Getting into the spirit

I spent some time on Saturday and Sunday evenings writing Christmas cards, so I have to head off to the Post Office for stamps today! There are also some wee parcels for a few folk which will need to get posted soon, too.

This weekend has really helped with the Christmas feeling. Saturday was lovely, as I went to a Recognition service for a friend who has managed to make it through Faith & Worship and become a fully accredited Local preacher. The service was very moving, and it was good to catch up with some other friends from across the circuit. I sat next to an older gentleman, who has been a LP for over 50 years, I believe, and he was telling me how he manages to take a service every week, without ever actually writing a sermon down on paper. He puts all the preparation time in, but it is all in his head! He is a retired baker, and whenever he comes to our chapel, he brings along the most beautiful hand made cream creations - eclairs, etc!

After that, I came home to find that the others had had a good afternoon at the village bazaar and managed to find a few customers for books. Then we got together again to go to a friend's house for a drink and a few nibbles and a chat. It was a good hour and a half, and the FH actually stayed a bit longer as he was very interested in the alterations that the family has recently done to their house. The girls and I had to nip off as I was babysitting for another friend, so their children came to stay for the night.

The girls and the other two had a lovely evening, playing on the Wii and watching DVDs - the FH and I soon retired upstairs to watch TV in bed with a cuppa!

Yesterday morning, I quietly got up and went to church, and left them to it!

In the afternoon, I made a Christmas cake - a very simple one which I got from here - with just three ingredients: SR flour, dried fruit and chocolate milk. It is going to be wrapped up and stored for a week now, and then I will attack it with some marzipan next weekend. I have used that recipe before, and it was well received. [Edit on Monday afternoon to report that the cake has stuck irretrievably to the paper and when we attempted to remove the paper, huge chunks of cake came away too. I may now have to go back to the Christmas cake recipe I have used with reliable results since 2000, and this concoction may have to become Christmas cake truffles - I have seen a recipe somewhere!]

I have also written all the Christmas cards this weekend, ready to get them in the post today. The girls have wrapped all the parcels, so I need to have a rummage through them to find the ones I need to post!

Hope you have all had a good weekend, but don't ask about the tree - that's next weekend's job!