Sunday, December 27, 2015

Getting back to normal

Freddy being cute as usual.
Whatever has happened to Christmas weather? It's supposed to be cold, apart from one light snow fall in the middle of December and a couple of frosts it has just been wet, and I mean wet. Nothing like the awful weather that people in the north of England have been experiencing though, so many have had their homes flooded, in areas not normally associated with flooding, what an  dreadful way to spend Christmas. Maybe it was thinking about those who's homes have been affected made us want to celebrate a bit more than normal, I even iced the cake, not something I would normally do as neither of us like icing, well we have discovered that we still don't, so it ended up in the dogs. Next year I will stick to just the marzipan.
Stage one, form a ring of willow.
Stage two, accept help from a cat, Misty, Freddy's sister.
To get into the spirit of the season I made a Yule Wreath for the front door, Misty thought it was something that she would like to join in making,
The finished wreath.
I think between the two of us it turned out OK.
A bit of festive cheer.

Simon, modelling his jumper.
I decorated the fireplace in the lounge, and the candelabra, it has made the lounge look quite festive.
An excellent bird.
The bronze turkey was a beautiful bird, Justina, who reared them did a good job, it was very succulent and full of flavour, although we were hoping for a smallish bird we ended up with a seven kg one, Justina has said that she will start them later next year to get the smaller sizes. I know many people don't like turkey, we do, and for us it is something special, not something that you can buy all year round. We had friends over for a meal on St Stephens day so we managed to make a fair bit of headway into the bird, the disadvantage of turkey is it last so long if there are only the two of you.
A future Sunday roast.
We always remove the legs, then bone, stuff and roll them, they can then be frozen and used at a later date.
Today we needed to blow away the cobwebs and made a trip to the coast, mainly to get more seaweed.
The beaches were quite busy,
there were some nice waves and that had brought out the surfers. We collected another nine sacks of seaweed and had a lovely picnic which included cold turkey. I always enjoy our trips to the beautiful Sligo coast.
Roses are still blooming, we have some out in our garden,
It really is December.
but we spotted a rambler which had masses of flowers plus buds on it, not quite right in December.
A further visit is called for to explore around this old bridge.
We also spotted an interesting bridge, it looks very old, we could just make out the track which would have run over it, not far from this bridge there is also a waterfall, something we will have to explore further at a later date.
So Christmas is over for another year, and we all survived it. Now it is time to start planning next years plantings,
I hope that one of my presents will come in useful for this. When we lived in Spain all the supermarkets used to stock the Moon Planting calendars, not something you see as a rule over here. We have always planted by the moon, but it will be very useful to have a book to remind us of what we are supposed to be doing and when.
I hope you all had a good festive season and that you all have a Prosperous New Year.
A seaside pub.

15 comments:

  1. Looks like a prefect christmas to me , my great grandparents are from Sligo Easkey I believe , never met them but it looks like a beautiful place

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    1. We often visit Easkey and were there yesterday, unfortunately all the seaweed there that was washed up onto the pier was kelp which is rather bulky so we continued along towards Sligo. One of our favourite open gardens is the Old Vicarage in Easkey.

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  2. O'Moores Almanac used to have a Moon Planting guide. As to wether it still has one I wouldn't know as I have not bought one for years.

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  3. CORRECTION ! it is Old Moores see here http://oldmooresalmanac.com

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    1. I haven't seen Old Moores since I was a child, nice to know it's still published.

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  4. I've always fancied having a go at planting by the moon but I don't think I'd be organised enough to follow it properly, perhaps one day when I have more time on my hands. The floods have been terrible, haven't they? We've still got Daniel and his girlfriend at home, they were supposed to be going back to uni at York either tomorrow or Wednesday but the roads around where Daniel lives are closed and both their houses are at risk of flood so we'll have to play it by ear. They have to get back some time as they both have exams next Monday. I bet that walk by the coast blew the cobwebs away. I must admit that we've been rather lazy this Christmas, we usually have lots of walks over the festive period, I don't know what's wrong with us this year.

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  5. I hope that Daniel and his girlfriend can get back to uni for their exams, we've been watching the news something we rarely do, the floods are unbelievable, so many peoples Christmas ruined.
    I do try to plant most seeds as a full moon is approaching, with some of them it makes a difference of four days with the germination.
    We never need an excuse to go to the coast especially the Sligo coast, it's incredible beautiful

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  6. Hello from southern California. I just discovered your wonderful blog and I signed up to follow. Your cat is adorable. I have Lilly who is a Maine coon and is the darling of our family. Wishing you a Happy New Year! Pat

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  7. You cat looks lovely. Welcome to my blog, I hope you will enjoy it. Happy New Year to you from Ireland.

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  8. Your wreath looks fabulous! I'm afraid I didn't get around to making one this year, oh well, will try harder next year :)

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    1. Maybe next year you will have your home in the country and be able to go foraging for Xmas wreath foliage.

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  9. Freddie is so cute. Your wreath is so beautiful. I love your adventures to the Sligo coast. It is indeed beautiful there. The bridge is so interesting were you able to find out anything about. I love the book about Moon planting, have always been interested in it but never did it. I think I will try and find the book. You gardens are always so productive. Hoping you have had a wonderful CHristmas and a Happy and Healthy New
    Years.XXX Carole

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    1. Yes Freddie is very cute and he knows it.We haven't done anything about finding out about the bridge, but we will. Happy New Year to you and all your hairy friends.

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  10. What a lovely wreath and the house looks lovely with the decorations! What a turkey...and I thought ours was big! Though I know you two will use it all somehow.
    Planting by the moon was popular in south America, and absolutely necessary when growing and harvesting bamboo. x

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  11. Thanks Lauren, I enjoyed making the wreath, I think our turkey was the same size as yours, price wise they worked out about the same. We finished up the turkey by turkey and mushroom pie which did for two days.Our neighbours in Galicia all planted according to the moon, I do more or less, now I will follow the book.

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