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Good morning all :-)

Another grey day here so I will need a large Ulster Fry-up please to cheer me up - thank you Sylvs.............delicious ! <3 <3 <3

See you all later.

Dea Xxx

good morning everyone
xxxx



it's very calm outside after the rain and wind on Monday!



Breakfast is ready


Selection of fresh fruit


Porridge with chopped up dates, bananas, and maple syrup (other fruit selections over there >>>> )


Selection of cold cereals


French (eggy) toast, maple syrup, Golden syrup

Caribbean Banana Fritters


Toast (sourdough, rye, white, whole grain, 100% brown, Hovis, gluten free),
hot cinnamon rolls,
barm cakes,
croissants,


bacon & cheese quiche,
broccoli and cheddar quiche,


Full English

Ulster Fry-up

The Continental – choice of assorted chilled fruit juices, hot oatmeal or assorted cold cereals, toast or fresh-baked muffin

Pancakes, served with maple syrup or Golden syrup, and choice of bacon, ham or breakfast sausage

Boiled eggs and toast

Huevas Rancheros


stirfry (chicken, beef, or vegetarian),

Chicken Karage (Japanese deep fried chicken pieces)

Country Wrap (Black Forest Ham, Fresh Scallions and Cheddar Cheese),

Veggie Wrap (Fresh Tomatoes, Basil, Roasted Peppers and Feta Cheese)

spanikopita,

Hummus served in a lettuce cup with warm pita bread, slices of cucumber and tomato

Grilled Chicken Satays

Five Spice Beef Kebabs


home-fried potatoes with garlic and bacon


Potato, dill and cheddar soup



apple pecan muffins,
cranberry & orange muffins,
raisin bran muffins,
morning glory muffins,
pear ginger muffins
gluten-free cranberry and orange muffins,


jams, jellies, marmalades, Nutella (hazelnut spread)


Tea, coffee, juices


some extra bacon, turkey sausage or sausage patties, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, sliced baby golden beetroot, Maple baked beans, olive oil, in the hidey place to cook up for the very hungry ones!





enjoy
xx




s
xxx

As I said earlier, we had a Pacific storm go through overnight and today (Monday) ..... high winds and heavy rain


We have 2 kiwi vines in the back garden, 1 male and 1 female. We have had as many as 600 fruits on the female in one year .......... this year there may be as many as 200.

The vines are supported on 3 7'+ (above ground) 4 x 4 posts, with a cross bar across the top on the 2 end ones (making them into T bar posts). The posts are connected at the top with strong wires to help support the vines.


The vines are late losing their leaves this year, and the fruit is still on there because you don't pick them until there has been the first frost and the leaves have turned yellow.


The wind was so strong last night (Sunday/Monday) that all 3 posts are now leaning towards the house. One has broken at the base, obviously it was rotting, the others may be OK.

We have, quite literally, never had that happen before, even with winds that were much stronger!



OH is going to have to try to replace the one that is definitely broken, possibly replace the other end one as well, and re-position the central one.

AND collect the fruit, then prune the growth back ................... along with all the other jobs that have to be done before we leave in 3 weeks time.





s
xx

we went to IKEA this afternoon ...................... they are the only place that I know of where I can buy elderflower drink, and they also always carry UNICEF cards.

It is a new building, opened back in July, and it was my first visit since then

The new store is at least 3 times larger than the old one. It's HUGE .......... and is built on top of covered parking (as well as an outdoor parking lot).


We managed to get what we wanted ........................ by dint of buying the juice from the shop, asking the cashier there where the unicef cards were.

Unfortunately, the cards were in displays inside the check outs ............ so we had to a) find the Marketplace, then b) negotiate our way through the shortest distance to the check outs.

It only took 45 minutes :-D :-D :-D



Ikea is always exciting!



s
xx

Hi Gins

not mad at you!!



Jonesey ....................

I like that!!


We have one friend whose letter is always a little boasting, just a little. But most of them are more to the self-deprecating side ....... or a travelogue



s
xx

My old MD always had his Christmas cards printed (Well he did also own a printing company). These always had a religious theme as he was a Methodist lay preacher and always contained what you are describing as a Christmas letter. He was certainly not boastful about his family and what they had all got up to during the previous 12 months, in fact more often than not he was self deprecating. He had 4 children and would usually give a progress report on their education or careers. My favourite comment of his was regarding his son Tim which went as follows:

"Tim is now something in the city....A barman"

Maybe not!

Weird? Me? Certainly!

Old bird? Certainly not you cheeky wotsit! I is a spring chicken :-D





My Christmas letter (to faraway friends only) is not in the least boastful - in fact, it's just the opposite. It's full of all the boring, mundane and tedious things which have filled our year - I just turn it into comedy!


I always try and buy some sort of charity card and, this year, I've bought most of them from the Heart Foundation charity shop.


The thing is, I only send 'religious' cards (for obvious reasons) and they can be quite hard to find so, when I see any I like, I buy them. :-D




Have got all my ironing done and looked up some more WW1 names. Went to Tesco to get a lettuce and some tomatoes and ended up spending over £30 - as one does..... :-(


Going to see what's been going on round here today.......

Sylv

I thought we knew each other well enough to realise that me calling you and Cyns "weird", was a joke


:-S

<3

Gins

The letters we send are to people who are close friends or relatives, but who we never see from one year end to the next ....... because we live at opposite ends of the country or the world.

........... and I think Cyns is the same.

Writing a little note "How are you? We are doing fine." on the card is not sufficient for the contact


Don't like being called "weird"!



BUT ....... how many cards do you send out? How many of those do you send to people (relatives or friends) that you want to keep in contact with but who you hardly ever manage to see?



We're going to Ikea this afternoon, and if UNICEF have a stand their, as they usually do, we will be buying 125 or so cards (depends on how big the packs are).

As I wrote above ................... over 80% of them will be sent to people in the US or International. About 85-90% of the rest will be sent to people elsewhere in this country.


Put it another way ...................... fewer that 20 cards will be sent to people who we see during the year.

I knew it wasnt a letter to Santa...Dea

Nope, we send few cards, family and close mates, thats it. I write on the card to far away mates, such things like, how are things are going etc

I still send a card to Sylvia, my almost MiL, she is lovely, her son is NOT.................



...........you old birds are weird :-0

Gins


a Christmas letter is just that .......................


............ a letter that you put together, often with photos, letting people know what you and your family have been doing for the past year.


It's a good way to keep in contact with people who you can rarely see, but do want to maintain that friendship and updated.

I think almost all of our friends now do it .................... but you do have to remember that our friends are spread around the world as a result of our profession. While we may not see those friends very often, we do try to see them if we happen to be visiting their country.

We personally do not put the Christmas letters in with cards to local people, or work friends.


Unfortunately, far too many people use it to boast about themselves or their kids .................... you can find many lovely parodies on the internet.

Most of the ones I see are very genuine.


We started sending out a Christmas letter with our cards about 10 years ago .................. before that, OH would sit down between Christmas and New Year to write an individual letter to everyone to whom we sent cards. At that time, we were sending out about 150 cards.

This year, I think we will only be sending out the letter and no cards ............... we have to get it all done before Dec 11.

We have cut the list down to about 100, but can't seem to get it lower than that ............... and about 80 of them are either in the US (about 10) or International.

The postage is about twice the cost of the cards ...... and we usually buy UNICEF cards.




s
xx

Sylvia glad your OH got home ok you made me laugh re that kid on the plane :-D

Its good that s-i-l can get her treatment locally

Gins I think a Christmas letter is a "catch up" of everything that has happened in your family over the past year I have a few friends who do this.

Hi everyone
xxx



very windy and wet outside ......... definitely a Pacific storm passing through.


But it is also warm-ish




s
xx

Cyns/Sylvs......Christmas letter, anything?

A letter to Santa, arent they a bit old to be doing that!

You 'rites it to Santa Ginns to tell him what presents you want ;-) :-D :-D

Dea Xxx

Errrr.....whats a Christmas letter :-S

Thank you for breakfast Sylvs........glad to hear your OH is back safely and also that your s-i-l can be treated locally...that will save a lot of hassle. <3 <3 <3



I've nearly finished my Christmas letter but am not looking forward to writing the cards. I want to cut down this year but don't want to offend people. Some of them we haven't seen or spoken to for so long but just have a link from the past with them.


I speak to my internet friends much more than I speak to some of those on my Christmas card list............. :-S


Must be quite windy outside as I can hear the garage door rattling but at least it's not raining.


I must tackle Mount Ironing today at some stage :-D

Good morning all :-)

Lovely breakfast Sylvia - thank you <3 <3 <3

It is good that your s-i-l can have all her treatment done from home - that is the one place you really long to be when things like that are going on :-)

Does she have family living with her?

Dea x