Bring On The Baby Jesus

Virus' are bad bastards.
Mine has morphed from being hot, fevered and ache based
To explosive cough and snot based.
I'm also at the stage where pent up coughs force out nuclear speed farts at the same time.
Much to the chagrin of the Prof who shakes his head sadly when I let another one fly across the kitchen.
Hey ho.... not to be downhearted !

A few chores today, which is nice. Last minute Christmas card deliveries need to be done
I'm making parmesan biscuits this afternoon followed by the obligatory sherry trifle.
and we are going to Church later to hear the vicar utter those traditional  Christmas service words as the nativity scene is completed with the arrival of one last tiny figurine
" Mrs Davies .......bring on the baby Jesus!" 

Have a peaceful and happy Christmas Eve, wherever you are

Help

Although I'm full of aches and pains , I am feeling a bit better today
I need a bit of help from blogland as I have been given the job of organising some sort of quiz/ game for the family to play on Christmas Day.
Please give me some of your ideas.

Christmas 2002

Our old dining room in Sheffield

This time last year I posted my most popular post
http://disasterfilm.blogspot.co.uk/2016/12/christmas-1985.html
Something resonated with Going Gently readers ( or google perhaps) and I had 2500 unique visits to this a sad tale of a lonely psychiatric patient at Christmas 1985
I can't match that story , even so  believe me when I say I've had some equally sad and moving experiences when I was nursing over the Yuletide season
So tonight I will share with you my best Christmas memory
It was a simple few moments on Christmas Morning back in 2002
A simple few moments I shall always remember
I had Christmas Off ( a bloody rarity ) with The Prof and after a posh breakfast  and gift swapping we were sat in our dining room on a tiny sofa in the window warmed with weak morning sun. The Prof gave me a hug of thanks for his very expensive gift ( not!)  when our dogs Finlay ( a Welsh terrier very much like William) and Maddie- a bad tempered Scottie both dived on top  of us not wanting to be left out of the celebrations and for that moment as dogs , husband to be and I hugged in one big fat mess,  I realised that  I was truly loved ........and truly home . 

Powerful Women

I'm still feeling like shit and settled down for another sleepless night coughing on the sofa with my iPlayer, Mary and Winnie last night
I ended up watching an episode of Feud to pass the time.
"A Powerful story of powerful women "
On reflection I realised that my life has always been filled with powerful interesting women
My Maternal Grandmother and Mother were powerhouses in so many different days, one positively and one less so
My sisters ( and sister in law ) have always provided my life with a backdrop of never ending support
And my friends Nu, and Jane have always given me the humour and sparkle I've always needed .
Add to the mix sparking nieces,ballsy bloggers, old Welsh ladies, Sheffield, Derbyshire and Denbighshire nurses,aunts,  a psychologist with balls, village schoolgirls with attitude, and an eternally cheerful mother in law and you will agree I have been rather blessed by everything feminine

Who have you been moulded by? 

Speckled Bread

Mary and I spent a rather sleepless night on the couch last night.
No, it wasn't a result of the obligatory Christmas Row ,
I was full of a cough and a heavy cold and Mary has an ear infection and so in order to allow The Prof some sort of rest from the coughing and itching before his work today, I banished both of us to the couch.
At 5.00 am, after the log burner had died down, Winnie tried to join us in an effort to keep warm.
I feel like a the new parent of a colicky baby this afternoon. Tired and headachy.

I have left the house only once to walk the dogs ( with Albert in tow) and so missed animal helper Pat when she called around with a Christmas gift of homemade bara brith.
I wasn't out long as I went in the mood Albert's insistence in walking with us even on the main road,
That cat will get himself killed one day
I found the loaf tied to the back door handle ( Aunty Glad style) when we got home.

Now for those that down know Bara Brith is a Welsh fruit bread usually made without yeast. It is often flavoured with tea and is eaten thinly sliced and Covered in butter.
It is delicious and incredibly moreish

In Welsh bara means bread and brith means speckled.
The "Speckled" title refers to dense amounts of fruit in the recipe.

Stock photo bara brith

I'll leave you with some nativity scenes, I'm off for a lemsip

....and finally

Lifestyle blog today. That mixed with a tale of some monumental sulking after the floor layers refused to say hello to Winnie and she in a fit of pique flung herself onto the vinyl like Scarlet did after being rejected by Ashley Wilkes.

Two open shelves need to be built on the wall behind the table but apart from that the kitchen is now finished and remains clean, tidy, bright and fresh.

Hey ho

The Things You Notice

Mince pies in the window

Tomorrow the kitchen floor goes down and the kitchen will finally be finished..I'll post photos of it then for you all to ooohhh and arrrhhhh at ! ....today I've spent my time baking at the kitchen window.
For years this window was screened by an antique French lace banner but since the new window went in, I have left the frame uncovered and have subsequently enjoyed the view when cooking.
Today and yesterday I noticed that the human traffic through the churchyard seemed particularly heavy.
Wrapped up in winter coats, groups of people in ones and twos have been crossing the graveyard all carrying Christmas wreaths and on a break from dusting mince pies George, Winnie and I ambled over to see what was going on.
Over eighty Christmas Wreaths had been placed on the " newer " graves in the tiny cemetery. Most were made of holly and ivy but cheerful poinsettia blooms, tinsel and small flowers added to the tributes, indeed , as we ambled along the paths another couple arrived to lay their own Christmas wreath on a grave next to that of the Red Faced Welsh Farmer.
For many people Christmas can be such a bittersweet time.
The steady stream of visitors to the Church perhaps was a testament to that fact
The things you notice when you stand baking at the kitchen window.

Ps the caption winner was Terrill

Caption

Best caption gets a gift