Boxing Day

The weather this Christmas (and for most of December) has been disappointing and with storms forecast we had sort of decided last night that we would not be walking - and I guess there is less attraction this year.  We had however made our traditional pasties and would be having them with some mulled wine but in the comfort of the house with the woodburner lit.

There was a full programme of sport with the traditional Boxing Day full football fixture list so John wanted to settle down and watch the Mighty Blades taking on Frank Lampard, oh sorry that is Frank Lampard's Derby County.

As I said yesterday we had tried to find some Christmas gifts for Mum which might set a bit of a trend for something she could continue to do throughout the year.  I had been on the Arthritis UK site and they recommended big piece jigsaws (although not children's ones obviously) and colouring books for seniors (that sounds less dodgy than adult colouring books) and so she got both.

Today we decided that we would have a look at the Jigsaw - we always used to have one on the go over Christmas and I think we all secretly enjoy that challenge - it isn't easy for us to house a partially finished one because of space and because we couldn't guarantee that we wouldn't get up and find a Cat putting in the last piece or more likely asleep on top of it or it all over the floor!!  So if we started it we would have to complete it but hey there was only 500 pieces - how difficult could that be???

Mindful of Mum's back we tried to cobble together a way that she could do the puzzle and be comfortable and we thought we had cracked it with a crafting mat until we realised that the bloody puzzle was bigger than the mat.  Still it gave us a starting point!  I have to say that the quality of the pieces was excellent so you could pick them up easily and they weren't going to crease or bend.

It was my first year for making the pasties.  Dad had done them for as long as I could remember and my oven can be a little temperamental so I was rather pleased with the end result even if my crimping left a little to be desired - you can see that the front one was my first attempt and then I managed to refine it somewhat so that there was less crimp and more pasty in the others.  For some reason it seems to be impossible to get enough pepper in the filling no matter how much you put in and I thought I had put in loads!!!  Anyway if I was being critical I would say that the filling needed more seasoning and maybe the pastry could have been rolled a little thinner but there wasn't a soggy bottom in sight and they tasted fabulous and we all thoroughly enjoyed them so I guess I will be doing them again next year.

John retired to the conservatory to watch the footie and we moved our puzzle over to the dining table which proved to be rather too warm for me when I was looking for particular piece and had my bum almost up against it!

I am not entirely sure who put in the most pieces but we got it finished and I am not sure who enjoyed doing it the most - I could certainly get addicted to completing one of these on a regular basis particularly as I could leave it unscathed on the conservatory table if it was one this size.

We had to leave it complete to prove to John that we had done it which he did when he emerged from the conservatory happy that the Mighty Blades had sent Frank Lampard home with his tail between his legs.

We tidied everything away to have what John considers to be the best part of Christmas - the cold cuts Boxing day supper which we ate with relish (not to mention pickle and piccallili!!).   I know I cooked it but that stuffed chicken joint was absolutely delicious.

We played our daily games challenge - this evening it was Rummikub, before settling down to watch the Christmas Day edition of Call the Midwife.  I cannot believe that this programme has been running for so long as we used to watch it back in the UK.  I realised that I had not watched it for a very long time because the last time I did Sister Bernadette was still a nun and not married to the doctor!

It is a bit of a lottery as to whether you will get a comfy seat in our house in the evening - particularly if the fire is lit and tonight my seat was fully occupied by Mr Boo who appeared to be performing some form of cat aerobics.

The temperature really dropped this evening - I am not sure where it ended up but it was 6 degrees when we were having supper - that it cold in any language and probably colder than in the UK.  The forecast for tomorrow is stormy and cold - deep joy - it always seems worse here - there is nothing grimmer and greyer than a Mediterranean island in the rain in the winter but once we are indoors and snuggled down I really don't care too much.