Photo heavy post featuring dd kitchen

As many of you know dd and son-in-law bought their first house in August of this year.  They have been busy renovating it along with help from dh and son-in-law's dad.  However the majority of the work has been done by the pair of them.  This is the kitchen before the reno's; I think this is the photo from the sale brochure.  They put down the cheapest laminate throughout to sell the place.

This is the after, they bought the units from Lowes.  They just installed the dishwasher as they got money and giftcards for Christmas gifts.  They are saving up for a new fridge and stove.  They did all the back splash themselves and it's travertine  The walls are a very pale green from the Martha Stewart line of paints at Home Depot.

This weekend dd has been busy with two projects in their kitchen.  She made the chalk board below, using a frame from Ikea and a tin of chalk board paint.

This is a closer photo of the chalk board.

She bought the hanging rod and pails also from Ikea, along with the fake plants.  She tied twine around the middle planter that holds the chalk to give it a more rustic feel.

She also made the Roman Blind for the kitchen window.  The colours from the photos do not come up well.

I told dd that she should start a blog of her own as she is always busy doing something.  No idea what her next project will be.  If anyone has me on their Pinterest, then you'll be able to see dd as she has a Pinterest account as well under her name.

Meanwhile we have come to a standstill in our house, as dh has been working long hours these past couple of weeks.  Fingers crossed in a week or two's time we can get back to finishing off the basement.

Okay I will confess to slightly cheating........

As mentioned here, I am going to take part in Carla's January No/Low Spend Challenge.  So I have been stocking up on food items, granted they were on sale.  Bought a few books from Bookcloseouts, again they were on sale, and bought material, once again on sale.  

This material is for a baby quilt; I don't know the sex of the baby, and the mother is not finding out, so figured this was pretty neutral.  There are five flannel fabrics altogether:

Not sure if you remember the stool I bought the other week that needs to be recovered?  I picked up a metre of this material for $6 to recover it with:

It's a heavy weight tapestry and the lady was saying she also uses that material to make bags.

Now I do have a couple of bids in at the charity shop which I guess is spending that doesn't have to be done; but the money does go to a good cause.  Are my excuses making any sense yet?  I am sure I am not the only one who is doing this, am I?

I have been good though in putting my silver change in my sealed pot.  I have also started saving up toonies and loonies in my other pot; I use that money for when gardening season starts.  I am putting $20 away each week in both my Christmas and Birthday pots; and putting $50 away in my other pot, not sure what I am doing with that money just yet.  I know I generally pay for the wood for the fire with that (nearly $900) and any other big things that come up.

I promise though to be good through January and although it won't be a no spend January, it will be a low spend January!!!

Allergies, grocery shopping and knitting....

I have been suffering with allergies for the past couple of weeks.  I am ready to pull off my nose and the only thing I can think that is causing them are the Poinsettia's I have in the house.  I keep forgetting to buy some allergy pills, but on Thursday I found some Benedryl pills in the back of the cupboard and they weren't expired.  I took a couple around 5 pm on Thursday, by 6:30 pm I felt terrible.  I had all the symptoms of a migraine, but I had no headache.  I could barely keep my eyes open, so went to bed at 6:30 pm.  I slept right through until 6 am.  All day on Friday I was about as much use as a chocolate fireguard!!!  

I went grocery shopping and honestly don't remember how I managed, as I felt so dopey.  I did cash in my points at Shopper's Drug Mart and stocked up on dh's Glucosamine and Chondroitin and now have a six month supply.  So instead of paying $110.49, I only paid $10.49.  I popped into Zehrs and thought I'd pick a few things up and ended up spending $71.94.  Mind you nearly $20 of that was allergy pills.  My final stop was Sobey's where I got my best deals.  Cheese Whiz was on sale on Friday for $2.49 - $1.50 coupon, so only 99 cents.  Spent $9.95 there, so all in all spent $92.38.  I have $20 worth of gift cards for Canadian Tire, so am planning on picking up Maxwell House ground coffee which they have on special Saturday and Sunday for $6.97 a can.  If I can get three cans that will last us six months and only cost me 91 cents when I cash in my gift cards.  So I am at least $20 over my weekly budget this week.........

I am going to work on my lists of things to do and goals this weekend, so I am all ready for the New Year.  I have been putting my silver change into my sealed pot and any spare loonies and toonies are going into another pot ready for gardening season.

Have you made any plans for 2013 yet?

Here is the scarf I am knitting at the moment.

Had a question for anyone who knits.  Do you have something you put on the end of your needles when you put your knitting down so the loops don't come off?

Finally a photo looking north of our property, lots of snow.

Getting back to normal........

little by little.

After blowing out the driveway on Thursday I set about putting away some of the Christmas decorations.  I now only have the tree up and the cards up.  I hope to take the tree down this weekend and I'll leave the cards up until the 12th night.  I enjoy having all the Christmas things in the house, but like to have the house back to normal right after Christmas.

We got this from dd best friend "K" for Christmas.

Inside was this; a lovely Crabtree and Evelyn gift set for Gardeners Hands.  I told dh he could use the case as a new lunch box, he said he would pass!!  I am going to use it to store some sewing supplies in.

I saw this great idea over at Cindy's blog.  If you dry out your potato peelings for 24 to 48 hours, you can put them on your fire to help clean off the creosote and build up on your chimney.  So on Christmas Eve this was what was sitting on the hearth:

You still have to clean your chimney, but thought this would help.  The peelings burn at a high heat when dry.

Took a photo of across the way on Thursday afternoon.  Winter bloody Wonderland, for those who don't have to shovel!!!

Yep, I still hate Winter!

No, I'm not going to rob a bank.........

I'm all wrapped up to go outside.

We got a pile of snow over night, so I had to blow out the snow on the driveway.

Looking out of the mud room door.

Looking on the back deck with the BBQ,.  That image in the middle is a reflection on the glass.

My trusty snow blower.  She's not big enough for our driveway, but is a whole lot better than nothing!!

Took me around 1 1/2 hours to clean it all out today.  Will need to do it again as it's still snowing.

The snow fences are doing their jobs.  The drifts are about 2 1/2 feet high.

Looking down the driveway.  I couldn't have got out, as the drifts were so high at the bottom of the driveway.  The snow plow has been past a couple of times, but luckily he didn't dump a pile there.  Plus that bloody mail lady has no excuse not to deliver today, as she can reach the post box no problem!!

I am know knackered and I must have lost some weight???  I was soaked when I got finished.  Will need to do it again this afternoon, though dh said he was finishing at 2pm (started at 5:30am), so he said he would do it.

Off to have a cup of tea and a peanut butter cookie!!

Boxing Day shopping.....

we always go and do a bit of Boxing Day shopping to take advantage of the sales.  However over the years we do less and less and this year I only wanted to visit a couple of stores.  Number one on the list was Michael's,  I picked up some yarn for scarves and some dish clothes.  The yarn for the scarves after the coupons was well under $5 each, and will make great gifts for Christmas and birthdays.

I picked up 8 Christmas cakes tins for the 2013 Cookie Swap party we are hosting next year.  Paid just over $1 each for them:

Went to Canadian Tire and picked up a new snow shovel, a tool thingy for dh and two new frying pans for me.  Spent over $60, so we got a $15 gift card to spend before the end of January.

Went to Mark's Work Wearhouse and got a new pair of slippers each, a pair of fingerless gloves for dh and some ear plugs, as we were 3 cents short of $50, and I had a $10 off coupon when you spend $50.

I think I may pop up to Barrie on Friday and check out the mall to see what's on sale there.  I couldn't be bothered to fight the crowds on Wednesday, although it wasn't too bad.  I also want to pop back into Michael's for a couple of things that would be great gifts for the cookie swap party.

Do you shop the Boxing Day sales?

Another Christmas over with.

We had a lovely time and we were lucky to get some lovely gifts, especially from the kids.  This is what was in the gift box from them:

A $25 Subway Gift Card.
A $50 Bistro Seven Seven Gift Card
A $50 The Crazy Fox Bistro Gift Card
A $25 Tim Horton's Gift Card
A $25 Bon Appetit Gift Card (Kelsey's, Harvey's, Montana's, Milestone's & Swiss Chalet)
A $25 William's Fresh Cafe Gift Card

We asked for gift cards to restaurants, and this is perfect.  We also got a $25 Bon Appetit from another couple.  

We played The Game of Life and had a good time.  Will say it says it's for people age 9 +; we all thought it was confusing enough for adults remembering all the rules never mind children under 12.

I made a Butterball turkey, you cook if from frozen, so it took 6 hours to cook.  It was stuffed and I must say neither me nor dh were very impressed with it.  I prefer my own stuffing and a basic utility turkey; so back to that next year.  Will say it's a lot of work for a meal eaten in 20 minutes.

I think we all had a nap in the afternoon...........I blame it on the turkey, not getting old!!

Hoping to get some deals in the sale today.  Do you go shopping on Boxing Day?

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Hope you are a having a lovely day with those closest to you.

Christmas Eve, a scarf and a soup tureen.

Here we are on Christmas Eve and it's a case of if it's not ready now it never will be!!!  The veggies to peel for tomorrow, a couple of desserts to make including the Pear, Raspberry and Almond Tart we had a few years, that I posted about here. Also making Chocolate Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars, the recipe for that is here.

Thought I'd show off my scarf I finished it over the weekend, looks okay.  I see Michaels has similar type of yarn on sale so will maybe pick up a couple more balls, as they make great presents.

Jane how are you getting on with yours?

Wanted to show you my latest purchase from the charity shop.  Its a Bishop & Stonier tureen, minus the lid, I think?  Its in the dalrymple green pattern, here is a link to the blue pattern  I would love to know more, but I have come to a dead end?  I paid $15 for it.

The detail is wonderful.  There are a couple of chips and signs of wear, but I don't care.

The back mark on the pieces confirm who made it and dates it between 1891 - 1939

I have bids in on a number of other items over the next couple of weeks including a Shelly Cup and Saucer.

There will be a post tomorrow, but I do want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas to those of you who are popping by today.  Have a lovely time and a great meal.

Today's Christmas Song is lovely:

January No/Low Spend and Decluttering Challenge

I know it's not January but Carla is inviting us all to participate in the January No/Low Spend and Decluttering challenge.  You can sign up here  I am determined to sort out our old basement once and for all, so will be doing that in January, and our savings has taken a hit over the past couple of months, so need to put money in there.  I'll aim for $200, but would really like $400 to go in there......we'll see though.

I have never heard this version of today's Christmas Song, very pretty:

Great new site....

well it's new too me.   Kraft Canada First Taste  it's a site that you can participate in and earn points towards free things.  I also ordered the Samplicious pack again, as it's well worth it.  There are recipes and games and lots of other things to do.  The only negative thing I found was that it's a bit slow to load for me the site, but I have old computers.  If you have a few minutes check it out.  I would think other countries where Kraft products are sold should have something similar, but don't know for sure?

It was "top coat" weather for the horses on Friday:

"Top Coat," is your thick or winter coat I haven't used that expression in a while.  It snowed on and off all day on Friday, but as it was above freezing for most of the day it didn't really amount to much.  Can't say I am that bothered!!!  Other than going to get the mail and emptying the ashes I never left the house.  I have a bloody ear infection, mainly on my right side which sucks.  So I guess if it gets worse out will come the olive oil and cotton balls to put in my ears.  I have suffered from ear infections since I was a small child, so am a pro at dealing with it; could have done without having one now though.

Another classic Christmas song, is the soloist Welsh?:

First day of Winter today.........

and it feels like it around here.  Gone a lot cooler and snow is forecast....

This week's "Home of the Week," is not my cup of tea and the price of $1.1 million doesn't help the matter.  What they don't show you is what the rest of the street looks like.  This house will stick out like a sore thumb amongst all the older type houses in the street.  I have no idea how they get planning permission to build these eye sores?  It's a very clean finish inside, and I do like the look of the garage out back, but too my mind way, way over priced for what it is.

The "Condo of the Week," is for someone with a lot of money, who wants the space of a house without the upkeep.  At $3.6 million, plus $2,700 a month maintenance fees; but that does include valet parking, you do need to have deep poackets!!  It's okay inside, a little dated, in a prime location, hence the price.  Will give this one a miss though; as I'd rather have a bit of outside space as well for that price!!

The Condo of the week overlooks "Hoggs Hollow," in Toronto, which is an unusual name.  So I googled why the name and here is a few lines from Wikipedia, you can read the whole article here

"Hoggs Hollow is named after Joseph Hogg, a Scotsman who settled in the area in 1824. Hogg operated a whisky distillery and a grist mill, and was viewed as the most successful of all the millers in the valley. The name is usually written without the apostrophe as Hoggs Hollow, but sometimes appears as Hogg's Hollow.

In 1856, John and William Hogg, sons to the late James Hogg, subdivided their father's estate under the name "Hoggs Hollow". The Hoggs Hollow subdivision included one hundred and forty-one lots. With the area full of quick sand, swamps and bogs, only a few houses were actually built at this time, however. the subdivision stood in close proximity to the historic village of York Mills. A school, post office, pottery, blacksmith, livery, stable, store, golf links and clubhouse, hillside cemetery (at Yonge Street and Mill Street) and St. John's Anglican Church served the community, one largely made up of Scottish, Irish and English immigrants."

Today's Christmas song:

I must be getting old............

I had to go to the hospital on Saturday morning to have a bone scan on my hand, as when I had the nerve testing done on Thursday of last week, they didn't find any trapped nerves, which is good.  So Dr. T. suggested I get a bone scan.  I made the appointment and arrived at the hospital bright and early on the Saturday morning.

I checked in with the receptionist and she looks at the form and sees that Dr. T. gave me the referral.  She says, isn't he gorgeous, and some other gushing things about him.  I reply, yes he's very nice, but can't say much because my husband is sitting there.  She nods at that and we finish the registration.

I am then called through to start the test and the nurse looks at my paperwork and sees that Dr. T. is my doctor and again starts gushing about him.  I reply, yes he's a sweetheart.  Now here's the getting old thing.  I haven't a clue what the doctor looked like, seriously.  I was more concerned about what was wrong with my hands than what he looked like!!!!!  While I was having my first test done I was wracking my brain trying to remember the bloody doctor!!!!  Oh well must be very happy with the husband I have!!!

Anyhow, due to it being  quiet on Saturday, I not only got my hands scanned, I had a full body scan, my hips rescanned and my feet rescanned.  I go to see the hand surgeon on January 3rd to talk to her about what the test results show.  

My prescription changed on my glasses, I have gone from a 1.5 to a 1.75.  Got my new lenses and can't see a bloody thing!!!!  I guess I'll just have to suffer it until my eyes get used to the new lenses, so please forgive any typos, everything is blurred...........or am I just getting old?????

If anyone needs a stuffing or bread sauce recipe here is a link to the one I posted: http://thatbritishwoman.blogspot.ca/2008/12/bread-sauce-and-old-fashioned-stuffing.html

Today a traditional Christmas song:

More photos from last week's" Ladies who Lunch" outing

(THIS POST WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FOR THURSDAY, BUT I POSTED IT TODAY BY ACCIDENT!!)

Bet you thought I had forgotton about them!!!  Just had other things to post about, but finally found a slot.

Jane and I called in at a store called Kiki LaRuse.  With a name like that is sounds a bit kinky to me, how about you?  It wasn't though and the lady was super nice in there.

I thought this was a lamp at first, but couldn't see the lightbulb.  Turns out to be a piece of art.  Nice but useless don't you think?

The samll lamp on the wood block was not part of the original piece.

I LOVED the fabric combinations of these pouches and thought of you Carla.

Some more art work, love the bottom picture:

I adore poppies, so this picture caught my eye as well.

The store features local and Canadian artists, all things are hand made and the store is in Orillia.  They do not have a web site, but do have an email if anyone wants it?

Today's Christmas song is just lovely:

A recipe and my knitting

Another cookie recipe I decided to try on Tuesday:

Butter and Jam Thumbprints

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose/plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 vanilla bean, seeds scraped from pod, or 1/8 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 raspberry, cherry or strawberry jam

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 oF.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.

In another bowl, whip the butter and the sugar with a hand-held mixer until fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until just combined.  Slowly beat in the dry ingredients in 2 additions, mixing just incorporated.

Scoop the dough into 1-inch balls.  Place about 2-inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.  Press thumbprint into the centre of each ball, about 1/2-inch deep.  Fill each indentation with 3/4 teaspoon jam.

Bake cookies until the edges are golden, about 15 minutes.  For even colour, rotate the pans from top to bottom about halfway through baking.  

Makes 24 to 30 cookies 

***TIP: I made the dough the day before and kept it in the fridge.  Took it out of fridge about an hour before I needed it and cut the dough up into 30 pieces, then rolled them into balls.

I mentioned last week I was knitting a scarf.  Well this is how much I have done so far.  Must say any idiot can do it, as even I have managed to do this.  Have to say though I am struggling to keep tabs on my seven stitches!!!!  Managed to drop some, lose some and find some.  Goodness knows what I would be like with more stitches!!!

The good thing about this, its very forgiving!!!

Today's Christmas song:

What do you think these are?

They do look good; but we might not like the taste as it's called Bird Breakfast and are "cakes" for the birdies.  The recipe is from the "Company's Coming, Gifts from the Kitchen," book and here is the recipe:

Bird Breakfast

1 1/2 cups quick cooking rolled oats (not instant)
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (no salt, no sugar)
3/4 cup suet, vegetable shortening, I used lard
1/2 cup commercial bird seed
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup cream of wheat cereal, I left this out as I didn't have any
1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries, I used fresh

Cook rolled oats in boiling water in large saucepan for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until very thick.  Remove from heat.

Stir in peanut butter and suet until melted.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  When cool enough to handle shape into patties and place on ungreased baking sheet and freeze until hard.

When frozen store in a freezer bag and remove as many as needed.

I decided to mold them into mini cup cakes and I also had enough left over to put into the bottom of a couple of yogurt pots.  I added some more nuts I had in the house that needed to be used up and extra cranberries. Simple idea if you ask me.

Dd is getting both us and her in-laws restaurant gift cards for Christmas.  We requested it and I think so did her in-laws.  So to "fancy" them up a bit she made custom gift card covers for them.  I thought I'd share:

By the way I have no idea if these are ours or the in-laws ones?

Another classic Christmas song:

Sticker shock.......

On Sunday we were out and about.  One of the places I had to go was Michael's as I needed some new blades for my rotary cutter, which I use to cut out material.

I was shocked to see they were $49.99 for a pack of five blades.  Anyone who quilts how long have they been that expensive?  I will admit to not having to buy any for a while.  Also pleased I had a 50% off coupon, so only paid just over $28 after taxes after the coupon.  Which I guess is better than nothing.  Quilting isn't the cheapest hobby out there, that's for sure.

Question for the quilters out there: how do you dispose of your old blades?

I forgot to show you our latest acquisition from the charity shop:

It needs recovered and waxed/stained; which we are going to do in the New Year.  I think I paid $38 for it and dh uses it to put his feet on when sitting on the sofa.

Last week when I met Jane for lunch in Orillia, we went to a restaurant called Sixteen Front.  It was a really lovely place and here are a couple of photos of the place.  First the toilet paper in the ladies bathroom:

I love to see the toilet paper folded like that, always a good sign if you ask me!!

This is a photo of my meal.  Salad, soup and sandwich, just can't remember the flavours now!!

The photo I took of Jane's meal, which you can sort of see, was blurry, which was a shame.  If you are in Orillia for any reason both Jane and I thoroughly enjoyed our meal there and the whole ambiance of the place, and it's well priced.

Another great Christmas song:

Work Christmas Parties

It's that time of year when it's the office Christmas party.  I have been to two over the past couple of nights and yes they were fun but are they necessary?  On Friday night I went to my work's Christmas meal at a restaurant and it was employees only. Lasted a couple of hours; had a meal and a couple of drinks (not me I was driving) and off we went home.

Saturday night it was a totally different experience.  Company paid for four tables in a big ballroom which held 300 people, all from different companies.  Had a meal then there was a disco afterwards.  This was for my dh's company.  Spouses/partners are invited.  I never see the majority of these people from one year to the next.  You're all thrown together and you have to make small talk with people who you barely know or honestly have no interest in. 

I find it funny that just because you work with someone doesn't mean you have to be best friends with them?  In dh's case he is one of the supervisors and he "cracks the whip," as they say with the guys under him, as he has certain expectations of them, which include turning up for work on time!!  Actually doing the work he assigns them and not being complete pratts.  I know terrible things to expect for people who come to work; guess you can call dh old fashioned!!!  Suffice to say he is not the most popular apple in the tree.

Now some of the guys can hide their dislike as work is work and outside of work is another thing, some can't and neither can their spouses/partners, so at times if can be a bit awkward.  While you're eating the meal the music is back ground music.  As soon as the meal is finished up goes the volume and you can't hear yourself think.  So last night I had a different plan of action.  I brought a book, went into the lobby and read a book, and believe me the noise from the disco was still bad.

I had told dh in advance what I was going to do, as my ears are giving me problems at the moment and I feel as though I am on half hearing anyways.  Dh and the guys also stood outside in the hallway drinking all night as they couldn't hear one another for the music, so that left all the woman in the disco by themselves.  I am so glad I brought that book. 

In case you think I am a total party pooper we didn't leave until close to midnight, and walked outside to freezing bloody rain.  We did have chance to stay at the hotel, but as we live only ten minutes from the venue I'd rather sleep in my own bed.  We have been going to this venue for a few years now and I think everyone is fed up of going, but the people who pay for it love the place so off we go every year {{SIGH}}  Yes we are lucky that they provide this perk, but I know for a fact a number of people would rather they forgot about it........

So are you a fan of Christmas parties, or is it just me, and I am getting old!!!!

Christmas song for today and a bit of eye candy!!!

 

Been busy

so haven't time to visit your blogs, or to do a full post.  Things should be a lot quieter come Sunday, I hope!

I wanted to share with you this Christmas song, another one I am not familiar with:



Enjoy your weekend, everyone.

Home of the week is a must see........

However it's mine............well would be mine if I had the money!!  The "Home of the Week," is also not too, to far from where we live, 30 minute drive, if that.  I think $8.8 million though is a bit pricy, wonder if they would take $8 million for it?  We can all dream can't we?  I would love that house though and wouldn't change a thing.  I even enjoyed the lighting thought that was neat.

The "Condo of the Week," is up for sale for $4.2 million.  If you don't do anything else, just read the comments that says it all!!!  Me, I'll pass on this one, but I do have a question.  Didn't hot pink and black in a bathroom go out of style in the 80's?

I had never heard of this Christmas song until Thursday and I really liked it:

Lunch with Jane........

On Wednesday I met up with Jane for lunch and a bit of retail therapy.

I'll post about where we ate tomorrow; decided I would get my side of "this" story in before Jane adds here two cents....LOL

We called into the hobby store as Jane noticed they sold wool.  There was a woman that was inquiring about some wool/yarn that you make into a scarf.  The young lady in the store was demonstrating how to knit it, so Jane and I decided to watch.  Now the woman and Jane managed to understand the procedure (is that the word,) but of course I didn't "get it!!"  Anyhow the young lady let me have a go and I managed to knit a row.  So Jane and I decided we would have a go at knitting a scarf.  Jane and I of course wanted the same colour ball of wool; so being the bigger person (in more way's than one!!) I let her have the grey and pink ball , while I took the purple ball as it matches my new Vera Bradley handbag.

So that's our project over the next few months, to knit a scarf.  Now I made a start on mine on Wednesday night, as I figured I would remember what to do.......wrong, wrong, wrong.  Had to go on YouTube to see how to cast on and knit it.  It seems like it's idiot proof as I have got a bit knitted.  Jane can knit so it will be a doddle for her, me; well don't expect me to knit for the Olympics but I think I may have the hang of it.

Now I would love to say I knitted this, but I picked this set up for under $25 for the lady who is having her baby.  It's gorgeous isn't it?

Update 7:30 am Thursday:  Krippa had a baby girl yesterday (12th), no name yet, don't know what time, other than it ended up with a c-section and I think 7lbs 2 or 4 oz.  Mother and baby doing well.

So these in a store, nothing much to say about the sign, other than it's a strange name for a line of wallets don't you think?

We called in at the Mariposa Market Bakery for our special coffee's.  In my case I had a white peppermint hot chocolate. and Jane had a gingerbread latte.

They of course had a wonderful cakes on display like always.

We had a lovely time that's for sure, and will post more photos tomorrow.

Today's Christmas video is a favourite: