Where to start?

I have not slept a full night for months-could it be the tablets I am on? Thus I have lain in bed for some time gazing at the speckled, pixilated, creamy edge framing the curtains and trying to work out if it was a full moon lighting up the dark sky (when I went for a wee it was like sitting in daylight in the en suite!) and whether this was a blue moon- but the study calendar from Canadian N. tells me the full moon was on Friday night (28th) and 4 weeks before that would take us to the last day in November-tough......

December- in fact 2012- has sailed past so quickly and tomorrow is New Year's Eve and the man with as many noses as there are days in the year will be out and about. Let me know if you see him........
The Solstice means the sun is on its way back north to us- Hallelujah! May it dry up all the rain so Incy Wincy spider can climb the spout again.
A wet, windy month is coming to its end- like Janus I am looking both ways in this blog because I have not had time to think, let alone write, for weeks; I have planned a few things to blog but no time to type them up. So I shall look back then forward- actually though I am not a scatterbrain, I shall probably dot around all the many thoughts in my head and not put events in chronological order-bear with me.

Various health issues and the arrival of baby A. have absorbed the month till Christmas was upon us with a vengeance; the house hummed with visitors- a flurry of bedding, crackle of wrapping paper, broken baby nights -L and I tried to help out with late or early shifts-snap of crackers, flicker of candles, spices of mulled wine and lots of laughter. Smells are evocative aren't they? Nieces and their happy boys came- why didn't we get round to playing table football? Last night my nephew joined us watching Newcastle playing Arsenal then for a board games night. It took me back to all the many Christmases when we 'had' everyone in the extended family- my parents, my sisters, their husbands/partners, their children, my aunts and uncles, my parents' bestman, my parents-in-law, my sister & brother-in-law and Uncle Tom Cobbley and all!

I mentioned football! I shall not mention by name that wee Scotsman who is so full of himself as he plays mindgames with referees and linesmen then 'calls' Newcastle United- a wee Northern Club- us! has he seen or heard of our fan support? In 3 days we scored so many goals against his Man Utd and Arsenal and played such exciting football but.....

Now the holly which has decked the halls, is withered and crackly on the picture frames; the recycling bin is full of (non-metallic of course) wrapping paper and empty bottles; the chocolate boxes are discarded and the Christmas tree is devoid of chocolate ornaments.
We have eaten too much. We have walked from the Fish Quay to past the Grand Hotel while watching masses of  porpoise like surfers riding the waves. Unfortunately we had to call in for fish and chips- but it tastes better when I don't have to cook a meal myself.
The turkey carcase (or is it carcass?) is in 2 big pans downstairs ready to make broth; the jar of sauce is ready to make turkey curry; I am going to get on my bike today and splash through puddles to accompany D3 as she runs. Before the diet there is a hogroast at church and New Year buffet at the local rugby club then back to normal routine and thinner days!Then I will be able to get stuck into my books received at Christmas. I shall read everyone's letters again.

First we have friends calling in from Australia- just like that! The world gets smaller and families interconnect across the globe so easily now. A pantomime to stage. Ooh! 3 weddings coming up in 2013. The green spears of my bulbs are already pushing well up- Bring it on!
Really I need a new PC next year but money is a bit tight so this chuntering, achingly slow desktop will have to suffice.

I wish you all a happy, healthy New Year when it comes.

Our nativity

7-8 months of HG...... and now joy! Our first grandchild- a girl - was born at the weekend. What can I say but she is fine- a perfect little cutie. I can not believe it after all this constant poorliness. Thank heaven.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum

I have just had to poke Santa's eye out- on my Advent calendar- to open door / day number 3.

Glancing out of the window at a coal black sky and WOOSH! the silver trail of a shooting star leaves me in awe; beautiful,magical and so far away.

The oven is filled with trays of golden, sugar-sprinkled, sweet mince pies-almost time to take them out and put them on a cooling rack; then the freezer will gobble them up till later in December.

The Duchess of Cambridge and her Prince have announced her pregnancy and also her H.G. Hyperemesis Gravidarum is something our little nuclear family- and my son-in-law- know a lot about since D2 is/has been experiencing this in her pregnancy; until you have held an HG hand or head while she has thrown up day and night- do not say 'Oh yes! I have had morning sickness too' cos just morning sickness it ain't! Unfortunately many nurses in the U.K. do not know what H.G. is (the nursing profession in the Netherlands could provide some lessons) so disbelieve and are often unkind to those women who suffer it. Sorry Kate but the one blessing of your vomiting (Heaven help her- on the world stage not in the privacy of her own bathroom) is you may educate the NHS to provide more for those with Hyperemesis Gravidarum.  Meanwhile congratulations on your great news.

The oven and Newcastle United call.........

Movember

November opens its arms rapidly to embrace December- where did the month go? Mainly to York? Where ever it went it dribbled on mainly in the rain; we have been more fortunate than many in Britain who have suffered again from flooding. Fields locally are harbouring ponds and lakes providing new homes for wildlife; lawns glisten with the excess of water lying on the surface as the aquifers  & underground reservoirs are filled to capacity. Tonight the temperatures are down below freezing and forecasts are it will stay below freezing for some days. It took tonight's visitors quite a while to de-ice their car in order to drive home.

The men who have grown moustaches for Movember, (sponsored to provide cash for research into prostate cancer) will certainly feel the chill when facial hair is shaved off on Saturday.

I baked three wedding cakes on Saturday; heck! I hope they are as tasty as the last three- the responsibility weighs heavy!

Sunday was StirUp Sunday but I was on the gallivant at Beamish Hall Christmas Fayre on Sunday so I stirred 3 puds up on Monday; they are now sitting chilled in the garage biding their time till their moment of glory on Christmas Day.

I bet you wondered where I had got to all this month; not much gardening going on due to abysmal weather conditions and so much on my plate- however I have cut back the buddleia, most of the roses (rain stopped play) and had lots of good physiotherapy sweeping leaves together across the lawn.

Hallowe'en

By crikey me keks are clarty from walking with the group these last few weeks; the highways and byways have been wet and muddy; I cannot be bothered wearing gaiters so i just clag my trousers (keks) in the wash to de-mud them. We walked along the old railway line from Langley station garden tearoom about 3 weeks ago- soaking underfoot but we only caught raindrops in the last 20 minutes.

That must have been around Hallowe'en- or to some of us- All Hallows Eve (October 31st). Though as a family we have always celebrated Hallowe'en with ducky apples, catch the doughnut as it is swinging - and gone out with snanny (turnip) lanterns haunting- and we always did a 'party piece'- a song/joke/poem,  a lot of folk have gone more American- 'trick or treating'. I also sent cats' eyeballs (silverskin onions), witches' fingers(hot dogs), giants toenails (crisps) etc into school for staff to dispense. Oh boy-we found hollowing out turnips (the yellow kind!) difficult- did you?

This year we went for a softer, easier option- carving pumpkins. We had a fun night on October 31st decorating pumpkins after D3 cooked us tea. Later that week D3 had a wonderfully decorated party attended by lots of witches, wizards, monks etc!!!! Everyone brought some food to add to what was provided- mmmulled wine is my favourite.

Definitely hard work preparing for Halloween.....

I recall it was about then we woke up to our first heavy frost; silvered lawns glinting in the morning sunlight. The trees had hung onto their leaves much longer than in most years but this cold snap and the snow turned my acer scarlet overnight.

Winter is approaching!

Hulne Park

Hulne Park is the domain of the Dukes of Northumberland.
It is where part of the film 'Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves ' was made.
Virginia Creeper heralded our arrival; she will be bare now.

A search for a geocache brought no luck on the way in but then there were muggles around.
Here one can view the biggest bulls with the thickest necks......

jewel-coloured pheasants......

Medusa haired weeds

and an avenue of horse chestnuts

shedding leaves and conkers.

By now the conkers will have met their match in the school yards of Britain and been emptied from childrens' pockets into dustbins !

 

Guy Fawkes Night

'Remember, remember the 5th of November....' so why is the dark sky outside lit with the glow of fireworks? Today is November the 3rd not the 5th.

The festival is called Guy Fawkes Night,  not Bonfire Night; I know it is  gruesome but it is an English tradition and to drop the celebration or hide its origins away is like....... not speaking to the French because William conquered us in 1066, or not speaking to the Scots because we constantly fought them here in the North- or them not speaking to us because we battled them at Flodden- or they hit us at Prestonpans. Life is too short! and tradition is about remembering the lessons and consequences of the past- passing culture and history lessons on - no matter how horrid the lesson may be.

We always worked hard at making a guy then put him on a bogey or old pushchair or pram and touted him around the neighbourhood shouting 'penny for the guy'.

Guy Fawkes was a Protestant who converted to Catholicism when his mother remarried to a Catholic; Guy was a mercenary (known as Guido when he swopped and switched sides and ended up fighting in Spain.) In 1605 a group of Catholics planned to blow up the House of Lords (the Lords and the King) to kill James I et al in order to restore a Catholic monarch to the throne; Guy Fawkes was found below Westminster Palace guarding the explosives; thus the rhyme goes on
'Gunpowder, treason and plot......'

If you plan to commit murder then you suffer the consequences of the time- regardless of religious reasons for the intended crime- and though a guy is thrown on the bonfire every year, actually Guy Fawkes killed himself before his execution.

So 'I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgot'.

We shall look for some fireworks to light on Guy Fawkes Night ie Monday night- November the 5th- but we will not be celebrating Bonfire Night tonight with the Round Table as we have done for years and years and years.