Thursday 25 November 2010

Stuff.... and some things

Well I didn't do too badly last weekend. The granola got made, as did the stuffing but the pate fell by the wayside as I realised I didn't have any cream. I did make roasted root vegetable soup though and roasted the pork loin though it was stuffingless, as I didn't have the nerve to hack it up. Sometimes I'm really useless at trying new things.

I need to make space in my freezer for Christmas stuff, and basically just to use things I've squirreled away in there. There's a lot of stuff. So this weekend I'm going to experiment. I've got some venison steaks which I'm going to put in the slow cooker with shallots, button mushrooms, stock, port, bay leaves and some thyme. Sounds good, at least in theory.

The labels are done for Christmas card writing though I have a fairly busy Saturday with an early hair appointment then lunch with a friend on the far side of London. This is dependant of course on not getting a vast amount of snow between now and then. I confess to a certain childlike excitement at the prospect, even though it's not at all practical. The weather is only predicting a smattering though tonight so there's only a 30% chance of waking up to a winter wonderland. Here's hoping though!

And finally a quick 'Happy Thanksgiving' greeting to anyone reading from the US of A, especially my cousins David and Kathleen and their lovely children, David and Isla.


Sunday 21 November 2010

A busy day ... or not?

I have big plans for today. Making granola, dishes, laundry, bins, making pate, stuffing and then a trial run of a stuffed pork loin roast which I'm planning for the family Christmas lunch. I should point out though, it's already 2pm here and so far all I've managed is mixing the granola, the bins and unloading/reloading the dishwasher, the granola is not even in the oven yet. Hmm. It doesn't bode very well for the rest of the list.

What I have also promised myself to do this weekend is start writing the Christmas cards, that's looking fairly promising as I've recovered the labels from the conservatory. You might wonder what they were doing in there... well. After the decorating spurt in my office and the new carpet everything from those two rooms got moved into there. It's taking a fair bit of time to put everything back where it should be but I am getting there. Honest.

As an aside on the work front. I did get my comments in on the removal of my post in the proposed new structure before the closing deadline. I feel very good about that, even if it has no effect it was the right thing to do. Now we wait for the Exec to read through everyone's responses, come up with the final structures and then get the line managers to tell people individually whether they are now formally at risk. From the documentation it seems that the formal letters won't go out for people at my level until the beginning of January. At that point there will be 3 months for me to be redeployed or at the end of that I'll be redundant, so around April.

Fingers crossed my post will stay, or I'll be redeployed, it's not a good job market out there right now.

Monday 15 November 2010

Catching up

Hello all

It's been a while. Life's been a bit busy, but the most fun news is I've finally taken the plunge and replaced the carpet in the front room (it was SO grotty), the laminate in the office (completely knackered where my chair went over it) and in the kitchen. Whilst that was being done I had the office space decorated and new Expedit units built and installed with a new desk. I love it, and I finally have somewhere to properly put my scrapbooking stash. This will not only mean I know what I have and where it is, but that the front room will be reclaimed from the clutter. It's fantastic. Photos to follow soon.

I'll also be posting this year's main Christmas card designs on Saturday too. By then I hope to have broken the back of the stash stashing and tidying and having all my computer kit back in place after the decant. I have to tell you, the kitty cats were not at all happy with the disruption or the decorators being around, I think they've just about forgiven me now though.

Spent today with the lovely Lynne Lidster at Nirvana Spa. Oh it was heaven. Lots of lovely pools, a full facial, a bit of Clarins treat shopping and a great lunch. I feel all chilled and relaxed now and looking forward to that lovely feeling of falling into bed sleepy, warm and contented.