Lead up to Christmas

Yesterday after my daily jaunt out into the wild terrain of pre Christmas shopping I went into the kitchen to get started on Christmas food preparation. First things first - Dad was out of home made waffles and I'm sure could not face one more morning without waffles so I made about 20. Now I know Dad is hard of hearing (understatement) and is legally blind but I think his nose is now going because he couldn't smell the waffles cooking. It wasn't until I was all finished and had collapsed into a chair that Dad wandered into the kitchen for a glass of water and all I heard was, "Oh my God". Mum thought he'd dropped something so was going out to help but I told her that he had just discovered the waffles. He came into gave me a hug and told me Christmas had come early. Dad always bemoans the fact that when I cook something and put it in the freezer he's worried it has actually dropped into a bottomless pit and will never be found again. Well Dad has never learnt his way around a freezer and usually sends either Mum or I to find something.
This morning 15 Dec I went to the post office to get some Christmas mail off and spent 20 minutes in there just waiting in line as the line was outside the post office. Never again! (famous last words as it seems to happen every year so I might as well get used to it). The next item on the Christmas food list was a pork and cranberry terrine wrapped in prosciutto so that is finished now and will go into the bottomless pit of a freezer. On Christmas Eve I will cook a fig glazed ham drenched in maple syrup and macadamia nuts. I decided that this year I would make a cranberry egg nog cake and I will freeze it for Christmas. I think to top it all off we'll have baked potatoes and a tossed salad. Dad wanted his favourite finger foods namely sausage rolls and party pies but they can wait until after Christmas.
My son Ty will fly up on Christmas Day to spend about 10 days with us which will be great so I'm getting his room ready which is the spare/ junk room and at the moment I can't get to his bed.
I think I will finish my Christmas shopping tomorrow and then I can relax a bit although Dad likes Christmas shopping so I guess I'll be out and about right up until Christmas Eve. Not bad for a nearly 90 year old.
It is now the 18 th and I'm definitely finished with Christmas shopping. Dad wants to go to two shops today and I get to go along for the ride. The crowds are horrific in the shopping centres so we will stay away from them.

Busy, busy, busy

Here it is almost Christmas and I haven't even got any Christmas cards sent. So what else is new? Last month I finished a short course in building a website using Dreamweaver. I have now bought a domain name and started building my new website. As soon as I have it hosted I will mention it here. It will be primarily polymer clay art so I'd better get busy and actually start producing some. A few health concerns have popped up in the last couple of months which have left me feeling exhausted most of the time but nothing I can't overcome.
Last Saturday I taught a very small class of 3 eager people a basic introduction to polymer clay. I have another 3 people coming this Saturday and I'm being paid to do it. It doesn't get much better than that. Well I suppose selling my creations gives me a real buzz also. Time wouldn't be an issue if I could only muster some more energy. I had a wonderful Christmas lunch on Wednesday with 3 lovely ladies who also enjoy the art of polymer clay. Before and after lunch we clayed to our hearts content. I could easily do that every day I love it so much. As soon as I get a new camera then I will start posting more photos.
Today is another busy day so I'd better make a start.