Christmas Day!

Before we head into 2012 I had best quickly post about our Christmas. Alf's is HERE.

We had a quiet one, with hubby working over Christmas. Not sure if it was lucky or not, but he worked nights so spent most of Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day in bed.

We had a hearty breakfast about 9.30 on Christmas morning, which gave hubby a few hours sleep before eating. We then opened the presents - here is a quick photo of mine!

Hubby headed off back to bed until 4pm when I woke him for lunch. We usually eat about 1.30pm on Christmas Day, so the whole day felt a bit odd to me. Hubby had of course snoozed the majority of the day away which was a shame, but I did get to operate the remote control for the television, it is simply a shame that I can not get the sound through the Blu Ray player system. Whatever happened to just using the television  speakers?....

I did watch The Queen's Speech, which was broadcast for the first year on Sky News, my favourite news channel.

One of my wonderful packages contained a Kindle and I see from Amazon that the manuscripts of the Queen's Christmas Message for 1952-2010 and 2011 has been released, free of charge, by The Monarchy.

There was some wonderful books in the other packages, courtesy of my Mum, as hubby I think gets pretty fed up with my head in a book, of course by buying a Kindle he has simply swapped one reading medium for another! Perhaps there are some fishing books for Kindle I can tempt him with?

Alfie's Christmas!

Alfie, who does make fairly regular appearances on this blog had a wonderful Christmas. Under the tree were two presents for him.

As any dog owner will know, a dog has an acute sense of smell, so Alf was quite aware that what was under the tree was edible. He is such a good little chap, that most days he would simply sniff his gifts, which was pretty much like hubby having a small prod and feel at any additions under the tree!

Anyway, they were edible and Alf on Christmas morning was quick to investigate, after having some assistance with the wrapping!

After a small play and in preparation for a small Christmas lunch, yes, even with a few vegetables, Alf snoozed the morning away! Whoever said it was a dog's life was absolutely right!

Christmas Wishes

"Remembrance, like a candle,

Shines brightest

at Christmastime"

Charles Dickens

Birthday Cake

My dear friend dropped in this morning the birthday cake I ordered for Stuart's birthday. Made by Carole's Cupcakes. Isn't it wonderful?

You can read a bit more about Stuart's special day HERE

Virtual Advent Tour - A Very Special Day!

I am again delighted to take part in the 2011 Virtual Advent Tour hosted by Marg & Kelly. This is my first year of taking part and I am hoping that it won't be the last. It is a wonderful way to meet other bloggers and spread festive cheer! When I decided to take part I selected two special dates - this is the second of those two dates.You can read the first post, 18th December HERE.

Today is my husband's birthday. The sort that end in a zero! Buying a gift is always tricky, just a few days before Christmas all the suitable ideas have usually become Christmas presents. I wanted to mark the occasion in a special way. So, being incapacitated at the moment, wandering around the shops was not an option.

I was then delighted to see an advert for a distillery that produces and decants whisky, a favourite tipple, (although not too often!) into bottles with a nice personalised label. Now, I do not know the first thing about whisky, but a quick search of Google revealed that this was a well known company with a long history. So, I went ahead and ordered the bottle. It arrived in a superb presentation box.

I also ordered from another company here in the UK, a personalised mug. With the name on the front and on the bottom the dates. Which I think are a lovely way to commemorate a special day in hubby's life. I usually purchase his birthday card much earlier in the year. I find that regular cards are reduced in stock to make way for the rows and rows of Christmas cards. So, earlier in the year I ordered and paid for a personalised card which should arrive in good time. A former colleague made me a lovely cake which was delivered early this morning.

As some readers will know, my husband grew up in the Scottish border town of Lockerbie. I remember when we first met and he told me where his parents lived, the first thing I said was ah, the town of the air disaster.

On the 21st December 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was the victim of terrorist activity and as a result, all on board lost their lives. What is often forgotten is that as the plane crashed to the ground, some locals were also killed. A road and several houses were completely demolished. Now a park resides on that spot. The main fuselage landed just outside the small hamlet of Bankshill. This small hamlet is where my husband's family lived at the time. Thankfully, none of them were hurt. The local parish church at Tundergarth has a memorial room and a book of remembrance. Just on the outskirts of Lockerbie, at the local cemetery is a full memorial. It names each of the passengers and crew on the plane and there is a further memorial that names the locals, which included a friend of my husband.

Such an event rocked the entire World, and as one would expect the events of that day dominated the news and newspapers for several weeks, and of course in recent years there has been further mention of the event and the links to the politics of the Countries involved.

Whenever, we head to Lockerbie, we always visit the memorial and pay our silent respects and this plaque says it all - that even in tragedy we can be united.

For those interested further, photographs of the various plaques connected to the disaster at Lockerbie can be seen at Grave Encounters.

Whilst, I end on a rather sad note, there is joy as this is the festive season and for a very special man, today is his very special day. Happy Birthday Stuart!

Tea Cup Tuesday - Santa's Around the World

A few years ago, I stumbled across a rather nice set of mugs made by Spode. Each Christmas, from 1998 until 2004, Spode released one mug featuring a Santa from a different Country.

Here they are in more detail -

In 1998 the First of the series was the British Santa

In 1999 Spode released the German Santa, which is one of the two I have missing and am still seeking.

In 2000 Bishop of Myra was released.

Then in 2001, The Russian Santa was release, the second one that I am missing from the set.

In 2002 The Norwegian Santa made an appearance

In 2003, The French Santa was released

And finally, in 2004 to complete the series, the American Santa was released.

I think of all the set that I currently have my favourite is the American Santa, because of the vibrant, festive colours. Which one is your favourite?

Taking part in Tea Cup Tuesday hosted by Artful Affirmations & Martha's Favourites

Virtual Advent Tour - Kiva - Genealogists for Families Project

I am delighted to take part in the Virtual Advent Tour hosted by Marg & Kelly. This is my first time of taking part and I am hoping that it won't be the last. It is a wonderful way to meet other bloggers and spread festive cheer! When I decided to take part I selected two special dates - this is the first of those two dates.

The 18th December would have been my beloved Grandmother's birthday, her 99th one in fact. As I wandered up to my study to write this post I was suddenly aware that my Grandparents feature in pretty much every room in the house, despite the fact that we purchased the house a year after my Grandmother passed away. I have inherited lots of their belongings and photos.

Regular readers of this blog will have read various posts about my Grandparents and the families they descended from. I am very proud of them and the achievements they accomplished. I have been suddenly aware that apart from being my Grandmother, she was also a wife, a mother, a friend, sister and much, much more. In writing this post, I remember her, upon her birthday. The reality is, that I think of her every day and miss her the same. She was a huge influence in my life and her passing left quite a void

In the Spring after we moved here, I purchased a beautiful peach coloured rose. My husband planted it in her memory and every time I look out of the breakfast room window I ponder on what she would think of my zero gardening ability. The rose is lovely, and despite some fairly harsh Winters in recent years, it continues to flourish, with much assistance from my beloved. Usually on her birthday I purchase a bunch of vibrant coloured flowers, as that is how I recall her, bright, happy and always joking, and place the vase in a location where I can enjoy the flowers. This year I have opted for something very different.

About 6 weeks ago, perhaps longer, a fellow genealogist alerted me to a project called Genealogists for Families Project. The moto is "We care about families, Past, Present & Future" I joined the Genealogists team and logged in. I had a good read of the project and had a look at all the individuals listed who would benefit from a loan through the Kiva Organisation. I discussed it with my husband and shared my plans with him and pondered on how I could utilise the scheme with a genealogical link.

The basic principle is that you loan $25 through the scheme to individuals who do not have access to traditional banks. When the loan is repaid you can either withdrawal your money or loan again. You can make many loans or just one or two. The choice is up to you. I should point out, that you don't need to be a genealogist to join the genealogist team, who have made loans of a staggering $5,350 at the time of writing this post.

So, in memory of an outstanding lady, who gave me so much I have kicked off my involvement with Kiva and made my first loan. I have picked an individual who lives in Sierra Leone, because he is supporting several family members, purely because they are his family, and also my Grandfather was stationed in Sierra Leone during the Second World War.

Christmas is the time for giving and I want to commemorate the lady who was my Grandmother. Acknowledge her achievements and values and to assist others in her memory.

The photograph here is of my Grandmother, Lilian Edith Butcher nee Matthews (1912 - 1995) on the occasion of her 21st Birthday.

If you would like to join the team, then please click HERE

Blog Caroling!

Inspired by a post at Footnote Maven. The idea is to share your favourite Christmas Carol.

Well, being married to a Christmas baby, I can not escape the almost weekly viewing of the film Home Alone. Four films were made, we have all four, but films one and two are the favourites. Anyway, one of the Carol's sung on the film is simply lovely and I had a real challenge trying to find out what it was called and had to resort to getting the film and playing the credits!

Here is the details from YouTube - The Song is Carol of the Bells written by John Williams.

Here are the lyrics

Hark! how the bells
sweet silver bells
All seem to say
throw cares away.

Christmas is here
bringing good cheer
To young and old
meek and the bold

Ding, dong, ding, dong
that is their song,
With joyful ring
all caroling

One seems to hear
words of good cheer
From everywhere
filling the air

O, how they pound
raising the sound
Oer hill and dale
telling their tale

Gaily they ring
while people sing
Songs of good cheer
christmas is here!
Merry, merry, merry, merry christmas!
Merry, merry, merry, merry christmas!

On, on they send
on without end
Their joyful tone
to every home

Hark! how the bells
sweet silver bells
All seem to say
throw cares away.

Christmas is here
bringing good cheer
To young and old
meek and the bold

Ding, dong, ding, dong
that is their song
With joyful ring
all caroling.

One seems to hear
words of good cheer
From everywhere
filling the air

O, how they pound
raising the sound
Oer hill and dale
telling their tale

Gaily they ring
while people sing
Songs of good cheer
christmas is here!
Merry, merry, merry, merry christmas!
Merry, merry, merry, merry christmas!

On, on they send
on without end
Their joyful tone
to every home.

On, on they send
on without end
Their joyful tone
to every home.

Taking part in Blog Caroling, hosted by Footnote Malven

Advent Calendar - 2011 Christmas Gifts

When I was a child a special treat was to hold, but not play with a bridesmaid doll my Mum had. As I grew up I learnt to appreciate the soft china, the musty smelling dress worn by the doll and the fact that this was a treasure that my Mum had and still has, and held dear.

Over the weekend I asked Mum about the doll. She remembers the Christmas she received this. She was 10 years old. She had really wanted a doll and lo and behold she was given one for the Christmas of 1957. She said that a neighbour had a friend who owned a shop. He was selling these dolls and the cost was £10. That in 1958 was a lot of money. 

I asked what else she had for Christmas that year. Mum could not remember. OK, I asked, what other gifts do you remember getting for any Christmas as a child? Mum again said she did not remember. I asked why the bridesmaid doll was remembered so much, was it because she still had the doll? Mum replied no, it was because it was a gift that she had really wanted and her parents had bought it for her. One day the doll will be yours she said, but for now, it is still mine!

The pleasure for me in that story and conversation was the joy that Mum obviously had with the doll as a child and clearly now as an adult.  As she recalled that information I could almost imagine the excitable 10 year old Mum must have been that Christmas morning.

Advent Calendar - 2011 Christmas Tree Ornaments

Originally posted in 2010, with some minor alterations.

The collection of tree ornaments we have are ones that we bought from our first Christmas together. There are others that were given to us by my Mum and each year Stuart and I buy at least one ornament to keep the tradition going. We tend to go for the reds and golds but there are some others that have special meanings to us, such as a Spode china Millenium bauble which always has pride of place, and a gold bell which has a picture of a Border Terrier on the side,which we bought the first Christmas we lost our lovely Monty in 2008.

We also have a lovely set of the Lilliput Lane tree decorations as Stuart collections the lovely houses, and especially the snowy and wintery ones.

The decorations that we had as when I was a child are still with my Mum, including the fairy that my Grandfather purchased.

As a child we used to have chocolate ornaments on the tree which I was never allowed to have until Christmas Eve, and even then, only one. Now I don't have them as we have our current Border Terrier, Alfie just incase he is tempted by the chocolate.

Advent Calendar - 2011 Holiday Foods

This post was originally posted in 2010.

My Grandmother always used to buy hamper coupons from the Unigate milkman, I don't know if she received any special discount as my Grandfather had worked for them up until he retired, but she always had the coupons and then exchanged them a week or so before Christmas for a hamper. There was always lovely boxes of chocolates, biscuits, tins of ham and deserts and a shop made Christmas pudding. I am sure that there may have been a bottle of Sherry in the hamper, even though my Grandmother was not able to drink alcohol. There was also some lemonade and dilutable juices - like Robinsons, and some fruit.

Even though we had the hamper there was also other bits bought or made. The Christmas cake, and Christmas Puddings were both home made, a delicious joint of gammon that was cooked on the stove on Christmas Eve to be consumed for Christmas Day teatime, a tin of Victoria biscuits made by McVitie's

We always had Turkey for Christmas Day along with the trimmings. On Boxing Day the usual lunch meal was bubble and Squeak with either the Turkey cold or made into Rissoles. I still have the mincer that my Grandmother used and I still do some of things that we did when I was a child, and those special moments live on for another generation.


Mum makes the most lovely rum truffles, with the proper stuff, not the cheap essence.

Every year, this rather tatty extract from a Woman's Realm Mag appears. I had chance to have a proper glance at it. The receipe is from The Archer's Country Cookbook by Martha Woodford published in 1977.

I can certainly vouch for the truffles!

4oz dark cooking chocolate
4oz icing sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons ground almonds
2 tablespoons double cream
2 tablespoons rum
chocolate vermicelli

Melt the chocolate over a basin of hot water. Beat in the icing sugar,egg yolk,almonds,cream and rum and pound altogether until mixture is smooth, and form into little balls. Roll each truffle in a little vermicelli and coat it.

Advent Calendar - 2011 Christmas Tree

Rather than repost last year entry I thought I would post something a little different.

There is a garden centre a few miles away who always has a fabulous Christmas display. We wondered if, in the throws of a recession this would still be the case and decided to make a visit. As readers will know, I have been unwell for the past 6 weeks with a very bad bout of sciatica, but nonetheless, I wanted to have a go at trying to have a little walk round. I did manage it, but boy was I tired! Anyway,

We arrived at the centre and the display was as a fabulous as always. Lots of different style trees decorated, tableware, tree and room decorations and a rather good selection of festive houses the sort that you can light up and are similiar to Lilliput Lane. Here is a quick snap!

Fabulous! In 2012 the UK is to host the Olympics. This year the theme for the tree decorations was done with links to previous Olympics, which I thought was wonderful. Here is the official website for the Olympics with details of all the previous 47 venues.

This is a popular garden centre, and on the day we visited the staff were replenishing stocks. I commented to the staff the displays were wonderful again and she said the Olympic theme was proving to be a success.

Advent.....

Well, the 1st December already. I am not sure why I am surprised, it comes the same time of year, every year! Last year I took part in the Advent Calender hosted by Geneabloggers.

This year, I am taking part in a few more on line Advent things.

The Advent Calender hosted by Geneabloggers 

The Advent Tour hosted by Marg at Intrepid Reader and  Kelly. I requested to post on two dates, 18th and 21st December.

I have also taken part in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap hosted by Love and Olive Oil and The Little Kitchen. I had great fun choosing a recipe and because of standing Mum came to give me a hand make the cookies. Watch out for a further post about what  recipe I selected and about the cookies I received in return. See the complete round up of posts HERE & HERE

I have also taken part in the Book Bloggers Holiday Swap hosted by Nicole. Whereby, I sent a book or two to a new book blogger and received the same in return.  

Lastly, I have signed up for the Book Bloggers Holiday Card Exchange, hosted by Bird Brained Books.

These are great way to meet new bloggers, both with a genealogical and book slant to them. Cost has not been an issue and it is the festive season after all! and with the help of the internet, neither has lack of mobility!