Sunday ...

December is turning out to be a lot cooler this year than last - either that or we are getting very acclimatised however today was bright and sunny which means that it is lovely in the conservatory and that is good when Mum and Dad are coming for lunch as they like to sit in there first before we eat.

Indoors it is cool and John will never have it cool if we are having visitors, in fact he will never have it cool fullstop!  When we were Christmas shopping in the week we bought ourselves a new throw for the lounge - it makes the sofa look very Christmassy and has got Boris's seal of approval straight away!  He got himself comfy and in close proximity to the gas fire and settled there for most of the day.

Having got my act together yesterday the main part of our lunch was ready and just ticking over in the slow cooker and the veggies were prepared and I had cheated on the pud and got some slices of Paps carrot cake so I didn't have to rush around too much before Mum and Dad arrived - it gave me the opportunity to take a look round the garden to see what needed doing.

There is still quite a lot of colour in the garden - there are some things that will need cutting back but at the moment that would be a shame - the new climbing plant I bought with the money from John's mum and stepdad is in full bloom and looks lovely.

The recent rain has brought things back to life - and strangely things which lost their leaves a couple of weeks ago have started to sprout fresh ones - they are going to be in for a shock if the temperatures drop as much as has been forecast for later this week.

If I get a chance next week I will try and get out and do a bit of tidying - there are a whole hosts of weeds beginning to come through and before I know it they will have taken over if I don't get the upper hand!

John has also made me a standing stone sculpture like the one he made for Diana.  You see lots of these stacks on the beaches round here - I don't think they have any particular significance - I have ha a look on the internet and can't really find a categoric answer - I just think they look nice and would like him to make me one which is man-sized or maybe just woman-sized!

We have started a bit of trimming up - Mum and Dad have given us their old outdoor tree which we have decided to put in the conservatory because it casts a lovely light in there when it is lit up - the only trouble is it can look a little boring so I am going to trim it up too as we have plenty of decorations and I also got some from Mum which she no longer wants.

With our annual carol singing taverna crawl round the village on Friday when people may come back for some soup afterwards we want it to look a little festive, smell a little festive and sound a little festive!

I don't think we will have that many joining us on Friday but I will be putting on some hot soup afterwards so that people can warm up after the walk home.

Mum and Dad arrived safe and sound and we did sit in the conservatory for a little while but I thought it might be nice to eat early, play a game and then Dad would have time for a little kip before going home and Mum would be driving in daylight - thank goodness we are soon to reach the shortest day as we really don't like them driving in the twilight let alone the dark.

So we had a nice lunch and because I was prepared it was relatively stress-free which has made me determined to get myself organised for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day - no need to go overboard like I have done in the past and my poor oven doesn't like to get overloaded!  We have everything except the fresh stuff which I will get nearer the time.  We sent Mum and Dad home with the leftovers for a meal in the week.  Have to thank Klaus for introducing us to the boneless chicken thighs which they sell in Paps - done in the slow cooker they were delicious.