When the sugar has dissolved add all the other ingredients and bring to the boil. 

Simmer for half an hour until you have a soft mash. 

Bottle while hot. This quantity made the five jars of mincemeat pictured, but it is easy to double up on the recipe if you want to have more. It will keep for a couple of months in a cool place but doesn't have the long shelf life of a recipe that includes fat.

Friday night

Yesterday evening we fought our way through the Bath Christmas market on our way to a friend's private view at the city art gallery. Although the market grows larger year on year it doesn't seem to improve in the goods that are for sale. There seem to be far more food stalls than in previous years and people chomping away as they wandered about. There was nothing there that tempted me to stop and buy. 

Perhaps if I were starting from scratch I might have bought some decorations, but I keep my Christmas things  from year to year and already have more than enough.

The paper stars stall was rather lovely.

The art gallery was crowded, as is always  the case at a private view. I'll visit another day when it isn't so busy. Sally's show is a dog lover's delight!

There are dog portraits of all sizes to enjoy, from very small to very large.

If you've ever owned a dog you will recognise some of the expressions!

What's not to love about a dog with a long nose?!

It was pretty grim to return to a dog-less house after this show.

Winter fair

On Sunday our friends were providing the music at a Christmas fair in Portishead and we went along in our role as groupies.

 It was a cold, raw day and I dressed appropriately, thick socks and boots and so many layers of clothing that I resembled a Michelin tyre man.  I don't know how these elves managed to keep warm.

Lots of knick-knackety Christmassy things were for sale - I was tempted by the little cashmere bears, but I think the stall holders selling hot food and body-warming mulled wine were doing the best trade.

Then eight of us met up for one of those delightful evenings full of laughter and reminiscences. Himself had got so chilled at the fair that he spent most of the evening wrapped up in his down jacket and scarf. "Are you going to take your coat off?" asked our hostess when we sat down to a warming supper.

What happened to autumn? It is definitely winter here now.