Good Reads and the Christmas Spirit.....

 I have spent the last week catching up with chores, de-stressing and reading.....a LOT !

When I ordered Milly's latest book from the library, I expected a long wait but it came in pretty quickly.  Having just finished the Heidi Swain which Gill had sent me, it came at the opportune moment for a Christmas read.  The weather was foul; wet, wild and windy so it wasn't too much of a stretch to imagine it was snow falling, and to get into the bones of this book.  Oh I LOVED it!  If you get the chance, please do give it a go.  It drew me in to the characters in the first few pages and kept me gripped right to the end.  And a very satisfying end it was too 😊

I had also reserved another book: The Midnight Bookshop by Amanda James and, when I went to pick it up, I also spotted Heidi Swain's Home For Christmas and nabbed that one too.  I have until December 11th to return them both so I think Amanda James first then the Heidi Swain......

I have 3 more Amanda James ones to read but I think I'll hold them back until Spring now that I'm in the Christmas/ dark days/ bad weather mode.

Are you into Christmas reading yet?

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When I visited the Hospice shop last week I could see that a box of my handmade Christmas cards were on display.  I have donated 35 so far and just 10 were left (after a week) so they are definitely selling......

The birthday cards too had almost sold out so the weekend has been spent making as many as I could during the daylight hours.  It gets so dark now and working at the kitchen table makes matching colours a little trickier than during the brighter days of Spring and Summer.

However, I now have another batch to drop off tomorrow making a total of 400 since March this year.  Woohoo! 😍

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Edit:

Samples for anyone interested 😉

Thanks so much for popping in.  Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Birthday: Freebies, Almost Freebies, and a Healthier Fridge !

 Getting older does, I found out last week, have some benefits 😀 I got several emails containing small gift vouchers or discounts from Hobbycraft. 

 I was sent a £5 voucher which I used to buy some pretty flowers for my charity cards.  They cost a total of £7.50 and I only paid £2.50.....

....and a pack of tiny crystal gems costing £2.80 only cost me 30p after using my £2.50 loyalty voucher.....

Even better was a FREE pack of grapes on my M & S Sparks App !  They were priced at £2.65 but cost me nothing 😀 We will enjoy some with our cheese and crackers for tea tonight.....

My fridge is looking a little healthier after last week's food delivery too. The Benecol spread and Cholesterol drinks are there because Gray had a phone call from the pharmacist (why not the GP???) to say that he has high cholesterol and needs statins to bring the numbers down.  After a bit of frank discussion, Gray decided that he didn't want to take even more medication than he's currently on, and will try to resolve it with his diet.  (And, yes, the Toblerone at the very top is his 🤯 )

I guess watching our diet will be beneficial for us both.  We've slipped into some poor habits lately, I'm ashamed to say, especially eating snacks in the evening 😒

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Thanks for popping in and do stay safe well and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗

Empty Fridges, Cupboards and Books....

 Gosh, it's been more than a week since I last posted 🤯 The reasons for this are varied, but  I've not felt 100% healthwise and there has been a lot of other stuff going on too.  I don't know why I've felt 'off''.  I did get my flu jab in the end last week when Gray went to the surgery for his and he asked if any more appointments would be released.  The nurse checked and found there was a cancellation at 5.10pm that day and I took it.  I don't think it was the jab which upset me, but for some reason I have felt particularly low and unsettled and have not slept particularly well all week.  My blood tests came back clear but there has been no further response from the surgery regarding how to feel better and I'm not sure how to get further help.  My IBS is still problematic despite careful, mindful eating, live yogurt consumption etc so I feel more than a bit fed up.  I had my 76th birthday on Saturday which made me feel remarkably old and decrepit! 

The day was spent quietly at home but we were invited to lunch on Sunday at our Daughter's house as I share my birthday with our son-in-law.  It was a lovely roast dinner but she was catering for 8 instead of 6 at a minute's notice and there was only room for 6 at the dinner table.  At least I didn't have to eat from a plate on my lap on the sofa !  We left around 6pm to give our Daughter a little breathing space (and a seat on the sofa!) She has her work cut out.....

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As I've felt a bit 'off' lately, I've taken my eye off the ball regarding the food shopping and store cupboard.  This was my fridge door yesterday....

Jams at the top, a little cheddar cheese and some butter and not much else 😱

The main compartment wasn't looking much better either.  Sauces at the top, Vimto for visiting teens, butter, spread, a bit of grated cheese in the tub and some veg in the bottom drawer.

I found carrots, onions, tomatoes and 2 baking potatoes;  enough there for some delicious soup....

The cupboard where I keep my tinned stuff is almost bare too, just like Mother Hubbard's.  The basket on the right contains bags of flour and about a quarter of a packet of dried mixed fruit.  There is just one sachet left in the cup-a-soup box. And, yes, the two half bottles on the left are alcohol! One is brandy to put in coffee on a cold day and the other is rum to put into the Galaxy hot chocolate.  This size bottle lasts us easily 6 months, I promise 😉

I really need to get my head together and start re-stocking from now until Christmas.  I don't like being this low on supplies.  I do have food in the freezer though.  There are boxes of home grown beans, squash, apples, raspberries, rhubarb etc as well as a few batch cooked meals so we won't actually starve if we're snowed in, but I'm sure prices will be creeping up even more in the run up to Christmas.

Are you busy stocking up now?  

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As I've been trying to relax more, I've done more reading than usual.  I had a book reservation come in so read that first as I could only have it for 2 weeks loan.  I love anything based in Cornwall, especially North Cornwall which we love and Fern's book didn't disappoint.....

I've now begun the new Heidi Swain which was very kindly sent to me by a lovely blog buddy.  It's got a wonderful, cosy Autumnal vibe about it, perfect for this season.  Thank you, Gill, I'm thoroughly enjoying it....

Are you feeling below par now that the weather has turned cold and wet?  Or are you basking in the warmth of a sunny Spring day perhaps?

Do stay safe and well wherever you happen to be,

Angie 💗