Tis the most wonderful time of the year

22nd Dec - Snow is Falling... Just Not Around Me

Snow is falling.... All around me...
Children playing... Having fun...
Tis the season for Love and understanding...
Merry Christmas... Everyone

Well... Maybe not. It doesn’t look like we'll be having a white Christmas this year. To be honest we very rarely have a white Christmas in the UK, unless you are lucky enough to live in Scotland. We do however have wet Christmases quite a lot. The forecast for Sunday/Christmas Day is Heavy Cloud with Light Rain…., preceded on Friday and Saturday by a weather warning for Storm Barbara…..

Needless to say, Guy will be VERY disappointed. He loves snow. Each year he gets excited in the hopes that some will fall. I think it’s because he’s Australian and didn’t get to see much of it growing up. The first year he was over we had a thick downpour of it - it was about a foot to two foot deep. We built snowmen, threw snowballs, and made snow angels. It was a lot of fun.

It’s been very mild this year. It’s felt more like October/November all month. So to appease Guy I have bought him some “snow” for his stocking... It’s a tube of powder that turns to snow when you had water to it… I have no idea how it will turn out, and I suspect that we'll still be driving around in search of the white stuff at some point.

He gets very jealous of all the pictures he sees on TV. I think he’d be quite happy to move to Alaska or Canada. Indy would be very happy as well since she is a snow dog… well sort of… she’s an Akita.

We may be lucky and get some in the New Year, in January or February. That would be fun. I have a raft of boots to keep my toes warm and dry, so I'll be happy. Warm and dry that's all I ask. We shall see. I love snow when it first falls, or if I don’t have to be anywhere. But I hate it if I need to get to work or once it starts to melt and sludge, and then refreezes, mainly because I'm incredibly accident prone and usually fall on my bum…. sprained shoulders and ankles to boot.

I do remember a snowy white Christmas when I was young. I’d have been four or maybe five, maybe even younger, and the hill that my parents lived on was covered in snow, and so was the yard. We had an old fashion sledge; you know, metal feet/rails attached to three thick wooden boards, and rope for a harness. My dad was wearing a huge, puffy blue jacket and was pulling me around on it. It was a lot of fun. I think that’s the first memory of him that has made me smile rather than cry.

I want Theia to have memories like that. Of running around and making igloos. I have a friend whose parents live in Sofia, Bulgaria. I may suggest staying in their ski lodge one Christmas when Theia is a little older – maybe we could even take Indy.

Today is my last day in the office until the 9th January, although I am officially on call tomorrow if anything goes wrong… Hopefully we can really get in the Christmas spirit now. I have my shopping list more or less written up for my shop tomorrow. I'm going early to avoid the crowds. Then it's just the final finishing touches.....

My final recipe blog is tomorrow: a chorizo and butternut squash soup, which is what I'll be making for Christmas Day... It's very yummy and can be made on Christmas Eve or even before so is one less thing to worry about on Christmas Day.

Merry Blogmas