Sunday 29th November 2020 - Still Here, A Change and Decorations

Well, I am still here. I have not been arrested......yet! I find it very sad that there are those who feel it is okay to try to prey on others.

A change in the weather, still mild for November but as you can see from today’s photo, we have lost our blue skies. During the past few days, I have made our Christmas pudding, just a small one for the two of us. I am not making a traditional Christmas cake but, as I have done for the past few years, I will make a Dundee cake instead. Peter downloads various radio programmes for us to listen to while we are eating our lunch. A regular download is the Kitchen Cabinet where the programme’s panel provide variants on different recipes and ingredients, as well as, respond to listeners questions. One of the questions posed in the programme we listened to yesterday was, what nuts the panel put in their Christmas cake. A spin off was marinating the fruit in Amaretto. Now, being an almond fan this sounds like a great idea so I have added a bottle to this week’s on-line grocery shop. Of course I won’t use the whole 50cl bottle for the cake but don’t worry, the bottle won’t gather dust at the back of a cupboard; I am quite partial to a ‘drop’ poured over ice!

Lights and decorations are being put up by village residents in preparation for Christmas. All a bit early for us; it will be mid-December before we bring out the boxes of decorations. We didn’t have a tree last year as we felt the temptation for Sid, then a kitten, would be too great. This year, we still don’t thing a floor standing tree is a good idea, instead we have decided to take a risk, purchasing a two foot artificial tree to place on an occasional table. It will be interesting to see whether he reacts or just ignores it – I am hoping it will be the latter.