To All My Followers and All Who Read My Blog

A Very Merry and Peaceful Christmas To All!

Christmas Hugs

Susie, DH, Eldest, Youngest & Treacle

xxxx

I love Christmas, everything about it and funnily enough all the sorting out and present buying and cooking, everything.

The only thing I don’t love is GLITTERY CHRISTMAS CARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Everyone of the cards we seemed to have received this year seems to have some glitter on it somewhere!  By the time you have opened them there is glitter all over your hands, which then gets on your face, clothes etc.  Then it is all over the kitchen (where I open our cards) then on the bookshelves (where we display our cards) and everywhere in between!  Even Treacle!

So, I love receiving the Christmas cards, but please don’t send us glitter ones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The days are moving apace now and it is the 22nd already.  Tomorrow I am cleaning the house from top to bottom, doing the final shop of fresh things and washing all the bedding, towels etc and getting them ironed and put away.  Christmas Eve I have to go and collect the bird first thing in the morning and then that is it!  We can shut the door on the World for a few days.

I hope all your planning is going well. 

Only three more sleeps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hugs, Susie x

It is the start of Christmas Week and I think everyone is thinking yes it is here, but there is still a week almost to go!

We were all busy again.  Last Friday DH was helping to give out gifts at the local playschool with at least fifty excited 2, 3 and 4 year olds!!!  Then went straight from there to a Christmas Lunch with one of the companies we work with.  Youngest finished school early which was great and so we had a takeaway and sat down to watch a DVD waiting for DH to get home.

Saturday we were getting last minute jobs done and in the evening it was the swimming club’s Presentation Night.  We were all involved with the organising and sorting everything out on the evening.  All the swimmers and parents had a great evening and Youngest got the three Trophies he won.  We are very proud of him.  Eldest and Girlfriend also made it for a little while in the evening too. 

Sunday we went over to see DH’s Aunt who lives in Nottinghamshire and to visit the cemetery in the village to lay a wreath for Christmas.  It was great to catch up with his aunt and we also had afternoon tea with her. 

The Butchers in Holloway linked to the caterers Zest.

This morning I had to take Youngest to the dentist for him to check his teeth since his braces have been off, they are great, and then we had to return all the plates to the caterer from Saturday, which is in the wilds of Derbyshire.  Although it was raining it was a lovely drive. 

Tonight we are out for dinner with our friends from Jersey and then tomorrow I am out and about having coffee with my good friend Jayne in the morning and delivering gifts in the afternoon.

I hope all your holiday plans are going well and you are all not too stressed.  Treacle is bearing up under the strain of Christmas prep!

Hugs, Susie x

I have almost got everything now ready for next week and just have another afternoon of baking to do and then that’s it!  If I haven’t made it or bought it by then, then they will be going without!!!!!! 

The weather here today is yuck, grey all day and now it is raining heavily!!!!!  Swimming Club tonight where we have a few presentations for people who cannot make Saturday evening, the main Presentation & Party Night.  Tomorrow DH is playing the man in the Red Suit for the village playschool and is then off for a business Christmas lunch.  Youngest finishes school tomorrow so he and I will be having a Pizza and DVD night at home.

I hope all your plans are going well for the Big Day.

Hugs, Susie xx

Here is our Tree for this year and despite the mix up when we went to buy it, it really is a lovely tree and it smells wonderful!  We actually decorated the house on Sunday December 5th, we always do it after Youngest’s Birthday.

The lights and greenery on our stairs. 

Everyone is hoping it will snow but at the moment it doesn’t look like it.  I love this decoration though.

This is my dresser in our kitchen.  I got the four mugs, four for £3 which is a real bargain and I can use them after Christmas as well. 

This is Youngest’s Advent Calendar (Eldest has the same one too!)  They have always had traditional ones with windows to open, I don’t like the chocolate ones so I never bought them those, but they have always wanted these new style ones from Lego.  Anyway as they are now 20 and 16 I relented and bought them one each.  They are also fans of Star Wars so this seemed appropriate.

These are the decorations in my kitchen which is very Swedish in style. 

The rear door to our garden.

Our Den where I spend my day working, with the lights.  The lights are the best part of Christmas, I love them and if I could I would keep them up all year!

I have made one of these again this year, the infamous Chocolate Log, but this year it is sitting on the microwave instead of the counter, to ensure that Treacle does not eat the whole thing this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Christmas Cake

The cakes I made for Tom’s Aunt and our friends.

This is Youngest holding Treacle to look out of the window as Santa came down the hill.  It was our local Rotary collecting for their charity this year last night. 

The Christmas presents all wrapped and waiting to be delivered.

It has been very handy Eldest hasn’t been home as I have been using his room to store and then wrap and keep the presents!  I have managed to send our cards off as well, so all I need to do now is get the fresh food for the Day!  I am quite pleased I am ahead as a few weeks ago I honestly thought it was not going to happen!  Now if I can just persuade Youngest that he really does need this room, I can change it into my sewing room!!!!!!!!

I hope your Tuesday is going well

Hugs, Susie x

Well we have sort of sorted out the pictures!  So to now catch up on three weeks of no posts!  Hope your are ready for all this, it is has been a busy few weeks!!!!

Youngest’s birthday but this was also the day that the Managing Director of the German company we work with was coming for dinner so it was all a bit mixed up.  Here are his presents waiting for him when he got in from school.

His Birthday Cake

For his party he and six friends and his brother went go-carting at the local in-door track.  It was a good job it was in-doors too as it had been raining heavily all day.  Here they are waiting to go on to the track.  He had a great day here and on his Birthday.

This was the table set for dinner for DH, Eldest, Youngest, our guest and I!

The next evening we were at school for the House Plays and here is Youngest on the right acting!  It was really good and his House won the cup.

Just to show you how manic it has been this is my calendar and the week I am talking about.  I have had to colour code everything so I don’t forget anything!!!!  Last week looked the same as well!!!!!

I made this for dinner the night of the plays and I was quite pleased how it turned out.  I had also been making mince pies for Christmas so used the left over pastry for this steak and onion pie.  It all went!

Today I have been out getting raffle prizes for the Swimming Club Presentation Evening, which is this coming Saturday evening and getting a few more food bits for Christmas, which can go in the freezer.  Tomorrow I will show you some more of the Christmas preparations, including our decorations.

I hope you are having a great Monday and your preparations for Christmas are going well.

Hugs, Susie x

No it’s not my sitting room but it would be nice!!!!!  DH, Youngest and I did manage to get ours decorated over the weekend, but in true fashion this year, the real tree we choose and paid for, by the time we got to the pick up point it had disappeared!  They didn’t know if they had managed to sell it to someone else or it just disappeared.  Anyway after a long “discussion” we got another one and a discount for the trouble!!!!!  Needless to say I didn’t want the discount just the tree we had chosen!!!!

Thursday last week DH and I were in the audience for Youngest’s school House Plays.  The four Houses put on a 45 minute play which they write/direct/act in.  Youngest’s House Play was based upon Indiana Jones and about his mixed tape!!!!!!  It was very funny, with lots of in-jokes and they won the House Play Cup.  We got home by 11.00pm but it took us about an hour to get Youngest off the ceiling!!!!!  Unfortunately I am still having trouble loading pictures (!) but when it is sorted I will do a post of pictures!

Yesterday we were at Ponds Forge, the nearest 50m swimming pool, in Sheffield for the Long Course Sprint Competition.  Youngest did really well and got three PBs so he was really pleased.  DH had come along to the morning session but then had to leave after lunch as it was our Club’s Lifesaving championships at Alfreton so he had to be there as Chairman and also commentating on the event.  Unfortunately by the time we left Ponds Forge at 3.45pm there was a lot of Christmas shoppers going home, all of us coming out of Sheffield and there had also been a football match between Sheffield and Derby so all that traffic was trying to get home too!  It took Youngest and I two hours to get home!

I have been busy catching up on work today and tomorrow I am going to get some Christmas jobs done, otherwise I will be getting behind!  This week we have another busy one of normal activities and extra activities.  Friday we are visiting some family, Saturday there will be more Christmas jobs to do and then Youngest is taking six friends go-carting and dinner and Sunday is the Charity Triathlon!  Which means there is only one week left before Christmas week and one more week left of school!!!!!!!!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I hope you Monday is going well.

Hugs Susie x

Well I still cannot download any new images to my blog, which has made it very difficult to do any posts over the last few days!  I think those pesky Elves have got something to do with it!  You would think at this time of year they would be too busy getting Christmas sorted?!!!!

Last Tuesday Jayne and I went Christmas shopping in Nottingham.  I bought lots and Jayne didn’t, but I did get the rest of my Christmas present buying finished.  These are the lights from last year, but they are the same this year!  DH has been busy as he was comparing the Light Switch On in Long Eaton and Ilkeston on Thursday and Friday last week and then Saturday he was hosting a Talent Show! 

Eldest has been visiting Girlfriend in France while his shoulder was still healing (it is fine now) and flew back yesterday to go to work today (!)   Youngest has been rehearsing a play at school which we are going to see on Thursday night, so he has been late at school and had to go in last Sunday (!).  Fliss, Lee and Evalyn came for dinner on Sunday and are now also coming for Christmas Day (!). 

Today DH picked up the Big Boss of the company we work with in Germany at Birmingham Airport for meetings in Wales today, more meetings nearer to us tomorrow and I am entertaining him for dinner tomorrow night (!)

Friday we are doing the disco for some friends and their Christmas party, Saturday we are getting all our decorations out and writing the Christmas cards and getting the presents wrapped and Sunday Youngest and I are at the County Sprint Championships in Sheffield and DH will be there for a little while and then is coming back to commentate on our Club’s Lifesaving Championships (!)

I have managed to make 60 mince pies so far, I have made 40 Christmas cookies and still have to make the chocolate truffles.  I need to marzipan the four Christmas Cakes and then ice them and get the Christmas hampers ready for DH’s family and get them delivered, as well as playing Santa and getting all the other presents to those we won’t be seeing over the Christmas holidays.

Youngest will get a bit of time off over Christmas but will spend most of it revising for his mock exams which happen the first two weeks back of January (!)  He is not happy!

Last Thursday I took Treacle to the groomers so she is all washed and clean and she then went to the vets on Saturday for a check up (she is fine) and Friday I managed to wash mine and Eldest’s car, although I apparently left a stripe down the middle of Eldest’s car, his roof, which I missed!!!!! I blame the weather as it was quite dark when I was washing it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have also had three friends Birthdays last week and this, including Youngest’s tomorrow, and I am not in Birthday mode at all, full on Christmas mode, which has thrown me a curve ball.  Next week we are visiting some of the relatives on Friday evening (but we will have two cars in the City as DH is working over there during the day) and then Saturday we are taking Youngest and seven friends go-carting and then on Sunday he is doing an in-door Triathlon where we swim!

And if all this wasn’t enough, today is December 1st and that means there are only 23 and a bit days before Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  PANIC!

But it is snowing on my blog now which I always love!

I hope your Tuesday and week is a little quieter!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hugs, Susie x