As with most things these days, the time between Christmas and New Year is being over analysed in our papers and social media.  It also seems to have been named “twixmas” as in between Christmas and New Year!    Why does everything have to have a dreadful name?

When I was little my Parents and Grandparents used to spend these days together, the men walking the dogs and doing some work in the gardens if the weather was kind and my Mom and Grandma baking, cooking or doing some home jobs.  We are much the same. DH and Eldest working at the garage doing odd jobs, Youngest is busy fitting Christmas presents to his truck and Land Rover and well I am not doing a lot, see further down!!!!! 

We had a wonderful few days.  The above pictures are Christmas Eve.  Eldest and Girlfriend came for the day on Christmas Day with Youngest, DH & I.  The weather was horribly grey and raining so I decided not to open the curtains all day!!!

Our Dining Room ready for Christmas Dinner.

We ate at 2.00pm as Eldest was back on the run at the Fire Station in the evening, although they did not get called out at all.  We watched the new Mission Impossible film in the evening which was great.

The rest of the decorations in our dining room.

We got to do it all again on Boxing Day which is always more relaxed.  I always do a buffet and everyone eats when they want.  We then played Monopoly in the evening and DH, Girlfriend and I were out after a while and it was between the two Boys and Eldest won in the end with Youngest not too far behind!

Eldest and the red shoes are Girlfriend under one of my Christmas presents!  She is getting very tired now at twenty eight weeks pregnant!!! 

Eldest and Girlfriend brought Honey with them of course both days and she and Coco spent the days playing and racing around.  Both of them were so tired at the end of the two days.

The Christmas Cake and Chocolate Log done and ready for Christmas Day!

DH and Eldest building Lego!!!!!!

On Saturday I thought I had a spot on my left ear but over the course of Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing Day it swelled and then the left side of my face swelled and I had three patches on my face which stopped in the middle of my chin.  It was quite painful too.  Anyway a trip to the Doctors yesterday for him to tell me I have shingles!  I now have a weeks course of antivirals and antibiotics to hopefully get rid of it and if not, a return appointment for a weeks time!  Only me! 

Coco also had a visit to the vets on the Saturday before Christmas as she had managed to get cystitus!  She is also on tablets but is a lot better.  She has a follow up appointment this Saturday!

DH has been at Eldest’s garage yesterday and today helping with some jobs whilst he is closed.  Hopefully tomorrow the weather is going to be a bit better and we can get some jobs done at home too!  We have had a lot of rain over the holidays and there is some flooding again.

I hope you lovely lot have had a wonderful Christmas. 

Hugs & Love, Susie xx

Coco in her basket by my desk as I write this!!!  Still recovering from her busy Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Well we have managed to get to Christmas Eve fairly unscathed!!  Although Coco has a cystitis infection so we were at the vets yesterday!!! Hey Ho!

Anyway I wanted to wish all my lovely Followers from all over the World a very Merry and peaceful Christmas.  Thank you for all the lovely comments and taking time to read my witterings through the year! 

I have also got to do our last Book for Book Club Friday, it has been quite frantic with business and things here, but I promise I will get it done between Christmas and New Year.

All my Hugs & Love

Susie, DH, Eldest, Youngest & Coco xxxxx

It starts off with a small meander!  Christmas things start to appear in the shops, you get a few emails and a few Christmas adverts.  Then as each day/week goes by it gets a little more until now, the week before Christmas, and everything and everyone is in full Gallop to Christmas Day next Monday!!!!!

I popped into the supermarket yesterday for a few bits and some fresh veg and fruit and it was like it was Christmas Eve!  I wanted to shout “people there is almost another week to go before the day!  Get a grip!” but no they were banging trolleys and pushing people out of the way to get to things.  I escaped quickly with my bag of fruit and veg!

I forgot the other day to show you our outside lights.  They do brighten the place up when it is dark and grey, which it has been most of the days.

The Daily Telegraph did an article about one of their Reporters helping The Savoy Hotel in London do their Christmas decorating which is done over the course of one night!  As you can imagine it is big and over the top.  They then asked for readers to submit pictures of their decorations.  I submitted quite a few and they picked these two to show in their article.  The above one is a decoration from my Grandmother’s tree and is over 100 years old and quite fragile.  If you follow my blog you will have seen him before.  Below is an ornament that Eldest made at Playschool, which comes out every year, and is now twenty five years old. 

I am ready for Christmas.  Just need to marzipan and ice the Christmas cake and do the Chocolate Log and then it is all done, bar cooking Christmas Dinner of course!  Will got quite a bit prepared on Christmas Eve so I can spend time with everyone on Christmas Day.

I do hope you lovely lot are ready for Christmas.  Tomorrow I have a few errands to run and then get home jobs done and Friday we are picking up the Christmas bird, we have chicken as none of my lot are fond of turkey, and the other bits of food shopping.  Saturday and Sunday would you believe we have nothing on!  Although, of course, there are always jobs that can be done!

Hugs & Love, Susie xx

Last week sped by, I was so busy I think i met myself coming back at one point!  A lot of it was to do with work but I did get to go out for a Christmas lunch with Jayne to The Cavendish Hotel at BaslowWe ate in the new Garden Room and it was a lovely afternoon, really enjoyed spending a few hours away from work with Jayne.  We drove back through Chatsworth grounds and it was quite misty and looked a little spooky.

I did manage to fit in a hair cut and spa day for me as well as everything else I managed to get done! 

All the presents are wrapped and waiting to go to Santa.

Parcels ready to go to the Post Office and parcels ready for hand delivery.

I made another batch of 35 Christmas Cookies, which have now all gone so need to make more this week.

Here are a few of our Christmas decorations in the kitchen.

My Nigella Christmas cookbook which I use a lot of receipes from.

Coco helping in the kitchen and keeping an eye on the garden, and cat patrol!

Eldest bought me some Snoopy oven gloves!

I managed to get the cleaning, washing and ironing done on Friday and then Friday evening it was the Swimming Club Presentation Night.  It was very busy with over three hundred parents and swimmers there and DH compere for the night.  I left after the actual presentations as I was shattered. 

Saturday we were up bright and early as we went over to Nottingham to see family and went out for lunch with DH’s cousin who we have not seen for a while.  After the hectic week it was lovely to be relaxed and have a lunch.  Then we got back about 3.00pm for me to get dinner ready for five, as we had friends round for dinner for Christmas.  It is the best bit about Christmas for me,  seeing family and friends.  They left around midnight and then we were back at the swimming pool on Sunday afternoon for the Swimming Club Fun Gala! 

The Coaches, including Youngest, also swam in the Gala.  The swimmers all loved it!

This week I am planning on not doing too much work but getting things ready for Christmas Day.  Today I have been working but tomorrow I am out and about running errands and getting food which has been ordered.  I still have a couple of presents to deliver as well and then I have a spa appointment for Thursday, DH is out for two Christmas meals, one on Wednesday and one on Thursday and then he will finish for Christmas.  Our Roofer also came today to fix a problem on the roof at the back and also clear all the gutters out before the weather gets bad.

How are all your plans going for Christmas?

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Do you love them or do you hate them?  Generally I love them except there seems to have been a Netflix “effect” on quite a few now.  You know how Netflix is accused of just putting films and TV series out there to satisfy the amount whether they are good or not!

I have watched quite a few whilst I have been baking and wrapping presents and some of them have been dreadful! 

I do have a few favourites though:

DH and I actually saw this at the cinema before the Boys were born and we were both in stitches.  Still love watching it.  Not a fan of Home Alone 2 or the other Home Alone films but can watch the original again and again.

Love this one and it has the wonderful Lauren Bacall in.  If you have never seen it do.

Another one I liked not too much of a story but it is okay.

Probably the best version of A Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim as Scrooge, I watch this every year. 

Who does not love this movie, a real Hollywood movie with the famous Bing Crosby song at the end with snow!!!

A modern remake of the original Miracle on 34th Street with the wonderful Richard Attenborough. 

This is a Netflix offering and does well on the Christmas scale.  Worth a watch.

As I say there are a lot out there that when you have watched them you think well that is an hour and a half I cannot get back, especially at this time of year.  I may be unpopular with the next two films and a lot of people absolutely love them but for me, no, not really!

The Holiday is too contrived and Love Actually well a typical British film!!!

Do you have a favourite Christmas Movie?  I also find as well that if an actor is in it that I don’t like that then affects whether I like the film/programme or not!  I was watching a series the other day on our BBC channel and this actress was in about Episode 3, out of 6, and I really cannot stand her and it just made the rest of the season a torture to watch!!  I ended up skipping the bits she was in!!!! 

I hope you have had a good Wednesday, almost the weekend. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

When we were little we used to have Advent Calendars which were lovely pictures with little doors on and you opened them to find another picture in the countdown to Christmas day.  I loved my Advent Calendar.  When the Boys were little I always used to buy them the same, despite the fashion to have chocolate Advent Calendars which I hated!  I was a mean Mummy!!!  Now that they are grown they have, for a few years now, had a grown up Advent Calendar from a company called Wera and you may have guessed they have tools in! 

Anyway this year DH and the Boys bought be an Advent Calendar from Fortnum & Mason, one of their beauty ones, below, which is sat on my desk.  It has some lovely products in it and I am being very good and opening the doors on the day it should be and not peeking at the other days!!

As you know it has been very cold here over the last week and this is what the trees looked like on Friday morning!  It is just frost not snow.

However when I got up at 4.00am on Sunday morning I opened the curtains to find this!  They had said it may snow a little bit, but this was quite a lot!!!

Our garden covered!

Madam enjoyed it and would not come in when I called her!! She was very wet and cold when I did finally get her in!

Her Paw Prints!

It was Youngest’s Birthday so we went out to dinner on the steam train again. It was a lovely evening and meal.

The Christmas Tree on the Station.

The Steam Engine waiting to go.

The Platform.

This is the real fire in the Ladies Waiting Room, It is very cosy and I could quite happily while away a few hours reading in there!

The dining table on the train.

On Saturday, before it snowed, we had a visit from a Robin.

Last night it was the Christmas Light Switch on in our village.  It did look rather festive with the snow, although by the time we got there it was raining and very cold!  It went very well but those who attended did not stay long despite the hot drinks and mince pies availabe!!

We got our Christmas Tree on Saturday morning and did start decorating it yesterday here it is with just the lights on.

Now with all the ornaments on. 

We still need to decorate the rest of our home but we did not get back from the light switch on until 8.00pm and we had not had dinner, so we will be doing the rest tonight. 

It has been raining all day today and still cold but all the snow has gone for now but it is due to be frosty again this week but a little warmer next weekend, which is a good thing as we need to do a few bits in the garden! 

I hope you wonderful weekend and a good week to come. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

Right the first thing you need to know is that there are :

24 Days To Go To Christmas!

So if you have not done so already, time to get your scates on!

I have now finished all the wrapping, the baking (I still have some baking to do as gifts!) and just now have a couple of other things to do today and we are ready! 

Look who is Home!  Even woolier than before, but she has her Spa Day booked next Wednesday.  I braved the traffic, which actually wasn’t too bad as it is Friday and I think a lot of people “work from home” today, and got to the Kennels at 10.30am.  She was very pleased to see me.  They said she had been very good and had a lovely time.

After a wash and much needed cut on Wednesday Coco will be all ready for Santa Paws.  Speaking of haircuts Youngest is also going on Monday, he looks about as bad as Coco!!!!

I forgot to show you all the other day, but we had a sprinkling of snow the other morning, on top of the heavy frost, so it was fun de-icing all the vehicles.  It also snowed a little bit again last night so it took me half an hour to de-frost my car which had not been out for two weeks!  It was FREEZING!

Getting Coco from Kennels I have to drive past where I used to live with my Parents and where my Grand Parents lived so a trip down memory lane!  I had the Christmas music playing in the car and I felt very Christmasy and nostalgic!  Especially remembering all those family Christmases from the past.

DH is out tonight at another light switch on and the final one is on Sunday for our Village.  Tomorrow we have lots to do including getting our tree and are out in the evening and then Sunday we have everyone round to us for breakfast whilst we decorate the tree and the house. 

I hope you lovely lot have a wonderful first weekend of December and the start of Advent. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xxx