Looking back

What a lovely Christmas it's been! All of the hand-made gifts (and a small handful of store-bought ones) have been distributed, including the home-made jelly, left. All the gifts appeared to be gratefully received, which always helps! And the food...

Our Christmas lunch was almost exclusively done to recipes by Nigella Lawson, including our first attempt at the "Spiced and Super-Juicy Roast Turkey". Oh. My. Goodness! It was fabulous! Considering we got the cheapest, most basic frozen turkey (£8.99 for 4.5kg at Aldi; indeed a bargain!) the flavour was unbelievable. My husband gets full credit for actually cooking the turkey (and everything else!), and he had the brainwave to use the onions, etc from the soak inside the bird while roasting; and he also put beef fat under the skin of the breast for even more juiciness. However you may choose to adjust the recipe, I cannot recommend it enough!

At last I can now post a picture of the patchwork bag I stitched for my mother (right). It came out quite well, I believe! Considering that it's the first patch I've ever done I

was quite pleased with it! Granted, I could have been a bit less rough-and-ready attaching it to the bag, but I was working to a tight deadline! Mind, that's pretty much been the story of this Christmas, in that I've been frantically working to deadlines and only just getting it in under the wire. In one case I did a cross-stitch Doberman for my step-son & his family, but didn't finish & wrap it until after they'd actually come over for dinner! My husband had to keep them entertained for 20 minutes on his own while I finished it off upstairs! I really must consider a resolution to not procrastinate quite so much in future...

The other major project was making the cot-quilt for my expectant sister (left). I managed to finish that the evening before she came up to visit, so there was a little more breathing room! It is in the same theme as the bag I did for my mother; in fact, that was part of the idea, that my mother in Canada would have a piece of the quilt used for her first grandchild, born in the UK. Sentimental, I know. But my mother likes that sort of thing!

Overall it has been a wonderful and fun Christmas period, and I will hold many special memories from it. I will end with a line from one of my favourite Yuletide songs: "Hallelujah, Noel! Be it heaven or hell- the Christmas we get, we deserve!"