Christmas catch up

Christmas day came and went...

Jerry made us some snazzy party hats, as we never got any crackers

For dinner we had Roast pumpkin stuffed with wild mushrooms and hazelnuts and all the trimmings

Here I am writing in my adorable new Scheduler for 2010 (ok, the link isn't for the exact one, but very close and very cute!)

I think I'm frowning trying to remember something difficult, like Jerry's birthday ;)

And of course we needed to walk off all that food!

Here's Pepe modelling her snazzy scarf of Auntie Sandra- it is all the way from a shop called Doggie Goodie in Hong Kong

Actually Pepe has HATED the snow. If we don't keep her on her leash all the way around the park she just plonks herself down and refuses to take another step. These past few days it has melted a bit, but we're predicted for more heavy snow these next few days!

Christmas- Eve- questions!

This was over on Poopsie's "My True Colours" Blog x

There were 22 questions, but I know how rubbish I am at completing these memes fully, so we're just going to see how many I manage!

1. What is your favorite Christmas movie?

I like Gremlins (1984), and more recently Jack Frost (1996).

I had a Gremlins videogame on the Spectrum when I was a kid- I was rubbish at it - probably too young to understand what I was supposed to do, and always got ate by them!

Pretty scary huh?

I like Jack Frost because it's a ridiculous premise, and I think I first watched it over Christmas with my sister when we were both really bored & suffering from complete Christmas lethargy.

(2) What is your favorite Christmas drink?

I treat myself to a bottle of Baileys, (Jerry has port), and like Poopsie also enjoy Bucks Fizz on Christmas Day.

*Still needs to buy the Champagne for it

TOP TIP: you need to use Smooth orange juice, otherwise the bubbles make all the 'juicy bits' rise to the top

Cheers everyone!

(3) What do you LOVE about the holidays?

Time off work, people being a bit more relaxed in work before holidays, spending time with loved ones, an excuse to eat & drink ... oh, and maybe presents :>

(4) What annoys you about the holidays?

Shopping online for gifts that then get delivered when no-one is home!

(5) Do you prefer star or angel on top of a Christmas tree? Or something else?

We actually have an owl on the top of our tree!

(6) What is your family favorite recipe at Christmas?

We don't have any family recipes, but I do enjoy making my own Christmas puddings & mincemeat. These are made from a combination of Delia Smith & Nigella Lawson recipes. Infact I may even make some mincemeat/ mince pies today (waiting in for a delivery). We got the pastry & bits and bobs from the supermarket yesterday :> Jerry loves mince pies!

(7) Christmas cards - do you send them, yes or no?

I like to send them in the post to special people- my sis. I've not given any out in work for a long time... This year we received a card & a lovely surprise of presents off relatives in Hong Kong- including gifts for the pets! These might even be the most exciting ones to open, as I've got no idea what might be in there (although Jerry's might well be fancy Chinese tea)

(8) What is the best thing about Christmas, in your opinion?

Getting to spend a few days off work in the middle of winter huddled up with the ones you love, hopefully with plenty of nice things to eat & drink!

(9) What is the worst thing about Christmas?

Worrying over silly things like presents.

(10) When do you put the tree up and take it down?

This year we put up the tree, as per Jerry, 12 days before Christmas... far too early when you have a cat like Jesse James, who just Loves to chase around the baubles... never again. We also never got around to buying any lights for it, oh well (eco friendly!) It's supposed to remain up until 5th January ??!? um, we'll have to see about that

(11) Out of the 12 days of Christmas, which day and item would you want your truelove to give to you?

LOL, good question!

I think I'll go for the three French hens, as it would be nice to have fresh eggs!

(12) What is your favorite smell at Christmastime?

I like warm spicy smells, like mulled wine or mincepies baking. Or maybe new perfume? Last year Jerry got me this beautiful perfume- the bottle is so pretty I have it in the front room!

(13) What would make you happy at Christmas this year?

Jerry having more days off, ditto my sister so that she could come for a holiday. Seeing the Homers. Winning the Lotto rollover- £7 million :>

Snow day!!!

We have snow!

My mum & dad were supposed to come over today, but they cancelled because of the weather, le sigh. I'd reserved a table at Pizza Express and everything.

Regardless, Jerry, Pepe & I still went for a wintry walk in the snow

"I Love Me" award

Many thanks to Caitlin aka The August One for the above award.

So, recipients have to list 10 things they love about themselves...

1. I love my fashion sense and style (ditto Caitlin!)
I guess my taste has always been a bit different, unusual. These days we don't really have much spare cash for clothes shopping etc. but in a way I'm glad- it means I get plenty of wear out of clothes I love. Actually Jerry would be glad to see the back of my duffle coat LOL
* remembers I need to buy a new belt to replace the one I lost off my green coat














*wants

2. I love giving myself new challenges, e.g. blogging, setting up as a seller on Etsy, knitting, crochet

3. I love that I am a pet owner, that I have room in my life and heart to love these animals and the duty of care & responsibilty that I have for them

4. I love being a bookworm! I love Bookmooch, Librarything and my real-life public libraries. I've always got my limit of books out from the library and probably 10 more on Reserve. Using bookswapping websites these days it's so easy to turn your home into your very own library. Shelves filled with books are always a tasteful decor choice I think


5. I love being petite
Admittedly it can be a pain getting trousers that fit without having to take the hems up, but because I am a Lady I can just wear skirts or dresses instead. Infact I find it so boring in work where colleagues just wear (the same?) pair of black trousers all week.
I think Shakira summed it up
"I'm actually very proud of my short legs. They take me to places. Actually when you're short, people feel pity for you, so you can get away with a lot more stuff. If I was tall I'd be in big trouble."

... well maybe 5 is enough for today... to be continued... ?

Oh Christmas tree...

Today we put up the Christmas tree!
Jerry insisted that it has to go up 12 days before Christmas... I only thought that it had to stay up for 12 days starting from Christmas day?

We made mulled wine

red wine, Cointreau, cinnamon, nutmeg, muscovado sugar, a clementine cut into quarters and studded with a clove in each piece

and then got down to business
...sometimes I think my secret power might be the ability to always have my eyes closed when someone takes my picture, doh
Jesse was understandably very curious


Jerry got to add the finishing touch
And wah-lah!
I don't think there will be very many presents underneath it this year as we are both broke, but that's not the point right ?

Fursday Fashion

Hooray, Pepe's new Pug Snuggly finally arrived. It was held up in Customs for a week and then we had to pay VAT on it and a handling charge!!! I am so sick of this happening when I buy stuff from overseas :< (Actually Jerry was an angel and paid it for me xxx) However, the Pug Snuggly is worth it Yup her one from last year:
http://pugginaround.blogspot.com/2008/11/fashion-on-friday.html
no longer fits, aww!

In fact, it suits Jesse James better these days

What a suave kitty!

Let the countdown commence!

One of the Christmas traditions in the Homer household is the making of the Christmas pudding - see "Monday munchies" entry last year
http://pugginaround.blogspot.com/2008/12/monday-munchies.html

this year was no different, and over the weekend preparations began. First the dried fruit was soaked in alcohol overnight. Then the rest of the ingredients were added. And the most important part? The stirring! For 'good luck' everyone in the household has to give it a stir and make a wish:



Yey!

On TV tonight was Delia's Classic Christmas. I loved it! It made me start to feel a little bit excited about Xmas this year. She was saying that sometimes people think they don't like Christmas pudding, but that's because they've only ever had shop-bought ones, and that if you have a homemade one it's miles different- better!

Sunday snacks

Here are the pics of Jerry's birthday cake from last week:
Vegan Black Forest Cake

We didn't have any birthday candles, so I used sparklers- which I think look better !

I tried a piece and it was sooo rich, like a chocolate fudge cake!

Today we've made Vegan Spiced Ginger Cookies. I was thinking that they might be nice stuck together with some of the leftover buttercreme filling from the cake :)
The spicy flavour is nice especially at this time of year when the weather is starting to get chilly.

Happy Halloween !

This year Jerry was in charge of Pumpkin carving duties, and I think he did a very good job !


scooping out the gruesome insides


Pepe gets a fun hat

Moved into the front room for the tricky bit- carving. Pepe 'snoopervises' very closely

Ta-daaa !

Happy Halloween everybody !