Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee,
Whether summer clothe the general earth
With greeness, or the redbreast sit and sing
Betwixt the tufts of snow on the bare branch
Of mossy apple-tree, while the nigh thatch
Smokes in the sun-thaw; whether the eave-drops fall
Heard only in the trances of the blast,
Or if the secret ministry of frost
Shall hang them up in silent icicles,
Quietly shining to the quiet Moon.



Wednesday, November 01, 2006

A Little Domesticity and a Walk on the Moors


On Monday I had one of those pleasant domestic mornings doing all sorts of things from the "I really must" category. A large basket of apples from the garden has been waiting for attention so I peeled a panful of them to cook.


While I waited I finally got the buttons sewn onto the cardigan which I've knitted for Kaitlyn. This is the first of the winter ones in 6-12 month size.




Next on the list was to finish wrapping the parcels to be packed into a box ready to send to my friends in New Hampshire. We've been doing this for over 30 years now, originally there were 4 or 5 packages for each family member but with the emphasis on the children. Mine had all kinds of toys and games years before they were available in the UK. Now it's just the four adults but even so it's the most exciting part of the lead up to Christmas when 'the American parcel' arrives.



In the afternoon J and I took the dogs up onto the moors, it was very windy but otherwise a very pleasant day for walking. There may or may not be more photos of this but so far Blogger has been refusing to upload them. This is Bilbo Baggins (brown) and Martha (black and white) along with most of J.



On Monday evening I sat and watched the football(soccer to my US readers!)and picked over all the dried fruit for the Christmas cake. The packs all come marked washed and cleaned but the amount of stalks and pits that are still in there is considerable. Then I chopped the cherries and prunes, cut up the candied peel, then added the rind of an orange and a lemon. This all goes in the pan with the juice of the orange and lemon and 4 fluid oz of sherry. I heat it gently until it's steaming then it is covered and left to cool and absorb all the liquid. It can be left up to 4 or 5 days at this stage.

I'm going to post this now and try and add more photos later Blogger permitting. I've tried on Firefox too and still nothing. Oh,well:(

12 comments:

Melissa said...

Sounds like a delightfully filling day...

Janet said...

What a full day you had! And it seems to have been a fun day, too. Those are the best kind.

Anonymous said...

What a busy lady you are. I was Christmas shopping too, for gifts for friends in England. Mine are wrapped and ready to go this weekend. I have to confess I have not begun to think about baking yet..since I'm the only one here who eats Christmas cake, I may not make one, since I invariably end up eating most of it myself!

Angie said...

What a wonderful, homey day---the best kind of days, IMHO. :D

JacquiG said...

Sounds like a lovely but busy day! The cardigan looks lovely, as do the presents! What did you do with the apples?

Oh it would be lovely to go for a walk on the moors! {big sigh}

Not a fan of fruit cakes, but I can appreciate there is a lot of work that goes into making one.

Jackie in ON

Daisy Lupin said...

Hmm blogger has been really bad these last few days. Just bought all my Christmas cake ingredients yesterday, so plan to make it next week.

Anonymous said...

Don't you love it when there are lots of things to do? I always need to be doing something. I am one of those multi-taskers, lol.

:-D

Patty said...

oh yes, it is time to get things going for my christmas cake too.
Thanks for reminding me

Anonymous said...

There is nothing better than a bit of seasonal puttering!

Anonymous said...

While looking at other blogs I came across your blog. Very nice!!!! I will return.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a lovely day.
And you have already started preparing for Christmas! I am always so late with that.

Kelli said...

Your day sounds just wonderful! I would love to have joined you for a walk on the moors. Reminds me of my favorite book, The Secret Garden and all the fun the children had out on the moors.
The sweater is beautiful.
Kelli