Rattling On...

Snowbabies...

The cakes are iced at last. This is our little one. I made the igloo bit in a large enamel pudding basin, the recipe was Be-ro as always.

The snowbabies are tiny, just under an inch high. They are ceramic and new, bought from a lady at a craft fair who makes them. I bought loads. She doesn't have a blog or site but I have her contact number if anyone is interested.

I also got some much bigger ones...

The tree here is maybe six inches high, to give you an idea of scale, it (and the sled) are made by the same person as well. The babies are gorgeous, with great personality and are just as quirky as the vintage ones (that cost a bomb these days).

My parents' cake is the more traditional square with tree and snowman to top it off. I tried to get a tiny bottle of brandy in town, to give the cakes a drink, no luck at all, only big bottles- and I don't drink the stuff. So they are booze free this year.

Off to Chatsworth today to do the annual thing there. The house theme is panto apparently, should be interesting!

Same decorations, different tree

I am so glad we break up today. Yesterday went well, with fourteen kids in the end. It felt like the last day, this term has been so long. I don't know how many will make it in today for the carols and staff panto. I'm running low on ho ho ho myself.

The tree is up, done last night. A much smaller (potted) one than usual, and easier to manage because of that. But the fun offset by No2 coming down to say the lovely hamster had died. He was still curled up in his bed, a peaceful end to a jolly life. I'll bury him later today. Our little menagerie has shrunk considerably this year.

In desperate need of festive cheer, we are hopefully going out for a little trip this afternoon, assuming I can get a speedy exit from school. To a nearby village that has lots of decorations and atmosphere.

Still loads of jobs to be done, or not. You just have to stop at some point, before you drop...

Such fun!

I worked like a demon yesterday to catch up to, roughly, where I should be with my preparations. I did a massive shop straight after work then came home to put it all away (worst bit) and get baking.

I made two Christmas cakes and two steamed puddings; washed the sofa covers and replaced them; wrote and posted my cards; phoned the mobile phone people again as, guess what, the phone still doesn't work. A new phone will be here on Monday. They would have sent me a new SIM as well but they have run out. Can you believe that?

Anyway, today is school Christmas lunch day; when the three of us in our department cook for the students we work with that can't/won't go with their own form. There should have been twelve, but three have been excluded for the rest of the week...

I wrote about this last year, it's usually a good day. This year will be a bit more fraught as we are one less member of staff and we're all teaching at some point during the morning so will have to be very organised. Potato peeling is on the agenda for registration! Expectations are high among the students. Hmmm.

Tonight is haircut, tree decorating, running my own girls around (as it is every day at the moment) to various places, decorating the cakes and having a minor nervous breakdown.

Tomorrow is a half day, with a retirement get-together/ general staff bah humbug do before we leave. No doubt I shall waste what's left of the afternoon as I only seem to be able to operate if I have a million and one things to do at once. Or I'll watch Dr Zhivago.

Don't call us...

So much for buying a fire screen...

This is what originally came broken, but has now been replaced. My phone now isn't working, and the internet is patchy. I think these things are connected, possibly to the large hole at the end of the road surrounded by telecoms vehicles.

I phoned my mobile provider and complained about my phone. 'Is it raining?' asked the rep. What a silly question, do you know where I live? 'Only rain is the worst enemy of mobile signals. That and trees. Unless there's a crane or something nearby.'

I can only assume it's some kind of festive game they play with callers. See What You Can Fob Them Off With, the new game by Waddingtons for players from 8 to 80.

Yes, it's raining. Yes, there are umpteen trees. No, I hadn't noticed a crane but it's dark most of the day; due to the rain and possibly the trees. 'Pull the battery and call back tomorrow if you still have a problem.'

Thanks for that. I'll also try dancing naked round the pond at midnight, lying on top of a wardrobe and putting it in a jar of Marmite. All of which, I'm reliably informed, are magnificent signal-boosters.

How green you are... in a heritage kind of way

The florist came good with my spruce door wreath. I decided to add baubles this year after my spell with chillies.

When the little tree was delivered, from the same shop, Claire remarked on the colour co-ordination. Well, she actually said 'Ooh, very Farrow and Ball!' and asked me to post a picture on their Facebook page. So I did.

It couldn't be described as a small wreath, but I like the fact it hides all the assorted debris in the porch. The hats, scarves and gloves that accumulate at this time of year. That get added to the umbrellas and dog leads already heaped in the corner. And the lonely (but chicly minimalist black) walking stick from when I broke my ankle. That's the second ankle I should add. I'm reluctant to get rid of it...just in case. Even though I only have the two ankles.

The Apprentice, Victorian style.

Following on from yesterday comes the Apprentice House. This is up a steep hill from the mill itself, which seems like a cruel turn of fate, having to haul yourself up there at the end of a hard day, clogs scraping on the road.

There's a working garden and outbuildings that house the produce, this is pretty much how the garden has always been.

You go into the house via the schoolroom, which was cosy and warm on our visit, I'm not sure a real Victorian tutor would be so welcoming and smiley.

Then you go upstairs straight into what was the boys' dormitory...

Sixty boys slept in here, which to my reckoning is at least three to a bed. Spartan is the only word that springs to mind.

Back down the other set of stairs into the small and cosy kitchen...

It was difficult to get in this part as there were loads of people crowded round the coal fire warming themselves. It was a roarer and very welcome.

Out side the back door were the less cosy aspects of a Victorian kitchen...

And no farm kitchen is complete without the mouser...

Take a look at that ear. This one takes no prisoners!

The miller's tale...

Today we went on a sort of festive National Trust day out. Quarry Bank Mill was having its Victorian Christmas day and the weather was absolutely beautiful when we got there.

This mill is a perfect example of what the Industrial Revolution was all about. getting this...

To this...

But before you get to the heavy machinery there's a little gentle introduction to cotton spinning the 1700s way.

Bearing in mind what my own spun wool looked like the other week, look how fine this thread is. The woman was turning the wheel with one hand and pulling the roll of cotton and everything else with the other. Oh, and giving an explanation as well. She made it look unbelievably easy. Then she moved on to the loom...

She explained that old cloth was narrow as the shuttles have to be thrown across by hand, thus determining how wide the loom could be- arms' reach. If you wanted broad cloth then two people had to operate a wider loom.

This was, of course, until We invented the spinning jenny and that led to all manner of things like this...

There are also mock-ups of mill workers' cottages.

And at the end there's the mule room. This was the notorious loom that so many children were maimed or killed servicing. It looks so innocent.

There's also lots of interesting machinery for those of us who like industrial stuff, and a magnificent water wheel that powered the whole mill.

I know mills were dirty, dangerous and exploititive places (have you watched this excellent drama?), so noisy everyone went deaf, so dusty everyone's lungs gave up eventually.

But today the rhythm and throb of the odd machines that are on for visitors to see is very soothing (cloth is still spun on these at a rate of five metres an hour), or at least I found it so. Because of modern extraction and lighting it didn't seem so threatening, or maybe we just don't want to imagine the horror of being a small child scrabbling round under a loom fast enough to get out before we were crushed in the rollers.

Tomorrow I'll show you the other part of the visit, the Apprentice House, where the small boys who were destined to work the mill lived.

Cold snap...

There has been a hard, hard frost for the past few days. -7^oon getting into the car yesterday morning. A car that seems to be hell bent on self destructing. A puncture on Monday then door failure yesterday, when the driver's lock failed and I couldn't close the door or lock it. Off to the dealership again after work today.

I ordered a nice new bit of kit for the dining room and arrived home yesterday, dumping the weekly grocery shop in the hall when I saw it was here. Unpacked it to find it was broken, well and truly. Rang the shop who were very iffy about taking it back, when the damage has obviously been caused at a warehouse. Supposedly changing it tomorrow...then I can reveal it.

Wednesday night a friend and I went to Chatsworth for a behind-the=scenes tour of the farm shop. Very interesting, with demos and tastings but not much in the way of photo opportunities- though they didn't object to my camera in the least. Before that though said friend rang up in a panic.

her water had gone down to a trickle and she was a) worried about the boiler and b) worried about the gushing fountain coming from the kitchen mixer tap. Which she had managed to break when over-turning it to see if it was broken and that's why there was no water.

I said a) turn off the water supply, hence stopping the leaking tap and b) phone the water company as if you have downstairs water and none upstairs it's an inlet pressure problem. I then grabbed two adjustable spanners and went round (at her request).

I arrived to find the water still gushing, which I thought most odd as she said she'd switched off the water. Further investigation discovered she had in fact turned off the gas. She'd also phoned the water company and heard a recorded message confirming there was a major burst in the area causing loss of water pressure. I put the tap back together, showed her where the stop cock was for future reference (been there in this house, when no-one could find it and it had been boxed into the kitchen cabinets) and we threw some bath towels onto the floor so we could go out and her husband could deal with it when he got home!

So, lots of breaking and a bit of mending this week.

Up, up and away...

Of all the rubbish photos I've ever published on this here blog, today's offering has to be among the best. But there's a purpose.

You see, that tree is really very tall, and I was using the zoom lens as it's way down at the end of the road. Because who is sitting in the branches?

Crow is. He's the proud owner of a full new set of feathers and, after some shaky test-flights, he covers the miles during the day. We've even seen him in the park. We know it's him as he still has some odd markings and he tends to still walk most of the time.

He comes back to the laurel at the end of every day, bathes in his special tub which is under it, and still eats what I put out for him. He was sitting on the hedge sunbathing the other day and doesn't try to hide as much now. I suppose that's because he can make a good escape if he has to.

I'll continue to feed him as he's used to it and I want him to make it through the winter. It's incredible he's got himself this far really. I feed all the birds anyway, so a bit of extra specially for him is easy. It was some cherry cake last night! He loves suet pellets and buries caches of them in the lawn, along with dried mealworms. Yum.

Cafe society...

This is our favourite cafe in town, we went there on Sunday to cheer ourselves up a bit in the cold and dismal weather. It was just after three o'clock and almost dark. Which made the fire, the tea lights on the tables and the decorations even more welcoming.

The staff here are lovely. In the summer, after the carnival we went for some late lunch. I had a bad back and one of the waitresses came up to me with a heat pack, she'd noticed me trying to slide into my seat. How nice is that?

It looks empty, but I always wait 'til there aren't any people in the photo if at all possible. I'm funny like that.

This is the other room. All the lights are on because, while changing a lightbulb in a wall light, one of the staff blew the circuit breaker. To the right, round a corner, was a table full of well-dressed women who'd obviously been there a while and had been taking full advantage of the cafe's licence.

I heard them ordering cakes, two each. And then one caught sight of herself in the mirror...'Bloody hell, look at my face. It's like a beetroot.' Much laughter, much cake. A good afternoon out. We were very conservative in comparison. Note to self...

Silicone valley...without any valleys.

I've been at it with the Vintage Cakes book again, with the vague idea of attempting to make all the things in there at some point.

These are the Queen cakes, a very easy recipe. It also gave me the opportunity to purchase a new bit of kitchenalia, a silicone mould. The first one I've ever tried.

I have to say I've always been sceptical about silicone, doesn't seem natural that a pink, floppy bit of rubberiness could act as a cake form. But it can. My major discovery was that the cakes come out better the longer you leave them to cool in situ. Not rocket science, but it might save someone a batch of buns.

I'm not saying that I'm a convert to silicone, mind, but the non-stickiness of it, the ease of cleaning, the way you can cram it into a cupboard- all these points are in its favour. I certainly shan't be getting rid of my old school vintage bakeware, that has far more personality, and if I'm honest I really don't like the garish colours the modern stuff comes in. But sometimes you just have to get with it.

I still haven't made the Christmas cakes, I'm not sure where time is going. I think it's partly as we don't break up until the 21st and I won't have the usual run up days when I do all the bits and bobs. I have a cunning idea for our cake (my parents' will be traditional) and am hoping to make it soon. Along with the Christmas puddings, which I may as well leave until Christmas Day at this rate, then there'll be just the one lot of steaming to do!

I suppose this is why so many people end up buying puddings and cakes. Work interferes so. What I really want to do is put on a cheesy CD and get up to my armpits in baking and decorations. Instead I have a diary stuffed with after-work meetings, in-work meetings, pre-work meetings and all the stuff in between. Oh, and one hair appointment. Not sure why I made that as I'm not going anywhere. But it's a bit like changing the beds on Christmas Eve, it's just something you do at Christmas. Or is it just me?

It's cooking, Jim. But not as we know it.

If you're looking for a nice easy recipe for something that looks and tastes good to whallop in a pretty tin or bag this Christmas, then look no further. Fudge. None of that boiling and thermometer nonsense here. But it does involve chocolate.

350g/12oz dark chocolate (min 70% cocoa solids)

1 x 397g/14oz can condensed milk

30g/1oz butter

pinch of salt (optional)

150g of nuts/fruit/glace cherries/marshmallows/insert your own idea

Put the chocolate, condensed milk, butter and pinch of salt (optional) into a heavy bottomed pan on a low heat, stirring until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is well combined.

Add your pre-chopped nuts, or fruit or whatever and stir again. Pour the mixture into a lined 23cm/9in tray (or be a devil and use an oblong one), smooth the top with a wet palette knife (or the back of a spoon, no-one will ever know). Leave to cool then put into the fridge to set.

Cut into small pieces, if you cut 7x7 lines you'll get 64 pieces. You will think these are measly until you've had a few...

This can be kept in the freezer until you need/want it.

Mine contains pecan nuts, but I've made it with unsalted pistachios and mini marshmallows. I also only had 250g of chocolate so I used about three quarters-ish of the condensed milk, maybe a little more. Not including the fridge bit I reckon you can make this in less than fifteen minutes, which gives an excellent time:taste:effect ratio.

In other news: I went to look for a Christmas tree and wreath yesterday. My favourite shop had neither in the specifications I wanted. Which is plain spruce wreath and symmetrical tree in a pot. I want it in a pot after all the buggering about last year with the stand.

Fortunately for me I know the owner. Her father-in-law makes the wreaths and he has the greengrocery shop in the village where I grew up. Has had it forever. So Claire made up a special order sheet for me which was along the lines of:

'Tree in a pot. As tall, symmetrical and perfect as possible. Norwegian fir wreath.'

'You're not one of those people who won't let the children decorate the tree are you?' She enquired. Who, me? I let them decorate my Mother's.

Anyway, she'll rummage through all the trees she has and get me a perfect one for Friday. My only (other) specification was that it should have as many branches as possible to accommodate decorations. I'm sure florists get this kind of rubbish bandied at them all the time, but it pays to be a regular customer and not just rock up at Christmas/Mother's Day/ Valentine's Day wanting the world on a stick.

The snow and ice have gone. Dispatched overnight by torrential rain and gale force winds. Super.

Frosting...

Yes, it's been snowing here. It all started well enough but when it turned to sleet over night, then froze solid... problems.

My drive is a two inch thick sheet of solid ice, ditto most of the roads in town.

But it looks lovely, and that is worth its weight in gold. It's supposed to have gone by tomorrow but return with a vengeance at the end of next week. Better get to the coal yard, then.

Impulse buying and a dilemma solved. I think.

This time it's the real thing, Ercol, though I wasnt 100% sure when I bought it. Bit of a bargain but it's not perfect. I think with a bit of TLC it'll be fine.

The cushions are in the washing machine, one by one, to get rid of the aroma. They're new, custom made cushions as well, good material. But a horrible pattern. Thank goodness we're well endowed with throws. One may say overflowing with them.

I was going to have a re-shuffle of the existing seating and get rid of a sofa which has collapsed in the spring department. The seat where everybody sits, and which has already had umpteen repairs. Then I was going to move a small sofa into its place and put this one in the window where the small one currently is. You following? (Sounds like a lot of sofas but we don't have any armchairs.)

Anyway, then I realised that if I did that then the dog wouldn't have anywhere to sit and watch the world go by/sunbathe on the rare days it's possible. I know, I'm a soft touch.

So now I have brain ache but have hit upon a plan where the done-in one will go, the good one will stay in the window and the second best will go into the best spot in the house. All so the tiny dog can curtain twitch.

It feels like Shakespeare's will, only with sofas not beds. And I'm not dead.

On the buses...kawaii style

How cute is this? It's a little electric 'tram', that holds eight people and will be giving tours around town in the new year.

It's also available for hire, which makes me seriously wonder what exactly I could hire it for. To be honest I'd love to drive it around all day, it's sort of safe and manageable, eco and dinky all in one vintage package.

Regarding yesterday's post about real men, have you seen the new adverts for a certain sauce? Take a look here...