Holding On and Letting Go 🎈

beanielou

Small candles but giving light in the darkness.  Love this.

Fortune_Smiles

Social Fatigue

Mr F is off to a reunion lunch today and, apart from dropping him at the station, I have a free day.  It's very much needed as I've been out and about every day this week and am feeling tired.  No wild parties and we've had a lovely time but it has felt very busy.

We were given tickets to a local hotel's re-opening on Thursday evening.  They have refurbished and the place looks fabulous.  We met friends there and were given a free glass of prosecco and some goody bags which included pre-stamped loyalty cards for free hot drinks when we next visit and some travel-sized, luxury toiletries which I'll keep to give as small gifts when the occasion arises.  The only cost was a round of drinks which will come out of this month's Fun Money.

Last night we went to our tiny market town theatre to see a Christmas play.  It was very am-dram but good fun.  A local choir, dressed in period costume, was singing carols in the foyer when we arrived and there was mulled wine and mince pies at the interval.  Very festive and lovely to support a local organisation.  The tickets were £10 each and we spent £5.50 on the drinks and an ice cream.  Costs to be met from this month's Fun Money.

I've wrapped any presents that need posting or gifting when I catch people.  There are only a few left to do to go under the tree.  I'm planning to make a door wreath this weekend and feed the cake and maybe do a little work on the wedding portrait.  We might do some gardening tomorrow but it will be a relaxed weekend.

We had Banana Pancakes with rasperries (from the freezer) and maple syrup for breakfast (no bacon though), cold meats/cheeses and salad for lunch and  Cherry Tomato & Ricotta Cavatatappi (except I used Fusilli) for supper.  Mr F laughed when he saw lunch, he said "It's the coldest day of the year so far and you're feeding me salad 😂".  He'll be getting soup tonight 😆

I ordered some bird food as we're down to the last.  I think the birds need as much help as they can get this year after such a bad avian flu outbreak.  No other spending to report although we will have to get a further un-budgetted for present at some point.  We're meeting our DS1s future in-laws over Christmas and want to take them a local gift... probably gin from our local brewery/distillery.

It's crisp and bright but fearfully cold this morning and I'm very grateful we can afford heating and the system is working efficiently. We're planning to light the log burner this evening, open a bottle of wine and watch a Christmas film.  Although, at this rate, I might sleep through it 😆

Hope all is well with you guys.

Fortune x

SandyShores

It all sounds lovely Fortune.  Hope you enjoy your day.

savingholmes

73% of mortgage paid in 5 years is phenomenal. Well done. 

Your crafty projects sound great as always. I plan to give away a few bottle lights this year. Will see how it goes.

ruby_eskimo

I always feel so cosy when I catch up on your diary Fortune.  All the Christmas events sound lovely so far and I'm sure your plans for the rest of the season will be just as good.  Make sure you take some time for yourself though; my social battery is definitely running flat and we aren't even halfway through the month yet.

Fortune_Smiles

SandyShores said:

It all sounds lovely Fortune.  Hope you enjoy your day.

Thank you Sandy 😁

savingholmes said:

73% of mortgage paid in 5 years is phenomenal. Well done. 

Your crafty projects sound great as always. I plan to give away a few bottle lights this year. Will see how it goes.

Thanks SH.  Our original plan was to have 100% paid off by now but then life happened 😆  Still very happy with 73% though - it feels as though we've broken the back of it.  Bottle lights are such a good idea for Christmas presents.

ruby_eskimo said:

I always feel so cosy when I catch up on your diary Fortune.  All the Christmas events sound lovely so far and I'm sure your plans for the rest of the season will be just as good.  Make sure you take some time for yourself though; my social battery is definitely running flat and we aren't even halfway through the month yet.

Cosy is what I'm aiming for at home Ruby 😁 It's all part of my 'embracing the season' approach.  Last week was busy but this week is much more relaxed so I'll have plenty of me time.  It is easy to get caught up in all the socialising isnt it.

Fortune x

Fortune_Smiles

Hibernating

It was -3 when I went out to the Post Office this afternoon and there was thick fog around the house and local lanes.  That temperature is only going to go down further this evening so I have decided to give tonight's WI meeting a miss.  It's a shame as it will be my last opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and we have a speaker on creative writing.  But I just don't want to be out on our little lanes in this weather.  The pond on the corner is frozen solid.  Boys have been throwing branches and bricks into it to see if they can crack the ice and they've not even scratched the surface.  There is hoar frost on the fences and our little orchard trees and the grass in the field is white and crunchy.  Not a night for venturing out 🌛

We had a relaxing weekend.  Mr F and FDawg went out for an adventure in the truck on Saturday and I stayed home and wrapped presents.  Yesterday I made a wreath for the front door from the evergreen and berries in the garden.  It's something I wish I'd learned to do years ago - so easy and you can produce something for a few pennies it would cost £40-£60 to buy.

Today I have ventured out to post parcels, pick up a prescription and a few groceries and fill up with fuel.  I was only out for half an hour or so but that was half an hour too long 🧊 Still, that's a few more things I can tick off my To Do list.

For lunch, we had baked potato with tuna mayonnaise and stuff from the fridge that needed using up - two mini peppers, six past their prime cherry tomatoes and a single lonely bunching onion.  Supper will be the leftover Butternut Korma I made last night wih rice.

We received our first Christmas gift yesterday 🎁 My sister has bought us dinner at a local country hotel 😁  Something to look forward to in the new year.

I hope you're all warm and safe.

Fortune x

VintageHistorian

It's very chilly outside Fortune so staying tucked up indoors sounds like an excellent idea! We had our WI Christmas party last week and I mostly ventured out for the sausage rolls XD

savingholmes

The frost has been beautiful here today too. Not as nice to go out in. 

Glad you are staying safe and warm where you can.

Fortune_Smiles

Last year the blackbirds ate all the berries 😆