LATE

We all managed to oversleep this morning and it was nine thirty before any of us surfaced,and in an instant the house was transformed from peaceful sleepiness to total panic. The cause of this transformation was the fact that my son was expecting guests at eleven. Poor old Pa was shaken awake by my son while I put the kettle on for the fastest cup of coffee ever.

As usual when one is in a hurry everything went wrong, we collided with each other on the stairs, bumped in to each other on the landing and tripped over each other in the bathroom.
My son hurried to the kitchen to start breakfast while I tidied up and Pa got dressed during which much cursing could be heard from all directions!

Now if there is one thing I detest it is having get out of bed the moment I awake and if there is one thing I hate even more it is having to hurry breakfast and so it was a grumpy start to breakfast . Soon however the effect of hot buttery crumpets, honey covered muffins and good strong tea lifted everyone's spirits and we were ourselves again. Even so the meal could hardly be described as leisurely and soon we were all rushing around again,I cleared the kitchen, Pa tidied the living room and my son when to his room to change, the guests were expected at eleven................by eleven thirty they had not arrived.

The realisation that we had hurried to no good purpose did nothing to lighten the atmosphere but thankfully the errant guests appeared one by one and at twelve thirty the set off with my on for their Sunday game, leaving Pa and I absolutely shattered. We revived ourselves with rum and coffee before returning to the fray!

I had promised to deliver some information about ivy to a friend who is having trouble with her landlord who wants to remove the ivy from the wall of her house and the wall which surround it. I downloaded the latest survey done by Oxford University in conjunction with the Royal Horticultural Society . These august bodies have recently proved that ivy is in most cases actually beneficial to walls and buildings. It reduces frost damage to old brick work, prevents acid erosion of stone and actually reduces the loss of heat in an ivy covered property by 16% in winter and in summer such properties can be up to 34% cooler.
These findings are of great significance to environmentalists who have been campaigning against the removal of ivy from walls and buildings for years.

Back home and with baking and ironing to do I got busy with both, first baking some shortbread and then ironing a huge pile of T shirts...hateful job, and then feeling very virtuous I spent a happy hour playing with the cat. She has a new toy which is stuffed full of cat nip and at the moment she adores it, she still plays like a kitten although she is at least seven years old .

What a grey day it has been and yet I think that it seems to make the lights indoors brighter and the cottage more cosy somehow. All through the afternoon we could see car after car leaving the garden centre each with a Christmas tree strapped to its roof of poking out of one of its widows. The lane was full of excited children on there way to see Father Christmas and partake of the roast chestnuts and spicy punch which the garden centre has been serving throughout the weekend. It made the day seem special somehow and the excitement was contagious.

I have a very busy week in prospect but it is the sort of work I love. I shall be making lots of Christmas cookies, cakes and pastries for a party later in the week and I have still to bake an iced ginger cake and two chocolate logs, one for my son and the other for a neighbour. There is wine to be spiced, cards to be written and many other Christmassy tasks. This sort of thing is not work, it's fun and I live it. Having exciting ingredients to play with is a cooks delight and I intend to enjoy every moment of the run up to Christmas day.

Unfortunately my son has to return to work on Boxing Day as in the world of newspapers there is always something to do. We intend to make our Christmas fun in spite of this and shall be celebrating for a whole week before the day,we try to let nothing spoil our fun.

For dinner tonight I made some chicken skewers for my son and I served with wraps , salads and sauces and for Pa a big bowl of oxtail stew as he is not fond of chicken these days. My son returns to work tomorrow after a wonderful week off and I hope that he remains cheerful during hi last week at work before Christmas. He tried on his costume for the party today and it suited him very well I think. He has such a great sense of fun and does not mind dressing up , he once went to a party dressed as Rasputin ans he scared me witless even thought I made the costume, he has the ability to loom in a most alarming fashion.

I have waffled quite enough for today and shall now do a little mending before bed...shirt buttons again...what fun!