Happy New Year

2025!

I hope you lovely lot had a wonderful Christmas!  Here it was happy chaos on Christmas Day with ten of us at home as well as Coco and Blaze!  We opened presents with Youngest & Partner in the morning and then Eldest, Partner, The Girls, Little Man and Nannie arrived when we got to open gifts with them  We had Dinner at 1.00pm and then opened some more presents.  Little Man went to sleep in my arms before they had to leave to get back to their home for Eldest to be on call again by 4.00pm.  Fortunately there were no call outs. 

Boxing Day was a much more relaxed day with Youngest & Partner going to visit her family and we took lunch up to Eldest and The Girls had gone to see their Daddy and another Christmas with them.  Little Man was busy with his toys but also very tired.  We got home around 7.00pm and were not too late in bed as we were exhausted!!!

Over the weekend we have had some lovely lazy days and I have finished one book and now started another.  I did get a few more books for Christmas which have been added to my TBR shelf which is groaning.  You know that I have Aims for New Year instead of Resolutions and of course more reading is number one.  My main Aim this year is to read all the books on my TBR shelf and not buy any more until I have, although I did get some books tokens for Christmas!!!!!

Here is our Dining Room and the Table set for nine of us and Little Man in his High Chair

Little Man with his Christmas Dinner, he loved the mashed potatoes!

The individual place settings.

I forgot to show you our Christmas cake above and below.  I change the decorations each year and these are mine and last year we had the ones on it I inherited from my Grandma.

A favourite of DH & The Boys the Yule Log.

For those who have followed me for a while know, I don’t particularly like New Year!  So we are at home this evening and will probably watch the fireworks in London at Midnight and then go to sleep, although I may be asleep before that.  The weather forecast for most of the country is bad weather with driving rain and high winds, so some New Year celebrations have already been cancelled but London is still on at the moment!

Tomorrow is another family day and the best bit is that we are off for the rest of this week and weekend and don’t go back to work until January 6th!  I am still planning to start the de-cluttering which is going to be another Aim for this year and Friday DH and I have a trip out which will include a trip to a quilt shop!  Saturday we will be taking all the decorations down and cleaning (I really hate that as I love our decorations) and all day Sunday we are at the swimming pool for the Swimming Club Open!  The first week of work is quiet and I can catch up on some things before we start back in full force the second week. 

Another Aim is to do more quilting again and I have two quilts which need to be done by May 2025 so they will need to be done first!  I will put all my Aims for 2025 up tomorrow.  I hope you lovely lot have a wonderful New Year’s Eve whatever you are doing and a great 2025.  The chances, dreams and hopes are great for 2025.

New Year Hugs & Love,

Susie, DH, Eldest, Youngest, Partner, Partner, The Girls, Little Man, Coco, Blaze, Honey & Star.

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Happy Christmas!

Wishing all our Family, Friends and my Lovely Followers a

Very Happy Christmas!

Have a wonderful Christmas Day whatever you are up to and I shall see you all here soon. 

Christmas Hugs & Love,

Susie, DH, Eldest, Youngest, Partner & Partner, The Girls, Little Man, Coco, Honey, Blaze & Star.

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Only six days to go before the Big Day and hopefully you are all sorted!  If not try not to stress.  I still have one or two jobs to do but nothing big and all the deliveries I was expecting have arrived which is a relief!  DH finishes work today so is at home from tomorrow for a fortnight which will be lovely.  Tomorrow we have some jobs to do and grocery shopping and then in the evening it is the Swimming Club Presentation Night for all the swimmers, their parents and guests to get the trophies they won at the Championship swimming events and of course a disco. 

Saturday and Sunday we have days off which will be so nice after how busy it has been over the last few weeks.  There are always jobs to get done but not too many.  Saturday evening DH and I are out on a date night which we have not been able to do for months so that will be great.  Sunday I will be getting the washing and ironing done and up to date before Christmas and Monday I have to go for another blood test at 7.00am and then I can get the cleaning done, we will be collecting the meat for over the Christmas period and also the other grocery shopping and then it will all be done!  Christmas Eve I will be preparing all the vegetables for Christmas Day and setting the table ready for them all arriving on Christmas Day.  I am sure it is going to be chaos but happy, lovely chaos!

Eldest & Little Man the other evening on their new sofa.  It had been a busy day for them both!  Eldest has been doing the training for his blue light driving over the last two weeks and did the tests on Monday & Tuesday of this week and has passed so he is now able to drive to a call out.  Although he does not want a call out because of what it means but he does want to drive his first blue light run!

I saw the above Mug and loved the shape of it so bought it for my hot chocolate or tea depending upon how I feel!

Above are the mince pies duly made, some are in the tin and the rest are in the freezer!

DH’s father did not like mince pies so I always made him Jam tarts for Christmas so as I had some pastry left over I made some.  Unfortunately I only had Strawberry Conserve which is a very soft set so as you can imagine it was all over the place, it had gone hard when they cooled but they do not look very good but apparently they are tasty.

This was lunch the other day, two warm sausage rolls and a cup of hot chocolate, it was a freezing cold day so it was lovely to have something warm to eat rather than sandwiches!

Tonight DH has a swimming meeting with the new Chairman, having handed over at the beginning of November and I think I will be going to bed early as DH has managed to pass his cold onto me!  I am hoping that it won’t last long and will be gone before next week!!!  I hope you lovely lot are having a Thrilling Thursday. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

#TBT – Throw Back Thursday Picture below!!!!!

Eldest & Youngest visiting Santa at Great Central Railway from 2005 almost twenty years ago!!!!  Where do the years go to?  Eldest was ten and Youngest was six.

We had a lovely weekend visiting family on Saturday, of course I didn’t get any pictures!  DH’s Aunt got to meet Little Man for the first time with Eldest & Partner and we had lunch in the local pub, The Old Ship, Lowdham,  the village that DH was born and brought up in.  In fact that very pub is where DH’s father used to go on a Saturday for lunch and drinks with his friends and would then play dominoes on winter afternoons.  So his Son, Grandson and Great Grandson were all there on Saturday!  If you are local to Nottinghamshire and in particular Lowdham we can recommend the food at The Old Ship, there is a lot of choice and we all had something different and every dish was very tasty.

Youngest helping keep score on Saturday evening.

Saturday evening was the Fun Gala for the Swimming Club and they had a great time with various races and relays instead of just swimming up and down!  Youngest was on the Score Board and DH was announcing and I, for once, was actually just there to watch!  Although, as always happens, there was another event happening on Saturday evening, the Tractor Christmas Light Parade  and Eldest, Partner & Little Man went to see.  We would have loved to have gone too but could not of course!

This is Ben, a good friend of Eldest, with his tractor all lit up.  I don’t know exactly how many lights are on there but I know it took him quite a while to get them on and lit.  Little Man was a little confused by it all but did love seeing the lights and at least it was not raining again.

Sunday was a very slow day which was really nice after the last few hectic weeks and months.  Although I was up at 5.00am as normal but I did go into my sewing room and got the final two things finished which are Christmas presents.  Because I have finished all the things I needed to get done before Christmas, I, with the help of DH, put away all the material I had got out, the cotton threads and also tidied up the wadding.  I love making things but I also love it when it is all tidy again!  Once all the presents are out I will have the sewing room back!

I am determined that I am not going to be ill this Christmas unlike last year when I got shingles.  So rather than run around like the proverbial chicken in the run up to Christmas I have decied to have this week off and get various jobs done during the day.  I had to go to our local Council Tip first thing to get rid of some things that we could not re-cycle.  Surprisingly it was not busy.  I then went to my local supermarket and I could not believe the amount of people that were there.  Normally Monday is a quiet shopping day which is why I go, but the people in there were behaving like tomorrow is Christmas Day!  I needed some new boxes for storing things in the freezer and also a few bits so I got those quickly and left!  On the way home I got my car washed, to get rid of the dirt and salt they have been using on the roads and it looks so much better.  I got back in time for lunch and Coco had her biscuit.

Coco spent yesterday following us around whilst we were doing the jobs and subsequently did not get any sleep during the day at all, so by the time we went to bed she was absolutely shattered.  She was still tired this morning as well and has spent the afternoon in her basket next to my desk asleep!

Yesterday my main job was to bake the Mince Pies that everyone loves and I managed to make 72.  Some will be put into the tin and the rest will be packed in the new boxes for the freezer for me to get as and when needed.  Tomorrow I will be making the Christmas cookies for us and also for gifts as well.  I then only have to make the cheesy stars which my Boys love, put the marzipan on the Christmas Cake and ice it next week and make the chocolate log and then all the baking is done.  I am also going to cook ahead some meals during the days for this week and after Christmas, again for the freezer, for when we have had a busy day and no time to cook.  I will show you pictures of the baking later in the week.

Have a wonderful week you lovely lot, the last full week before the Big Day and I will see you back here tomorrow. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

I think I am going to make this a new thing for 2025!  As you know the sewing room has been doing double duty as a wrapping room and Santa’s Grotto over the last few months and next year I am going to be a little more organised with things.   As I said yesterday I am now buying for more people than ever before and especially the children’s gifts some of the things are in big boxes which take up a lot of room!  It has been fun buying their gifts and takes me straight back to when our Boys were little, especially when their presents do not always cost a lot but they absolutely love.  Of course as they get big their parcels get smaller but more expensive!!!

Anyway back to the sewing room.  I have been sewing for Christmas too and again I will show you after the Big Day as they are gifts but it needs a good tidy up and put the fabric away that I have been using and cottons and all that stuff.  I did do a bit of tidying and this is one of the things;

Two years ago DH and The Boys bought me a lovely box of chocolates for Christmas from Charbonnel et Walker in London and this was the box they came in.  I just love the colours and the picture on it so when the box was empty I kept it and put it in the sewing room.  Now I don’t know about you but my Grandmother, who taught me to sew, always had a button box.  In fact it was a wooden box that my Grandfather made for her and it was full of buttons.  I don’t think she ever used more than one or two a year but having been born in 1904 she was brought up to never not save and re-use things, so if you got rid of anything that had buttons on, because it was old you, always cut the buttons off and saved them. 

These days I don’t do that but I do save all the buttons that come with a new item of clothing. I take them out of the plastic bags they usually come in or cut them off the labels in the clothes and have started storing them in here.  It is not full but I do use it when I am making quilty things that need a button or if DH or The Boys loose a button off a shirt or anything else.  I don’t know about you but I love sorting through the buttons and the sound they make when you do so. 

Back to Christmas now and if you are in the UK there is still time to post cards or presents with last posting dates being………

2nd Class Post by 2.00pm on Tuesday December 17th

1st Class Post by 2.00pm on Thursday December 19th

I have got all our cards posted and the Christmas parcels that need to go by post have gone so am ahead of the game there.  I did read that some people have decided not to send Christmas cards this year due to the cost of postage; 1st Class Post stamp for letters and cards now costs £1.65 and 2nd Class Post Stamp for letters and cards now costs £0.85!  I can understand that these prices are steep for the elderly who are on tight incomes but for the rest, who do work, I think it is a good excuse not to send cards!  I love sending and receiving cards at this time of year, but I did post all of those that we send in the UK by second class post!  Things have certainly changed since the first stamp ever used which was a Penny Black!

Today I have some more baking to do and some more quilting to do and, if I get chance, some reading too!  I hope you lovely lot have had a wonderful weekend and will have a great week to come.  This coming week I am off and am only going to do the minimum of work so that I can get Christmas jobs sorted as I am determined I am not going to be ill over Christmas this year.  Last year I had shingles on my face so I am really hoping that I am going to avoid all the colds, flu and everything else that is going around.  Well its a plan and it may work!!!

Christmas Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

I did not think it was possible for the weeks to go even faster but the last two weeks seem to have come and gone at warp speed!  I know it is because we are all so, so busy and are doing lots that the days are speeding through, but it really is getting beyond a joke at how fast time is going!

I got some pictures of the sewing room the other day and my current sewing space which is just a slot between the presents, it looks like Santa’s Workshop!

This is underneath the table where I sew, you can just see the foot peddle!

This is next to the desk where I sew and between the chair and my other sewing table!

More sacks and you can just see the carpet above!

More parcels, also on the chair with spare paper!

Three big boxes which are in the middle of the room.  My ironing table is next to these and my chair is also next to them!

It is going to take DH and Youngest a while to get them all downstairs and under the tree.  Of course there are ten of us now to buy gifts for because of Partners, The Girls, Tobey, Coco, Honey, Blaze and Star.  I did say to DH the other day the last time I had this many people around the Christmas dinner table was when I was a little girl and we had dinner at my Grandparents home and there was my Mom & Dad, them and my Great Grandmother. 

It is such a clear memory of my sitting between my parents on a stool so that I could reach the table and I remember the Goose being brought in for my Grandfather to carve (we always had Goose for Christmas Day) along with Beef as well.  The dining room looked onto their garden and it had snowed that year, it was a great view.  They also had a fire in the dining room which was lit and we had dinner about 1.00pm and then sat there long after dinner had finished, the adults talking and me reading a book.  We went to Church first thing in the morning and after dinner always took the dogs for a walk which they loved in the snow, getting back in time for tea by the fire in the sitting room which was always a slice of Christmas cake and a cup of tea.  I was allowed to stay up later than normal on Christmas Day and we would play board games and watch the film on TV.  Boxing Day was always a much more relaxed day with a buffet for lunch and after again walking the dogs we spent the afternoon either reading, playing board games or watching TV.  That is pretty much what our family do now.

I treated myself to an early Christmas present for the sewing room, the picture above.  As you know I love Christmas, snow and all that and I saw this picture on Facebook of all places and manged to find the Artist who sells prints of his paintings via eBay.  His name is SouthLondonArtistDan on eBay and there are several pictures on there.  The picture is more blue than the pictures here show, but I just loved the print.  Here is a link to his page.  DH got a white frame for it which suits it very well and goes along with the other pictures I have in there.

I subscribe to this magazine all year and it really is a great read.  It is printed every week but at Christmas they do a double issue which arrived on Wednesday and this is the front cover.  I love it.  The special issues that they have through the year I keep and this will be added to the collection.  

Today in the newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, there was an article for the ladies on what to wear on Christmas Day!  Generally I am all about comfort but do make an effort of course if we are going out and will do on Christmas Day.  I will be wearing my black jeans (I think they always look smarter than blue jeans), I have a cream blouse with ruffles on and if I need it a black lace cardigan and I will wear some burgundy court shoes.  I will also wear my Great Grandmother’s single string of pearls and the pearl earings DH bought me for our wedding anniversary.  Although by the end of the day I will have probably spilt somthing down the blouse whilst cooking, I will have kicked the shoes off in our sitting room and taken my jewellery off!  I love Boxing Day as it is much more relaxed with food in the kitchen for everyone to pick at when they appear and casual clothes!  DH and I may be on our own for Boxing Day so it will definitely be a relaxing day after the busy day before!!!

Today we are visiting Family in Nottingham and having lunch and then this evening we have the Swimming Club’s Christmas Fun Gala.  I hope you are having a wonderful Winter weekend. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx

I really think they could make a TV show of these two!!!  We are very lucky that Coco is only two and Blaze is one so very young and so the transition of living together has been very smooth.  They have their moments but generally they are very good together.  The other day it was cold and I had the heating on whilst I was sat at my desk working.  Coco was in her usual spot in her basket next to my desk and Blaze was asleep on DH’s chair.  Everyone else was out so it was a very quiet cosy scene!!!

You cannot see Blaze very well as he is jet black but this is DH’s office chair!!!

I was busy in the sewing room last weekend and Coco was in there with me and Blaze was with his Mummy in their room next door.  He eventually came out and knew that Coco was in the room with me so this is what happened……..

Blaze was on the landing with his paws under the sewing room door.

Coco was in the sewing room the other side of the door!!!

Normally Santa Claus visits us on our road on a Thursday evening during December, but this year he did not come up our Hill because whoever was driving the sleigh could not reverse and our road is in fact a cul-de-sac and was not confident of turning around at the top!  Coco was most disappointed as she was waiting to see him!  It is run by the local Rotary Club and when DH and I were in Round Table & Ladies Circle we went out three nights of the first and second week of December in other areas of Derby doing this and we know it is a very hectic time but we always made sure we got around everyone!!!!

Here is Coco looking out of the front window in our Dining Room waiting for Santa Claus to come up our Hill!

Where is he?

She then retired to the stairs to keep an eye out for him but he did not appear.  Don’t worry Coco he will definitely be here on Christmas Eve with your presents.  Santa Claus will have his proper Reindeer then!

We hope you are having a lovely week, Thursday and almost the weekend! 

Hugs & Love, Susie, Coco & Blaze xxx

Well not actually here yet but I have been having a lovely time doing Christmas things!  Last Saturday Youngest, Partner DH & I went for dinner on the Steam Train where we took Eldest, Partner, The Girls & Little Man to see Santa Claus.  They run on weekends Dining Trains and we went at 7.00pm for dinner on The Christmas Forester.  It was Christmas dinner and to say that it is all cooked on board they do an amazing job and serving the food whilst the train is steaming down the line is a feat in itself.  From Friday night and all over the weekend the country was battered by Storm Darragh, although the worst affected was the West side of the country it was very windy with us and extremely cold.  We got on the train at 6.30pm and it was very warm and cosy.  We left the main station at 7.00pm and we stopped at the small stations rather than where they normally stop because of the wind.  We really had a lovely evening.

Sunday DH and I spent the day getting some jobs done and generally having a day off!  Monday I spent the day in our Den working and getting up to date with jobs and also getting home jobs done too.  Tuesday Jayne and I went out for our Christmas Lunch and DH drove us there.  For the last few years we have been to The Cavendish Arms at Baslow which is owned by Chatsworth House and is in fact on The Chatsworth Estate.  It is a lovely hotel where DH and I celebrated our Tenth Wedding Anniversary!!

Jayne & I had Lunch in The Garden Room which was decorated in a natural garden way.

The weather was cold and misty, so the lights were on and quite bright as it was grey outside!

The Christmas Tree above was outside the windows on the patio.  Below is the Christmas tree in the Reception area.

I love this table in Reception, above, with the light above it and below is a picture of the fireplace unfortunately not real, but it did have a “real” looking fire, gas, in it.

The food was lovely and it was dark by the time we had finished so DH drove us back through Chatsworth park to see the lights and then through Matlock and Matlock Bath.  My lunch with Jayne is a highlight of each month, more so in December and near Christmas.

I have also been catching up with the photographs on my camera and found these from earlier in the month.   This was taken on Youngest’s Birthday with his brother and Little Man in our sitting room. 

Youngest & Partner went for a walk at Chatsworth a couple of weekends ago and it was absolutely freezing so they were wrapped up warm above.

This was both of them on the Wheel in Nottingham when they went to the Winter Wonderland.

Tomorrow I will have pictures of Little Miss Coco and our new lodger Master Blaze (it sounds like a new cartoon series!!!!).  Stay warm and safe, almost the weekend. 

Hugs & Love, Susie & Coco xx