2025 Round up - 1/1/26

Before I look forward to  2026 I ought to recap the last week or so of 2025.

Our eldest son Matthew, wife Amy and Grandsons Noah and Miles arrived here on 20th December and stayed until last Monday (29th).  It was lovely to have such a long visit with them.  And of course our daughter and her family were here for Christmas Day and Boxing Day.  Then we all went to an extended family get together hosted by one of our nephews on the 27th.

They went to a Nativity at a church near our daughter's house

Lots of games were played!

Ella, Miles, Nathan & Noah

We managed to get them to pose - just!

Christmas lunch

We walked to the lake and fed the ducks and swans.

Grandpa joined in the fun too.

That was the only slight disappointment of the holiday - Nick was unwell for most of the time - he started feeling unwell the Friday before Christmas and is only now feeling more like himself.  He has coughed and coughed and coughed!  And had soooo much congestion.  Not sure if it was flu or even Covid - who knows these days but he was really not well.  Thankfully he seemed to keep his germs to himself as the rest of us were fine.

And of course it's hard when part of the family are so far away (in Vermont USA) but we did Face time them and of course we got pictures:

This is outside their Daddy's office which faces the state building in Montpelier.  They've had plenty of snow and a night of freezing rain gave my son an extra day at home on the 26th as the offices remained closed.

After our eldest son and his crew went home it was nice to enjoy the quiet and get out for a walk on my own.  It was just as the sun was setting when I left the lake.

I did the final day's puzzle.  I have done this puzzle showing every day of the year.  It was gifted to me by my youngest son and his wife last Christmas.  I'd like to say I'd done the puzzle ON each day but there were times when I was playing catch up - particularly when we went away but I have a photo of all the dates of 2025.

I also completed the 52 book club challenge of reading 52 books according to a set of prompts.

2025 has been a good year overall.  3 of our nieces and nephews got married - we attended 2 of the weddings.  We welcomed 2 more babies to the family - there are now 21 littles ones in the grandchildren generation in Hubbie's family.  We visited our son and family in Vermont for Thanksgiving.  We made 2 trips to Hubbie's sister and family in France and we had a few days away with 3 of my cousins and their husbands.

So many blessings.

Here's to a happy and healthy 2026.  Happy New Year all.

Christmas period recap 31/12/24

It feels an age since I posted a blog.  The few days leading up to Christmas were busy trying to get the last bits of shopping done and the house ready.  

I also participated in the Food Bank Christmas Hamper project which involved helping set out the church hall on the Saturday, packing hampers on the Sunday and then delivering them on the Monday before Christmas.  People had been incredibly generous and all the users of the Food Bank had lots of nice treats as well as the makings of a Christmas dinner.

On Christmas Day we had our daughter and her family here so it was fairly quiet for us, although of course a 7 year old Grandson and 4 year old Granddaughter can make a lot of noise between them!

Cooking the dinner was a bit of a military operation to try and make sure everything came together on time.  Turkey and beef plus all the trimmings.  And of course pudding to follow - after quite a break as we were so full.

They stayed over and spent most of Boxing Day with us too.

The day after (27th) our eldest son and his family came down from Nottingham and stayed until yesterday.  Of course we all got together a couple of times and I did remember to take some photos.

(Well I remembered to get my daughter to take some!)

The children love seeing one another but of course we missed Rory and Vinny (and their parents) although we did Facetime them and they were having a lovely time with their American cousins.

The weather wasn't great over Christmas but yesterday it was dry so we got the kids out for a walk.

And of course Ness.

Ella joined us back at our house after the walk as she'd been to have some routine jabs in the morning.

Today has been a much quieter day with no family here but it was nice to just relax and enjoy some leftovers!  As usual I bought too much food.

And now I'm watching Jools Holland's Annual Hootenanny show on TV and it's already past midnight so.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!

Friday's Fave Five - 1/1/21

Thanks to Susanne at Living to tell the Story for this reminder every week to sit back and think about our 5 favourite things from the week.

Well firstly Happy New Year to everyone.  I suspect there might be a few less hangovers this year with less parties being held but there was certainly no shortage of fireworks going off here at midnight last night.

Here are my 5 from last week

1)  We got to celebrate Christmas with my son, DIL and 2 grandsons.  We're in lockdown again and although we're only supposed to see our support bubble indoors (which is my daughter and her family)  I can also form a childcare bubble with my son!  Yep the rules are a bit daft.  But we were all very careful leading up to Christmas, virtually isolating, so we didn't feel we posed a risk to one another.  It was lovely to have them here as we hadn't seen them properly since we celebrated Thanksgiving with them.

2)  A beautiful gift from my eldest son and family:

 I love doing puzzles and this one will take pride of place somewhere once it's completed.  I also have a matching fridge magnet of that pic.

3)  Something to look forward to.  Our younger son and his family gifted us an overnight stay with dinner at a venue in Saffron Waldon where we've been before and really enjoyed.  It's valid for a year so hopefully we will be able to use it later in the year.

4)  A second vaccine approved for use!  This definitely gives me hope that we will be able to plan that getaway.

5)  A lovely meal on New Year's Eve - this was gifted to us by my daughter and her family.  It came all prepared in various pots and trays (supplied by Brown Butter Dining) and all we had to do was heat things and assemble.  It was delicious.  My photos don't really do it justice. (And I really should do some cropping before I post them lol.)

Pretty bowls 

 

For delicious white onion soup

My starter of Chicken Liver parfait, onion jam & brioche toast

Nick's starter of Burrata, roasted squash, truffle pesto, puffed rice & seeds

 

Main course of Beef Wellington, pomme anna, ragu stuffed onion, winter greens and a red wine sauce

And finally dessert: Apple Tart Tatin with a toffee sauce and Creme Anglaise

All washed down with a nice red wine!

Yummy!

Happy New Year!

I feel like I've been MIA over Christmas but all is good.

We had a lovely Christmas dinner where we suitably stuffed ourselves.  We being hubby and me plus our two sons and their wives.  We were joined in the evening by our daughter and her wife so we were all together for at least part of the day which was lovely.

It was quite a leisurely day once dinner was cooked.  (Hubby and I nearly came to blows when getting to the dishing up phase - my kitchen is small, work surface is limited and too many cooks....I'm sure you are getting the picture lol)

We took time opening presents, playing games and just relaxing.

Dinner time

My favourite present

I received lots of nice things, including a SATNAV so I won't get lost anymore.  I actually don't tend to get lost but navigating new routes is a lot easier with a SATNAV but I'll always have a map book in the car in case!  My favourite present though has to be the pyjama trousers above.  My crafty DIL made everyone a pair and what's special about them is that the material (specially printed and shipped from America) relates to our honeymoon destinations.  Hubby and mine have Austria on them, our daughter's have Hawaii, the youngest son has Vermont and the other son has Thailand.  They are super comfy and so unique.  I love presents that have been thought about and especially those made with love.

On Boxing Day we visited hubby's sister, along with most of the family.  A much noisier, crowded gathering but it was lovely to see everyone, especially our four French nephews who were all home for Christmas from their far flung destinations.  (2 from South America, 1 from California and 1 from Germany.)  My sister-in-law was very happy to have them all together for the first time in a long while.)

We were welcome to stay over but that would probably have meant sleeping on the floor so we opted to make our way home, just as the karaoke was starting and things would probably have got a bit rowdy.

On Wednesday I took my son and 2 DILs over to see our daughter's new home and we had lunch and played more games.  It was nice to have our eldest son and his wife here for an extended visit but they went home on Thursday to spend a second Christmas with her family.

I suspect next year we will be on our own but all being well we will have a Grandson to spoil.  

The last couple of days have been quiet at home - Hubby and our son were back at work so my DIL and I had the house to ourselves.  Tonight Hubby and I will celebrate New Year as we usually do, at home with a glass (or more!) of wine and "Jools Holland's Hootenanny" 

I hope you all have a good night, however you are celebrating, and that 2017 will be a good one.

Happy New Year.

Note to self - don't buy glittery Christmas crackers next year - the glitter gets EVERYWHERE! LOL

Perfect Porridge 1/1/16

Well Day 1 of 2016 started well with perfect porridge brought to me in bed by my lovely hubby.  I still struggle with getting the consistency right but I probably just need more practice.  I was sitting in bed feeling guilty about my inactivity- I started a new book on my Kindle and got carried away.  (Not forgetting the Whale by John Ironmonger.)  I managed to pull myself away after finishing part one but reminded myself that I'm going to be kind to me this year and reading is something I enjoy so it shouldn't be a guilty pleasure. 

But reading won't get the dinner cooked, although reading recipes definitely helps.  I'm sure I could think of excuses for reading to do with most things if I set my mind to it.  Even on how to avoid procrastination. 

However, today is a bank holiday.  A day off.  Yes even for those of us who don't work.  Or at least don't have a job with a fancy title that pays money.  Of course I have lots of titles: wife, mother, domestic engineer and toilet cleaner immediately spring to mind but none of them result in financial recompense.  The first two do, of course, have benefits and can be (at times) very rewarding.  (There is also a flip side to that particular coin lol.)

I think my new year will start properly on Monday when all my visitors will have gone home and hubby is back to work and things will feel normal again.  Well that's my plan.  It's good to have a plan.  Especially one that involves breakfasts in bed, reading, entertaining and not a lot else!

Happy New Year

 

It’s that time of year again when we look ahead to the New Year and think about resolutions.  Part of me wants to follow my cousin’s philosophy – that we shouldn’t wait until the New Year to resolve to do something.  If it’s important we should be doing it anyway.  Some of you will have noted that recently I adopted a “Just do it” mantra to try and overcome my bad habit of procrastination.  It’s working well but it is good to step back sometimes and think about what we want to achieve.  The start of a new year seems a logical time to do that and I’m nothing if not logical at times.  Watch me do puzzles if you don’t believe me.  You’d also note that I’m stubborn and don’t admit defeat gracefully.  Not to myself anyway, I’m better at admitting defeat to someone else.

Hmm I digress.  Another bad habit.

Visiting some of the other Hodgepodge posts this week I came across a few ideas about resolutions.  One was from Marla at Marla’s Musings which was to keep a “Gratitude Jar”.  (Placing notes inside of good things when they happen so you can look back at them at the end of the year or any time you might need a boost.)

Another was from Susan at Stew Mama Says who plans to:

Eat less.
Move more.
Put down my phone.
Be present.
Clean a closet.
Or two.
Pray.
Learn something new.
Make dinner.
Look around.
Hug.
Close the computer.
Take a walk.
Pray some more.
Give thanks.
Show love.

I think I could handle those.  Well apart from closing the computer.  Because if I did that I might not blog and that’s something I want to continue with.  I’m already looking ahead to the A-Z Challenge.  2015 was my first year for that but it really did get my enthusiasm for blogging back and led to finding lots of interesting blogs to follow.

2015 started badly but improved as the year went on especially with the engagement of our eldest son and the wedding of our daughter.

I’m looking forward to 2016 in a much better frame of mind and of course another wedding.  As far as resolutions go I'm going to try and keep the Just Do It mantra going and to be kind to myself.  I think if we're happy with ourselves we can cope with what the world might throw at us.

Happy New Year to all who visit here.