The Books That I Read in December

At the start of December I went through all my shelves and fished out all the Christmas themed books for reading over the Christmas period, it's the only time I like reading them.  Then a few days after this photo had been taken I added to the pile with another couple of books.  

I knew there was no way I would be able to read through them all but it was nice to have them out on top of the small glazed bookcase ready to pick from and read as and when I had the time ... and of course they added to the Christmas decorations in a way that only books can.  🎄 📚🎄

Our LadBaby Journey by Mark and Roxanne Hoyle

This one was read as soon as December began.  It's a really simple read with it being written as though they are being interviewed or simply chatting to each other, which I suspect is how it was actually done as they are both dyslexic.  It was nice to hear their story in their own words and find out how they managed to raise all the money that they did for both the Trussell Trust and Band Aid.

A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas

This was a re-read from last year and which I suspect will happen again next year.  A nice simple little books by one of my favourite poets.

The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson

Another re-read and I'm glad I did, I had forgotten some of the story, perhaps I read it when I was tired last time.  It's a brilliant little book.

This Year It Will Be Different by Maeve Binchy

I absolutely loved this book. 

 It's a collection of short stories written really well by an author I used to read, but for some reason have not read for a while.  Usually I feel a bit short changed by a short story, but these pull you in and get you hooked from the first page and then are rounded off really well, each and every one of them.

The Thirteen Days of Christmas by Jenny Overton

This is a funny little book.  It's based on the Christmas song The Twelve Days of Christmas ... as you might have guessed from the title.  The gifts are all actually bought and delivered on each of the days and the ensuing chaos is described beautifully.

And So This is Christmas by Brian Bilston

Yet another re-read, and a good one at that.  I do love Brian's sense of humour and his poems are easy to read and clear and concise.

Grimm Tales for Young and Old by Philip Pullman

The dark side of fairy tales comes through in this re-working of the Grimm Brothers tales by the inimitable Philip Pullman.  With a potted history of each tale and how it has been rewritten over the years at the end of each story.  It's a good book to read on a not too dark night if you are well over the age of ten, although I suspect that I would have devoured it at eight!!

An Ideal Husband by Erica James

And finally, what has turned out to be my final book of December as I am only a third of the way through and here we are at the last day of the old year.  It's already turning out to be a really good read, written from a whole families perspectives of the sudden breakdown of a marriage on Boxing Day.

Now it's time to check my tickets for tonight's New Year celebrations and chill out for the rest of the day.  It's been a hectic year one way and the other and personally I am glad to see the back of it.  But with each passing year we learn and grow, and hopefully I have done some of that this year.

Thank you to everyone of you who have followed along on this blog over the course of 2024 and I will be welcoming you back next year hopefully.

Sue xx

Christmas Presents and Toilet Rolls

My main Christmas present off Alan this year was a new Remoska.

We've used Remoskas for years but when my last one broke just a couple of weeks after Alan's had met it's demise, instead of replacing mine I opted for an air fryer.  Much cheaper and very similar or so I thought.  But no, it took up too much room on the one worktop that I have, was too noisy in my small space and was just not for me.  So when I saw that Remoskas were greatly reduced for the Black Friday sales and the very same day Alan asked me what I wanted for Christmas, it didn't take  much thinking about.

He made me wait until Christmas to have it and it's been living under his Christmas tree, but now it's all mine and already it's in action and will already be saving us a fortune in electricity bills.

Last years low spending Challenge was all in aid of me learning how long things lasted me, using up all the bits and pieces that have been in drawers and cupboards for so long and generally making me more aware of what I buy and what I need.

For instance the toilet rolls.

 I have made three purchases this year of toilet rolls, and after trying a slightly cheaper supermarket own brand when my preferred option was not on offer and I needed to get some, the realisation has been that this is my favourite brand, they are usually on offer two or three times a year and over the course of that year I need to buy five packs.  It's good to know and I will continue to do this, although I now also think that if there is a really good offer, I might just buy a years supply all at once.

I also know after this year that I go through six tubs of my favourite body cream, and happily Alan knows that this is the only one I use and has bought me a years supply for Christmas.  

 The decorations are still vanishing little by little, although anything battery operated will be out until their batteries finish ... and it won't be long as the evenings are getting dimmer and dimmer each day.

Sue xx

Dismantling Christmas One Shelf at a Time

 

This year instead of taking all the decorations down in one fell swoop I have decided to dismantle Christmas one shelf at a time.  Quite literally, one shelf or one category.  Today was the turn of the Christmas cards.  There weren't that many, Alan has the ones from the neighbours at his house, I have the ones from my boys and brother.  Mum didn't write any this year, so the one she sent me last year went up instead.  Once again I kept my favourites and they will go up again next year, why not decorate with favourites and recycle any others.

I treated myself to a pack of three notebooks the other day.  I had called into the supermarket for some cat milk, Ginger is addicted, and there they were near the checkouts begging me with their prettiness to buy them.  One final treat for Christmas I told myself ... any excuse for a stationery purchase eh!!  😄

I've been having a few none Christmasy meals again.  

Yesterday's breakfast was porridge and lunch was a lovely bread-crumbed cod portion with just a big handful of vegetables and a dollop of mayo.  Simplicity with food will be the name of the game for me next year ... although it has been nice to eat some different things over Christmas.

Mostly because there's only so long that you can get away with or even fancy overly sweet breakfasts and getting back to simple food is very good after a couple of days of 'oh it's Christmas lunch can be half a tube of Pringles'.

It was time to get a different sort of card in the post the other day.  Alan and Mavis walked to the sorting office post box to try and make sure it gets there on time.  Our great-grandson is six on the 31st of December ... gosh how they make you feel old, all this growing up so fast. 💖

Today is Sunday and we are off to visit Mum again and although I look forward to seeing her, I am sick and tired of the M6, the M61 and the M60.  The same journey two or three times a week every week since March has made for a lot of journeys racking up the mileage on Alan's car.    The only good journeys we have had were on Christmas Day when we managed to do both directions in the hour that Google Maps says we should be able to do it in.  

She's worth it.

Oh and finally ... a Happy Birthday to my ex-husband, 69 today!!

Sue xx

Why Not It's Christmas ... and Other Musings.

 

A Winter Wonderland.   

Main Street, Haworth, West Yorkshire.  Photo by Fran Wilson

These days between Christmas and New Year always get me thinking, half planning the year ahead and wondering if I have been satisfied with the year almost over.  Every year without fail I feel this way.  It's a touch of melancholy, a touch of wanting the bright new fresh start to be upon me quicker, and also a touch of wondering what is next.

I'm good at change, I always have been.  If something's not right I move on, I've done it so many times and change holds no fear for me.  But never change for changes sake.  Will things change next year, I don't know, will things stay exactly the same ... bloody hell I hope not, so some tweaks are definitely needed.

What will be will be, I'm not one to worry about things.  Worry changes nothing, it doesn't affect the future and it ruins the present, so there's really no point.

For now, it's time to hunker down in this ridiculously warm weather we've been having and try and eat my way through just a little of the stash of Christmas leftovers.  

It's time for me to start another book as I've just been finished reading Grimm Tales for Young and Old by Philip Pullman, it's a collection pulled from the works of the Brothers Grimm ... gosh the originals are blood-thirsty and gory.  It's a wonder that I ever slept as a child with my non-stop reading of various fairy tale books.  I think I'll choose something lighter for my next read.

This morning's breakfast ... typical 'why not it's Christmas fare'.  😄

Sue xx

Blogmas - Christmas Day - Forgotten Gravy

 

Wishing all my blogging buddies and readers a very Happy Christmas.

May your day be filled with all that you want from it, whether that be lots of relatives, lots of food, or just a quiet, simple and calming time.

Never stress about the little things, rejoice in the ones that go right and laugh at the ones that go wrong.  After all, they will be the ones that go down in family history.

Art by Maja Lindberg

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Twenty Four - The Last Deliveries of Christmas

 

The last deliveries of Christmas came through my letterbox and door just over a week ago.  I always feel so sorry for the delivery drivers in the two weeks before Christmas, they are so stressed and over-worked, so I really try not to have anything arriving any later than that, and especially not in the last couple of days before Christmas.

There's not been nearly as many Christmas cards this year, although I have not sent many out either.  There were just a few sent to immediate family, with everyone else knowing that the cost of the Christmas card and stamp that they might have had, has instead gone to a local charity.

The Radio Times has been gone through by me, with 'must watch' programmes being circled and the most vital being set to record on the Freeview box, now Alan has it in his house to read through and do the same himself.

The smol washing tabs came literally just in time, as I was just about to use the last one in the washing machine.   Phew!!  It turns out that I  have really got the timing of my ordering worked out well, I must therefore use 48 tabs or two boxes over the space of three months.  This year has been good for finding out my outgoings right down to the nitty gritty.

I don't use any of the other smol products, but if you would like to try their wares they currently have a special offer of a £6 trial pack of their home bundle available HERE, and looking at it it's a really good deal.

Also into the Lodge but not through the letterbox last week was my Christmas cheese order.  Not all to be eaten at Christmas I hasten to add, but available if I want to have some with my crackers.

I do really recommend this company.  Their non-dairy cheeses and butters are not made from soya or coconut oil but instead the predominant ingredient is cashews and other nuts, and the most important thing is that it's really tasty too.

If you are interested you can read all about the company and the cheeses HERE.

My final delivery was my Deliciously Ella goodies.

I ordered these for next years consumption as they had a brilliant offer of an extra 10% off my already 15% reduced prices for being a DE Premium Member, and a twenty five percent discount off things you eat all the time is not to be sniffed at.

Finally, I went to Aldi with my remaining cash from the challenge and bought some of the reduced priced vegetable items.  I didn't need much so I just got a red cabbage, a 1kg bag of carrots and a 2kg bag of potatoes all priced at just 8p each.  A total of £1.93 spent including the full priced Easy Peelers.

We are very lucky in this country to have these supermarket veg wars every year, but I do hope it's not the farmers losing out.

So, that's it then, no more shopping for me this year.  I don't need any more food, and with the last batch of homemade soup frozen there's no room for frozen stuff anyway.  I don't need to buy anything in the sales so I will not be flashing the cash, the plastic or spending in any way until well after the New Year.

I hope all your preparations for Christmas have gone smoothly, whether you do lots with family and friends over the festive period or just relax and see it out calmly and quietly, I hope it's all sorted and done.

Time for a cup of coffee and a mince pie. 

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Twenty Three - Enter at Your Peril

 

Oh the Grinch sums it up so well.  😄

The first cup of the coffee for me has to be drunk in solitude.  If I'm not reading I don't mind the television being on with YouTube entertaining me while I arrive slowly into my day, but I do not want anyone to chatter away to me ... and even worse expect any kind of response.  

You have been warned, enter my little morning bubble at your peril!!

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Twenty Two - Poetry and Ballet

 

Artwork by Rosie Hardy

I found this on Facebook and it really resonated with me.

They saw her in the library

Discarded on a chair

And her glossy, shiny cover

Made them notice she was there.

They picked her up and held her

For a minute, maybe three

They said she was exquisite

The most beautiful they'd seen

They thought not of her pages

Simply stared at her in awe

Then they put her on the bookshelf

As they headed out the door

So they never knew the words she chose

To mark her journey's start

And they didn't read the reams and reams

Of kindness at her heart

They didn't read the things she hid

In pages left untouched

Or the hellos and goodbyes she'd said

Of people that she loved

They didn't read the chapters

Where she set herself apart

And they never read the lines she wrote

Of how they'd played their part

They didn't turn the pages

On her struggles and her strengths

And they missed the ripped-up paper

Where she'd torn herself to shreds

They never read the parts

About the places she had been

Or the people she had helped

Or the wonders she had seen

So when anybody asked them

What it was that she was like

They realised they had no idea

What she was like inside

See, they'd told her she was beautiful

Because of how she looked

But they'd just admired her cover

And they'd never read her book.

Becky Hemsley 2020

We went to our annual watching of The Nutcracker the other night, it's the live link up to cinemas from The Royal Opera House in London, shared all over the world as well as in the UK.  As usual it was absolutely magical. We both thought that the choreography was even better this year. 

 Before settling down to watch the ballet with a glass of wine we had fish and chips in the restaurant that's next to the cinema ... which has also turned into something of a tradition.  

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Twenty One - Clocking Off for Christmas

 

The work is complete, I'm clocking off from the day job for Christmas ... well I did last night really.   A good thing is, that unless we have revisions to do I will not be clocking on again in the New Year, as all the work left to complete the contracts we have, are solely in Alan's domain.

Woohoo, it's time to celebrate, I have to admit I also did that last night. 😄

When we had our visitors the other day we all went to the garden centre for breakfast, they had to leave mid afternoon to get back to Scotland so a lunch would have sat far too heavy on a long drive, but breakfast and then coffee and cake at ours, before they left was just perfect.  

After we had eaten our various choices of breakfast and chatted over coffees we browsed the shelves of our lovely local garden centre.  My sister-in-law fell in love with a beautiful wool sweater, so that solved her fiancé's Christmas gift buying problem and I just had to have the little felted mouse holding a lollipop and the little ceramic light-up house.

I only usually buy myself one little addition to the Christmas decorations each year, but this year I have really splashed out ... and bought three.  🎄

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Twenty - Final Shopping and Round-Up of My Year Long Challenge

 

As mentioned on last Sunday's post, I decided that my final weeks shopping, including a lot of things to be bought for Christmas, would be from Sainsbury's.  I had £45 available in Nectar points when I got the self-serve tills ... so I used them all, I thought I might as well see this challenge out with a flourish.

As you should be able to make out from this receipt, as well as my £45 worth of Nectar points I had to spend £5.47 of my cash.  As I had £8.45 in cash still available in the Challenge I managed to keep under budget for the year - just!!

So after a year of spending £100 a month on groceries and other items in the shops, I have a grand total of £2.98 left over from my £1,200 budget. 

Although I am officially finishing the Challenge here and now, I have earmarked that cash to take advantage of the supermarkets annual vegetable wars. What doesn't get eaten from them over the Christmas period will be processed and frozen to use in the new year.

A close up of the food.  

The chicken was for Ginger and Mavis, they eat a lot of chicken these days alongside their cat and dog food.  The cakes were for our guests ... and the Yule Log is all mine I tell you ... ALL MINE!! 😄

The same food, only more to the right.

Todays Currency Conversion

 If I didn't have a Nectar card this shop would have cost me £56.37 which is equal to:

US Dollars    $71.63

Canadian Dollars    $102.58

Australian Dollars    $113.40

Euro     68.27

New Zealand Dollar - $124.81

Always an interesting comparison to make.

Over the course of the year I have also been keeping tabs on the freebies that I have managed to get.  These have included the free giveaways from Booths, as well as the rewards from me having a Booths card, things bought with the Nectar points or the vouchers from my M&S credit card.  

Over the year it seems to have added up quite nicely, and I have managed to get £121.95 worth of food items for free.  Obviously, I have used most of them, but Alan has also benefitted a couple of times and of course Mavis got the doggy ice-cream.  😀🐶

It's been a good year but rather than carry it over to Christmas week I have decided to end now.  I am also allowing myself two orders which I put in a couple of days ago.  One to 'I Am Nut Ok' a handmade vegan cheese company, and one to Deliciously Ella, both had really good offers that I would have been crazy not to partake of.  

Most of the food on the orders is actually for January or early next year, so although some of the cheeses might be consumed over Christmas I have no guilt whatsoever at not including them in the Challenge costs.

Thanks to everyone who has followed along with this Challenge, and especially thank you for all your words of encouragement, they really helped.

What am I doing next year you might be wondering?  Well next year is a very strange year for me so I am having a long hard think about things before I decide to do anything.  Whatever I do decide to do will be out of real necessity.   😐

Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Nineteen - Missing Dad

 

Missing my Dad on what would have been his birthday.  💖

Remembered in THIS POST.

Sue xx  🎄🐦

Blogmas Day Eighteen - The Christmas To Do List

Alan's Christmas tree.  

It's looking lovely, sadly this lighting didn't do it justice, but this year he's really got it so spot on.  Just full enough, just spaced out right and full of memories.

One of his little stocking fillers from me last year has pride of place.

As does this one.  

Sadly, Mavis is an only dog this year, but we have happy memories of doggy festive fun with the two of them last year.

One of my favourite modern poets.

 Sue xx  🎄

Blogmas Day Seventeen - Cosy Book Reading Season

Artwork - Esther Bennink

It's cosy book-reading season at the moment, and I am really enjoying reading my way through some of my Christmas themed books.  Alan let me have our tall light thingy that had been in the corner of his living room unused, and now that this is behind my chair in the Lodge I can see to read much earlier and much, much later, and I am making full use of the increased hours available.

Last week I was reading a book about a Christmas murder by Peter Swanson, and now I am reading a book of Christmas themed short stories by Maeve Binchy.  Rather weirdly I keep waiting for a murder to happen, hopefully it won't.  I don't think I remembered what a bloody good writer Maeve Binchy was, now I need to look out for more of her books in the charity shops.

Last time we chatted about books quite a few readers and fellow bloggers mentioned a book called 'The Long Winter' by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and I was sorely tempted to buy myself a copy.  When like-minded friends recommend something you can virtually be sure that it's worth a look.

So guess what ... yep, I got myself a copy.

The only thing was, that the cheapest way to get hold of it at the time was to buy a more recently published full set of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.  

Please note ... I am in no way complaining.  😁

 

I do think I will read The Long Winter first, but then I have all the others to look forward to in the New Year.

It's a bit strange though isn't it, when buying seven books is cheaper than buying one!!

Sue xx  📚🎄