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Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Gillthepainter » Fri Dec 08, 2017 7:51 pm

An excellent card there Dennis. Thank you.
Talking of which, I bought my plain cards & envelopes from Amazon, for the cards I print or paint by hand. And have ordered 8inch x 8inch.

They are massive!

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Lusciouslush » Sat Dec 09, 2017 12:59 pm

Lovely card Dennis - you are a clever bunny!

Please take a pic of you in your Crimbo jumper f'rus......... :klingonbanana

I see you're organised too Grilly - I used to paint my cards for close friends & family, but I'm afraid I'm a lazyLush these days & buy them!

Went to the first Carol concert last night at Lancing college, a friend & I go every year - beautiful building - all gothic arches - think Hogwarts ( they did originally want to film it at the collage who turned them down thankfully!) anyway lovely service, many old carols sung by a stunning choir - & a good belting sing-song by me too - all cold & frosty outside - & do I feel Christmassy? Do I hell.......!!

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Gillthepainter » Sun Dec 10, 2017 10:28 am

You must do today, with the snow all around, Lush.

I've bought welcome lights from Ikea.
And cannot follow the instructions to assemble, it's come in several parts with directional arrows for the string of lights.
I need a couple of coffees I think.

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Lusciouslush » Sun Dec 10, 2017 11:59 am

No snow here Grilly - just tons of wind & rain :(

Good luck with those lights - I hear folk have been sectioned after trying to follow Ikea's instructions..............

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Petronius » Sun Dec 10, 2017 2:03 pm

Lusciouslush wrote:No snow here Grilly - just tons of wind & rain :(


Nor here! Near Taunton. That's our back garden about 8.30am this morning

our 'snow'.jpg
our 'snow'.jpg (161.21 KiB) Viewed 3290 times


And thank you for your kind words about my card.

8 x 8 Gill, that's enormous! I've tried putting cards in the printer, but somehow never managed to get them the right way round. :roll:

When I started painting Christmas cards I did about twenty - boring or what! Gradually I've cut it down to immediate family, the rest are printed on semi-gloss paper and pasted. Next year it will be just four for our children and their families. I'll buy bog standard ones for everyone else.

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Sun Dec 10, 2017 3:46 pm

@Petronius,

Wow .. If the rain keeps up, there could be some flooding surely.

It is cold & cloudy in Madrid Capital, approx. 2 to 5 degrees centig and frosty, where we are vacationing until Monday morning and extremely windy. I believe it is going to rain tonight ..

At home in Barcelona it is 12 degrees centig. and cloudy with rains expected Monday and Tuesday ..

Have a nice day .. :crossed Magic1
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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Renée » Sun Dec 10, 2017 5:06 pm

What a difference in temperature, Alexandria! After your lovely stay with friends and all the Christmas shopping, I expect that you will be happy to return home!

The snow is clearing slightly here and it is about 1C. Later this week, it will be 8C. Wonderful!

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Petronius » Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:23 pm

Alexandria wrote:@Petronius, Wow .. If the rain keeps up, there could be some flooding surely.


Nice of you to be concerned, but our Close slopes away from our group of houses so we've never been flooded in forty years. Once the rain stops that large puddle will simple disappear, soaking into the soil. Next doors garden is at least a metre lower than ours and they don't worry either.

Our Thame daughter had heavy snow, so much so they couldn't go lake swimming this morning, and partner's 10K run was cancelled - wisely. Last I heard they were going out on their mountain bikes. They'll have fun. :thumbsup

:chrissytree1

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Petronius » Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:25 pm

Temperature is dropping quite fast, now 3C, if it freezes we may be glad we thought ahead. :thumbsup

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Joanbunting » Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:33 pm

After palnting my wheat on the 4th the next bit of Chrostmas was supposedtto be the arrival of Pere Noel in the hameau today. We usually provide a vat of vin chaud.

Unfortunately we have has snow, ice and rain since the early hours so PN has deferred his arrival until next week.

On the other hand we have hosted a pre Christmas lunch for our danish friends. She is undergoing major cancer surgery next week so we don't know what the outcome will be.

I stuck with a completely Brit menu.
Fino sherry and canapes

Whitebait with tartare sauce

Roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes and parsnips and sprout puree - French and English mustard and horseradish cream

Farmhouse Cheddar and Stilton

Sherry trifle

Coffee and very good cognac

Lots of hugging and encouraging noises .I just hope our optomism holds.

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:58 pm

Been out walking in the older parts of London, round Spitalfields and Shoreditch, in the snow.

We got given hot mince pies by the verger at St Botolph's Without church (without because it's just outside the medieval city walls) to start us off, there was an Antioch Orthodox sung mass in progress, though it a Church of England church.

Stopped for a drink in the amazingly rococco former ballroom of the Great Eastern Hotel (now a Wetherspoons bar) and finished with hot soup in a cafe in the former bakery on the now fashionable Boundary Estate (built as worker's housing around 1890)

Snowed the whole time!

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Sun Dec 10, 2017 7:12 pm

@ Renée,

It is quite cold in Madrid due to the wind chill factor .. And it started raining to top it off ..
Barcelona is 10 degrees warmer .. Yes, but rains are expected ..
Madrid is 646 metres above sea level ..

We are going to the Hotel Bar to have a wonderful hot chocolate ..

@ Stokey Sue,

Sounds like a wonderful day except for the snow, which I adore when in the mountain rurals however, in huge urban cities, it can be daunting with all the slush and ice, the next day ..


Have a lovely evening Ladies .. :chrissytree1
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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby jeral » Sun Dec 10, 2017 7:50 pm

@ Joanbunting: Please give your Danish friend our best wishes for a successful outcome and keeping fingers crossed. A hug for you too as it's hard not to be able to make things right.

Surprisingly I haven't made Yorkshire Puds for a while. Mind you, it's still early evening in red rag to a bull terms.

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Renée » Sun Dec 10, 2017 10:14 pm

What a lovely meal for your Danish friends Joan. I do hope that all goes well with your friend's operation. It must be such a stressful time.

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Mon Dec 11, 2017 12:30 am

@ Joan Bunting,

So so sorry to hear about your friend.

All my very best wishes for her successful surgery.

:crossed Magic1
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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby strictlysalsaclare » Fri Dec 15, 2017 6:42 pm

We tried this year's batch of mincemeat last night. I added a small amount to an apple crumble to make it more festive and by golly it has a huge flavour. I may have surpassed myself this year! Now I can't wait to make the mince pies next weekend. :yum

I was going to put this comment in the Mince Pies thread but it no longer seems appropriate to put it there after the passing of Maud.
Last edited by strictlysalsaclare on Fri Dec 15, 2017 7:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby QinNortham » Fri Dec 15, 2017 7:29 pm

Strictly, do post in the mince pie thread! Maudie would be tickled pink to know her "fame" had spread far & wide. J and I have had our tears and much laughter talking about our Mothers - they got on very well despite there being quite a big difference in age.

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby strictlysalsaclare » Fri Dec 15, 2017 7:30 pm

Thank you QinNortham! I will do so forthwith!

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby strictlysalsaclare » Sun Dec 17, 2017 1:19 pm

The Strictly snacks I made yesterday were on the whole pretty successful. I was also very happy with the winner of the show as well. One of the items I bought were chocolate Lebkuchen hearts, bought for the princely sum of £1 in Poundland. They are extremely nice, with a jammy centre, possibly plum flavour. It was difficult to tell with the spices and chocolate flavour as well.

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Re: Holidays are only 20 Days Away - All shopping Done yet ?

Postby Alexandria » Sun Dec 17, 2017 6:53 pm

Almost all is done except the final tiny stocking stuffers which shall come with us, on our two hour drive to Cadaquès from Barcelona on the 22nd ..

All our long distance travel agencies and collaborators / clients have been sent email Christmas Cards and a few have been sent cards (paper) and mailed by the staff .. The Office Tree is up and looks dazzling ..

I have all wrapped and labelled ..

As we are headed fairly close, a two hour drive, and shall be returning on the 27th or 28th and then re-driving up for the 31st, we have not decided if we are going to return on the 27th or 28th and then re-drive on the 29th or 30th .. Probably we will leave on the 27th and then return to spend New Year´s Eve with our families on the 29th .. And we will be travelling for pleasure on the 1st, for a week´s break to Northern Italy. So, we are also busy packing for our trip too, with seasonal winter apparel ..

If I do not have a chance, we wish everyone at The Food Board a healthy, successful, and wonderful 2018 ahead and a marvelous holiday season ..


:prezzie2 Magic1 :rudolph1 :rudolph1
Barcelona, soulful & spirited, filled with fine art, amazing architecture, profoundly steeped in culture & history, and it engages all your senses, and food fancies.

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