Friday Chat Day

Hello friends

Welcome to Friday Chat Day and I hope it finds you well.

Yesterday, first day of Lockdown 2.0 and ironically my first day back at work,

I count myself very lucky at being able to work from home.

Never did I think my working day would consist of having Bella on 

my lap whilst I type and being able to walk her in my lunch break. Thankful.

Although this is what she looks like at the end of a working day...

Recipe:

Preparation is going ahead to make a Christmas cake.

The recipe is a combination of three, I've decided to pick and choose

dependant upon what is in the larder and what I can buy.

I've started with a critical step - soaking the dried fruit in alcohol!

Feel free to follow me with the making and you can blame me too if 

it doesn't quite work out (although I'm secretly confident it will be fine!) 

I've placed 1kg of mixed dried fruit in a bowl with half a pint of sherry.

You can use apple juice or cold tea if you do not like it boozy.

Cover, soak for 2-3 days - mix and inhale daily.

I'll be baking this over the weekend and setting out the full recipe next week.

Finally my labels arrived to get my larder organised. 
I used the online facility at Avery labels to design these.

And here's the progress so far - still more to do but happy with how it is going.

Garden:

Being a newbie gardener I now understand why Gardener's World comes

to a close at this time of year - nothing is really happening.

Although saying that, I espied tiny buds appearing on my new Clematis.

This is the winter flowering - Winter Beauty.

And I think it seems quite happy in the old chimney pot.

Charity Kit:

As always, thank you to those who purchased.

There are still some charity kits available, I definitely made lots this month 

due to last month's running out so quickly.

Details to purchase are here.

And I would like to say thank you to those who support me through Ko-fi - 

I've been able to purchase all the 'do not bend' envelopes needed

for the next couple of kits which is wonderful.

As you know each month the kits donate to a different charity,

a mix of hooman and furry/feathered. 

There are still spaces for 5 charities next year so please feel free

to make suggestions, either by commenting or you can email

hope-chances@live.co.uk

If I receive lots of suggestions I will pop them in a hat and make a draw.

These are the 2021 charities so far:

Alzheimer's Society

Bumblebee Conservation Trust

The British Lung Foundation 

Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital

Caenhill Countryside Centre

Fibromyalgia Action UK

Silver Fox Dog Rescue

Silver Fox Dog Rescue - my sister's Romanian rescue dog came via this

charity - he went from this...

to this - hogging the sofa!

Lucky Bear.

Crochet:

This week's progress of the Winter/Vintage Harmony blanket.

I am in a rhythm with this pattern and love doing it.

I had created the tags only to realise I had got one colour wrong so had to 

do a bit of scribbling.

All sorted and three more rounds of each to do.

The Cupcake Harmony blanket is still available - all the details on the yarn

page here. I appreciate the price may seem high - 

did I mention how many ends I sewed in - haha!

I realised I omitted to mention that a percentage of all sales of my blankets 

go to charity.

And talking of crocheted blankets and charity, I am seeking a place to send

small blankets to - a local cat rescue place was accepting but they now have plenty.

So, please let me know if you know of anywhere.

They are blankets ideal for small dogs or cats -

their travel baskets, cages etc.  All done in plain stitching - 

double crochet, no open weave for their paws to get caught.

And that was my week. 

Weekend - baking the Christmas Cake and possibly sanding my worktops,

(not to be done at the same time!)

I've decided Lockdown 2.0 needs a project so my wooden worktops

could be it. They were so nice when first installed - 15 years ago

but upkeep is the key and I've most definitely neglected them.

Take extra care friends.

Much love,