Another Christmas for the Story Books

   Too stuffed to write much but the family meal went off all right despite my trepidations. And there are lots of leftovers so I will be eating bird, stuffing and brussell sprouts for the rest of the week.

   A bit of a disaster though. When we went to eat we left a plate of cheeses out in the other room. Son and DIL's dog scoffed a whole chunk of blue cheese. Not good for dogs but she seemed OK. Then just as we sat down to the main course she got hold of a chunk of chocolate (my fault). Now that is serious for dogs so son and DIL left (with their meal on a plate) to check with a vet. Advice was to keep an eye on her but I am upset that they missed the plum pudding!

Naughty Lucy in her Christmas sweater!

The Night Before

   A bit colder today but still sunny. I went for a walk this morning while the bird cooked and it was very pleasant. 

   I did put the bird in a wet brine overnight and it seems to have come out nice and moist. I hate dry meat! It is now in the fridge along with the gravy, stuffing and some mashed sweet potatoes. The rest will be cooked tomorrow. Must remember to take stuff out of the freezer tonight before I go to bed. Nothing worse than trying to cook something from frozen with guests on the doorstep!

Counting Down

   Thought I should change my header photo to something more seasonal (better late than never) but it didn't really turn out as I expected.

   Out shopping bright and early. I actually saw the sun rise! The store was very quiet and I was in and out in under 45 minutes. That will be it until next week, hopefully, as I have quite depleted my grocery budget despite using $30 worth of my accumulated PC Points. There had better be lots of leftovers!

   Another sunny mild day and I walked to the senior's centre for Bridge. Usually the centre is closed for two weeks but this year they are just taking the statutory holidays. So we will be able to play next Monday too. Yay!

   Karen and I had really good cards today and won big, for a change. Too bad we don't play for money or we would really have cashed in. It certainly made up for a lot of our recent losses.

   I brought home the capon I will be cooking for Christmas lunch today and am trying to decide whether to soak it in brine overnight or not. Stay tuned for the result.

Winter Solstice

   The shortest day of the year. Here the sun rose at 7:49 a.m. and set at 4:45 p.m. In a few days time the days will, thankfully, start to get longer. Today was sunny which makes up for its short appearance. It was, in fact, rather a nice day today with the temperature in positive numbers for a change. I think it may have exceeded the forecasted high of 5C.

    I got cracking on a few tidy up chores around the house (probably the first time since the family left back in August). I worked on the rooms I don't use all the time - the main bathroom got a good clean and I won't go in there again this week, just use my little ensuite. Tomorrow is my last shop - I'm going out very early in the morning to beat the crowds - and Tuesday I will cook the bird, make the gravy (my least favourite job) and prepare some of the other parts of the meal. So Christmas Day will actually be quite relaxed. I tend to get rather stressed when I have to cook for company even though I have made Christmas dinner every year (except one) for almost 50 years!

Table is set except for crackers. Judy may bring some as I'm not a big fan but the grandkids like to have them.