Eventually saw the back of the snow on Sunday morning, thank goodness.  I've always got plenty to do at home but I was glad to escape to the antiques fair at the showground for a good mooch around.  I didn't buy anything as I'd been hitting the sales online while snowed up - boots, cardigan, waterproof jacket from Landsend;  new pillows from another site and some books from The Bookpeople (I was spending Christmas money so I don't feel too guilty and I did save on petrol!).

Yesterday I had an unexpected day out with Daughter as I was supposed to babysit but her meeting was cancelled.  We shopped, had a nice lunch and spent a little on Grand-daughter, so a very satisfactory day, but today I'm in catch-up mode.

If you are a reader of Jill's blog, Third Age Musings , you may already have read about Gretel Parker (Middle of Nowhere blog) who has sadly lost her partner of 21 years, Andy, just at the point where they had at last bought their own home.  Andy died without leaving a will and Gretel has no family support system so is in a very vulnerable situation.  Her friends are fundraising for her here.  Please help if you can even if it is just spreading the word about the campaign on your blogs or facebook.  It is a desperately sad that this should happen to Gretel.  The laws governing intestacy are complicated where they concern unmarried couples and, I believe, need review in this day and age where marriage is less the norm than even 40 years ago.  The common perception is that money goes to the state but it's much more likely to go to distant relatives - there is no provision as far as I know for unmarried partners. Whether a partner inherits a property which they share depends on how the property was registered -hopefully Gretel and Andy's property was registered appropriately by their solicitor but that won't of course pay the mortgage.  

Off now to sort out M's prescriptions - how soon things go back normal - for us at least.

Our car has been snowed in since last Friday.  I thought about putting it up on the main road - we can see it from our front windows and traffic has been merrily going along it, at speed, since Friday morning - but I thought I wouldn't need to get out.  Unfortunately, the food delivery I was counting on, from the firm that promises to deliver whatever the weather, didn't and by the time they let me know it was too late to start digging cars out and the local shop had been stripped bare. 

Regular long-time readers of this blog will know that I'm fanatical about being prepared for snow since we were stuck for three weeks two years ago, so we weren't about to starve but I did feel very let down.   If it were just H and I here, we could probably last for some considerable time on just what is lurking in cupboards and freezer - longer still if H was forced to eat pulses and I to eat tinned mackerel - but M has no flexibility.  Meals must follow a set pattern - porridge for breakfast, meat and veg for lunch and sandwiches for supper.  Certainly no pasta or rice or couscous or polenta would substitute for potatoes, and bread is an absolute necessity. She eats very small quantities but won't eat the same thing two days running so we have lots of odds and ends which we constantly recombine into different meals. Sandwiches are equally limited - ham, beef, cheese or marmalade, no pickle, mustard or mayonnaise.  You can imagine that H and I often have rather strange meals to use up all the left overs that won't keep another couple of days and the fridge is full of little bowls of veg, sauce etc.

Daughter, as usual, came to the rescue - I was hoping to avoid asking her, but she had to shop and the roads between us were clear.  Fortunately, R came with her so shopping and grand-daughter was safely transported down the slopes from the main road  without mishap.

With no distractions to keep me from the kitchen, soups, stews and even cake have been made to make absolutely sure that nothing in the fridge passes its sell by date or goes off.  Daughter appeared again yesterday having collected one of M's prescription and I was able to give her a hearty lunch of sausages in a casserole and blueberry cake.  In the interim two days Grand-daughter has learnt how to laugh - such a lovely sound!

If it was absolutely necessary, I could probably dig the car out later today - the lane is passable at the top end and I have some grit stored in the garage.  I did check the car battery was Ok this morning.  Having only bought this car because M couldn't get into the last one, I'm now seriously considering a 4X4.  M refuses to get in the new car anyway and would probably need specialized transport now if she needed to be taken anywhere.  They do a 4x4 version of the car we had before - now belonging to Daughter - I just need to persuade H!

Meanwhile, I've nearly finished a baby cardigan that's been on the needles for ages - I stopped midway to knit this strange garment ( a sort of hooded poncho) which has been very popular with a small person in this chilly weather, and being chunky wool was very quick.

I also knitted this a few weeks ago as Miss hates putting on things with sleeves!

The sewing pile still lurks looking resentful, so perhaps I'll just stay put until the snow melts - and hope my veg order comes this week!  Hope you're all warm and safe.

No Snow (yet?)

 To do the end of year filing
 Make sure I've got the information for end-of-year accounts
 And anything else financial that ends in December
 Send some forgotten emails :-o.
 Buy towels in the sales
 Order stationery
 Finish up all the Christmas goodies so we can get back to healthy eating
 Sort clothes, books etc. for charity shop - and take them round*
 Get the car serviced


Well, eight out of nine isn't bad going and I did do a lot of other things as well - including my usual mad stock of fridge and cupboard with M's comestibles in case it snows! The plumbing problems also seem to have been fixed - the boiler problem took three attempts but the leaking radiator mysteriously fixed itself.

The sprinkling of snow we had last night has gone and it's bright sunshine outside - though cold.  I've got a lamb stew cooking in the oven and the smell drifting up from the kitchen is wonderful.  Resisted the urge to make a pudding or a cake whilst the oven is on and roasted some veggies for soup instead and a whole load of beetroot.  I've got a piece of gammon soaking which can go in the oven later.  I must replace the slow cooker which died just before Christmas, but my stick blender fell apart last week so that's the most important purchase. We use one to puree fruit to hide in M's breakfast porridge.  I shall buy a sturdier one this time with one of those chopping attachments.

The clearing up continues - I have sorted some clothes and books and squashed a whole load of boxes to take to the dump but I was out more than I intended last week.  If we get snow this week I shall be quite pleased to be forced to stay in as I've got several sewing and knitting projects on the go.

I'm toying with the idea of buying a tablet (with my Christmas money).  There's an unused ipad here belonging to M but I'm not sure what I would buy.  I changed back to a desk top computer last year because I was doing some things that wanted a large screen, so I tend to use my very small smart phone to read blogs and send emails when I'm downstairs.  It's OK but a bit fiddly - hence the mis-spelled comments lacking sense which sometimes appear on other people's blogs!  It's not that I'm too idle to come up the two flights of stairs to my computer but I miss being able to do things whilst talking to H or daughter in the sittingroom, and I find I'm printing more things like recipes or patterns.

Hope you're all warm, safe and not snowed up, I'm off back downstairs to pick up my knitting!



Stop press * Charity shop drop accomplished.  Snow now falling heavily!

New beginnings

Today feels like the start of the new year to me.  Daughter has a birthday at the start of January, so the present buying, special food cooking, and celebrating last past New year's day, and this is the first day we've been without visitors, preparing for visitors etc.

The year started well, the gasman said the fault in the boiler, which has been leaking, wasn't terminal, but just after he'd gone the bathroom radiator started leaking instead!  It's stopped now the radiator's got hot again but leaked over night in sympathy with the boiler which is waiting for a new part.  Still, it's all containable with bowls and towels but this house is ill-fated when it comes to anything to do with water.

Grand-daughter has been having a busy time over the holidays with three overnight stops here, and visits to and from other family and friends.  Christmas present were well appreciated - especially the pink bunny from Grandpa and her wardrobe is sorted for months to come.  Seeing her playing in her 'jungle gym' H and I realised how few things daughter had had at the same age - a couple of cuddly toys, a rattle, a teething ring.  Times change, and we were very young parents without much spare money.  Our friends were in a similar postition and we aren't blessed with a large family.  Grandparents had helped towards large items like prams but apart from hand knits and practical sheets and blankets she wasn't showered with gifts.  Anyway, she was an eternally cheery baby so I don't think she lacked for amusement and entertainment.  These 'older' parents with careers and savings behind them and friends whose families have grown or have no children certainly have material advantages, but the love and committment is the same - and they still lack sleep! 

So, are we making resolutions?  Perhaps not, the list would be too long!  This week I'm trying:-
 To do the end of year filing
 Make sure I've got the information for end-of-year accounts
 And anything else financial that ends in December
 Send some forgotten emails :-o.
 Buy towels in the sales
 Order stationery
 Finish up all the Christmas goodies so we can get back to healthy eating
 Sort clothes, books etc. for charity shop - and take them round
 Get the car serviced

Well, if I get that lot done, the boiler and the radiator mended and still find time to deal with M, shop, clean, and see Daughter and Grand-daughter and blog, in a week when H is teaching and has other committments ....... We shall see!  Hope your new year has started well.

What a year it's been this 2012. A Jubilee and the Olympics; a Jubilee birthday for me and the friends I was at school with, and the wonderful gift of a Grand-daughter.  I've a feeling 2013 has a lot to live up to. 

By and large, even years seem to be better than odd one's for us, and though I'm not superstious about the number 13 there aren't many predictions that things are going to improve nationally or internationally anytime soon, let alone in the small corner of the world we call home.   Despite her every effort M hasn't had as much as a sniffle in the last year and recovered with great speed from the accident which damaged her arm. In fact, with her indomitable will and self-assurance she could make a bid for world domination any day soon. I'm in no doubt whatsoever that she isn't going anywhere anytime soon, either into a nursing home or another place (- though if she could become a lodger with a friend in W*****, she'd go tomorrow) and I'm sure I shall be writing this just the same at the end of 2013 .  (Unless she's finished me off by then!)  The fact that she's phoned all her friends to announce that it was her last Christmas can be added to the last Christmas announcements she been making since 1995.  I hope the friend who was sent money for M's farewell lunch last year has had it in a savings account gaining interest above inflation or she may well land up out of pocket.

So here we stand at the gate of the year, looking back and looking forward.  I hope you will all have a happy New Year's celebration wherever you spend it and the year to come will bring you all the things you wish yourself.

Signing off...

The terrible light in this photo taken yesterday gives you some indication of how dull it's been outside.  Mercifully, we don't flood here but my heart goes out to everyone who has been.

The presents are wrapped (no prizes for guessing that the largest amount is for the smallest person), the food has been delivered by the nice man from Abel & Cole and the fridge is full to bursting.  The clementines above have already been reduced - well we had to try them out, and we've had the usual debates about whether we need more cheese, bread, sherry?  And H is proposing a trip to the French bakers tomorrow, so goodness knows what he'll come back with.  Tomorrow I shall do everything that can be done in advance - including cooking turkey for M who won't eat the duck we always have instead.

So, I hope you all have a lovely Christmas, and I'll be back next year. X

Staying in, catching up

Yesterday was a brief respite from the rain, but today we're back to grey skies, dripping trees, rain -soaked garden and drive and disappearing views to the misty hills.

Last week was busy. Daughter and Grand-daughter and cat came to stay for four days as Daddy was away, so we were fully occupied providing laps and shoulders for miss to sleep on and getting down on the floor - a challenge to our aged knees - to wiggle bright toys and tickle little toes.  We are now rewarded with beaming smiles and frantic arm and leg waving as she starts to recognize our voices and faces.  The weather was bitterly cold and foggy but we chanced a trip to the cafe where she was cooed over and admired while we sipped good cappucino.  We didn't have any broken nights - much to Great-granny's secret annoyance as there was no excuse to complain. 

This week has been one for catching up - I have been forced to go out a bit in the awful wet weather and I've been very wary as although we are quite a way up the hills, run off does collect on the roads and a lot of tree work has brought road works and queues on all the local roads.  Yesterday was a beautiful day, fortunately, as I was playing taxi for Daughter, but there were still large pools of standing water on minor roads and it's raining hard again now.

Taking advantage of staying in, I at last finished the little rug which has been sitting in the WIP pile for months -

It looks a bit wonky in the photo, but that's the photographer's fault!  It's very warm and cosy.  All the yarn came from the stash and it's a real mixture from merino with cashmere to just plain acrylic.  In theory it needs a further border, but I felt it would be better in use than sitting waiting for more work.  

Feeling more inspired, having ticked off one UFO, I made a set of cot bumpers for GD's swinging crib,  and finished some more Xmas cardigans.  I'm now knitting a small hoodie in Purelife Eco wool  -  I bought a whole lot about two years ago in a House of Fraser sale and it's really lovely to use, light and 'lofty'.  A rug made from this would be incredibly light and warm.

In a rare burst of energy, I actually made a Christmas and then a fruit cake - I've used an old Good Housekeeping recipe for years and it's incredibly quick as everything is put into the bowl at once.  Kept for several weeks in a tin and 'fed' with booze it makes a great Christmas cake, but eaten the next day after cooking you get a very moist fruit cake which is quite light in texture.  M hates this cake as she likes fruit cake to be like occasional raisins etc. stuck in dry sand, so we don't waste it on her!  Similarly, home-made mince-pies are scorned for not having pastry like plaster - when I met H he wouldn't eat pastry as he associated it with M's over-worked effort which was teeth-breakingly hard. My mother's sweet soft shortcrust was a revelation to him, though he still won't eat a savoury pie!   The fridge was over-stocked with veggies so soup has been created in quantity and several stews, though again, separate meals have to be created to suit M's taste. 

Next week will be busy again, so I'm hoping the bad weather will abate.  Have a cosy weekend!