A little bit of a catch up

The past few days have been busy with various things; tidying, sorting stuff out, cooking, despite not being 100% but I have not been on the treadmill all the time.  Of an evening I have been knitting my throw/blanket and I am now up to 37 inches in length.  I still have another 23 inches to work, but hey ho it is going well and it is the longest piece of knitting I have ever had a go at and the widest.  Will keep plodding on with it and when it is done it will be done.

I have also managed to find Christmas plants that have been reduced by half price.  I will not pay full price for a plant unless it is something pretty special, but I have managed to locate two little fir type trees, a Christmas basket, and two Poinsettias. I like a bit of greenery around the house at Christmas not just with real decorations but also with plants.  Cheers the place up a bit. I also bought some fresh Sage plants which are going into planters outside of the back door.  Apparently they should be okay to be planted in a planter as long as it does not sit in a puddle of water.

I also managed to find two little Robin clip on ornaments and two fir cone ornaments.  They are the only ornaments I have bought this year, but the fir cones either go on the tree, or are added to my garlands.  I have been collecting them for a while.  They are the large cones.

I also dragged out some more decorations including this Angel candle lamp (tealight) which is made in glass and which I have had for sometime.  I have another one somewhere I think it  is packed into another box together with a couple of heart wicker wreaths.

Today already I have been in the kitchen and have prepped up a beef stew for tonight's tea.  I bought a kilo of Steak last week, and have managed to get a good solid basis for a stew and a beef steak pie out of the meat.  The stew is going on shortly and once that is made I will cook the remaining beef steak for the pie.  I am also hoping to get a steamed treacle pudding and custard for a pudding as well.  It has been a long time since we had one.  It will last me a couple of days, but I intend to do OH an apple sponge.

It is nice Stewing Steak, but had not been dressed ready for using so I ended up with a sharp knife removing some of the membranes as they were a bit thicker than usual and I know you need some fat in the cooking, but this was a little bit too much.  The meat will be delicious though.

I am planning on pasta with tomato sauce of some sort or another for tomorrow.  I have some Red Wine and some Goats Cheese and Onion Ravioli or some Ragu and veggies to have with something like Spag Bol or pasta twists.  A simple tea for tomorrow, but I think that is in order after all the efforts today.

Just to finish tonight's tea, the stew went down a treat and there is plenty left for during the day tomorrow.  Very tasty.  The best part is always the gravy mopped up with bread,

Hope everyone is getting on well with their Christmas preparations.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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