Countdown to Christmas: Day 13

We're on holiday! Woohoo!

Lizard

Another day in our lovely remote little cottage at The Lizard!

Pumpkin and Red Pepper Soup

I made Pumpkin and Red Pepper Soup today. Most of the ingredients were from our most recent Groobarbs delivery, but would you believe that the mini ghost pumpkin was from our Halloween pumpkin picking at Dunham Massey Ice Cream Farm? It lasted perfectly and tasted amazing.

Cherry and Ginger Banana Bread

I've done some baking! I made Cherry and Ginger Banana Bread this afternoon, and enjoyed a slice of it with a cup of Bird and Blend's Mascarpone and Sour Cherry tea.

Chocolate Pots

Chocolate Pots are a holiday go-to for me (though it's another no-bake dessert). 150g of melted chocolate mixed with 150ml double cream, and then anything festive I can fling at them! Top tip: make them the night before so they have plenty of time to chill in the fridge.

Daisy Darker

The next book I'm reading on holiday is Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney. I bought it for my mum for Christmas last year, and she lent it to me in January after she'd read it. I've been saving it since then, because I really wanted to read it while we were in Cornwall. And I'm having Rose Conjou tea from Tugboat in Truro while I read it.

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 13 in my Bird and Blend Tea calendar... Christmas Cake!

Advent Jewellery

And behind Door No. 13 in my Avon jewellery calendar... a star pendant!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 12

We're on holiday! It's our annual pre-Christmas Cornish getaway!

Lizard

First day waking up in our isolated little cottage at The Lizard.

Christmas Rainbow

I saw a rainbow this morning. I'd like to think it's a glimpse of Bifröst, and that Heimdall is preparing to visit us for Yule. Speaking of which...

Yule Island

The first book I'm reading on holiday is Yule Island by Johana Gustawsson, which I'm enjoying with a cup of Snowball Hot Cocoa tea from Bird and Blend.

Americano Cocktails

I made Americanos (Campari, sweet vermouth and soda) on a whim tonight. And it accidentally turned out to be a massive wave of Christmas nostalgia for Rob! Hooray!

Black Cherry Cheesecake

One of my holidays was that I was going to bake loads, as I'll finally have time to do that. And so, the first thing I made was... a no-bake black cherry cheesecake.

Ledaig Whisky

Enjoyed a dram of Ledaig 10 year old from Tobermory Distillery tonight, a lovely pre-Christmas gift from my friend Irene.

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 12 in my Bird and Blend Tea calendar... Mulled Cider!

Advent Jewellery

And behind Door No. 12 in my Avon jewellery calendar... candy cane earrings!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 11

We're on holiday! Of course, this meant that most of today was taken up with packing the car and driving to Cornwall, but we managed to make the drive as festive as possible (apart from the bit where I fell asleep).

After Eights Hot Chocolate

Festive pit-stop on a long drive. I assumed the After Eights Hot Chocolate would just be like vaguely minty cocoa, but it actually tasted like a cup of melted After Eights!

First Holiday Dinner

Our first tea in our little holiday home was just pasta and pesto, but we had some absolutely delicious radiatori from Northern Pasta Company that we'd been saving for a holiday treat.

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 11 in my Bird and Blend Tea calendar... Oxford Comma!

Advent Jewellery

And behind Door No. 11 in my Avon jewellery calendar... Christmas tree earrings!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 10

Our pre-Christmas holiday starts tomorrow, so this evening was completely taken up with finishing off jobs from the to-do list that needed to be done before we go (which I almost managed). During the day, I was running an event that wasn't strictly speaking festive, but I stuck a Christmas badge on it anyway. As is my wont at this time of year.

Virtual Writing Retreat

Today was the final Virtual Writing Retreat of 2023 for my Hannah's Bookshelf gang. As I say, not strictly speaking a festive event, but I still added a little bit of Christmas.

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 10 of my Bird and Blend Tea calendar... Irish Cream!

Advent Jewellery

And behind Door No. 10 of my Avon jewellery calendar... a silver moon pendant!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 9

As we're going away on Monday for our big festive holiday, a lot of the day was spent getting ready and finishing off some jobs that needed to be done before we go. However, we did have a very special annual event planned for the evening.

Christmas Diffuser

We lit our new Christmas wax diffuser for the first time today! The first incredibly festive wax melt we tried was Dickens Carol from Olive and B.

Christmas Dinner on the East Lancs

Tonight was our annual trip to the East Lancashire Railway for Christmas Dinner on a steam train. The weather was pretty wild tonight, so we were slightly disturbed (but fortunately not derailed) by what may or may not have been a werewolf attack. But I had my second festive wellington, and my second Christmas pudding, of the year!

Christie and Whisky

Also an annual tradition... when we got home from the train, we watched And Then There Were None, accompanied by a lovely dram of Kingsbarns whisky (a pre-Christmas present from a friend).

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 9 in my Bird and Blend Tea calendar... Rudolph's Night Shift!

Advent Jewellery

And behind Door No. 9 in my Avon jewellery calendar... a pair of pearl earrings!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 8

Today was a very sociable one! It was mostly just me spending the day having festive fun with some really lovely women. Yay!

Christmas Do

I was at our work Christmas Do at Cosy Club this afternoon. I had my first festive wellington of the season (but I feel like it won't be the last!). Also... first Christmas pudding!

Frostbite Cocktail

Went for drinks at New Century after the do, and I had a Frostbite cocktail. My tram bestie (it's a thing) insisted this was eggnog, but it was actually vanilla vodka, crème de menthe and crème de cacao, and it tasted like drinking a glass of After Eights.

Christmas Drinks

Met up with my lovely friend Irene for a very nice glass of wine at Ad Hoc later on in the evening as well.

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 8 in my Bird and Blend Tea calendar... Hazelnut Rocher!

Advent Jewellery

And behind Door No. 8 in my Avon jewellery calendar... a pair of pearl earrings!

Countdown to Christmas: Day 7

Another day celebrating the Countdown to Christmas, and it was another very festive one! (But then, you probably guessed that, didn't you?)

Christmas Earrings

Another new pair of Christmas earrings for me! Sparkly Christmas jumpers from Shadowstar Jewellery!

Christmas Jumper Day

And speaking of Christmas jumpers... today was Save the Children's Christmas Jumper Day, so we were all dressed up at work at the Pankhurst Centre today. I couldn't take a picture with my headband, earrings and t-shirt on it, so here's two festive selfies I took at work.

Festive Dinner Date

Me and the Heritage Manager from the museum were off out for a special event tonight, so she took me out for dinner at Pizza Express first. I had a very festive Mushroom and Truffle Pizza followed by Snowflake Brownie!

Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World

We were at the press night of Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World at The Lowry tonight (a musical based on the books by Kate Pankhurst). Really enjoyed the show (especially the very cool depiction of Emmeline Pankhurst, of course)!

Advent Tea

Behind Door No. 7 in my Bird and Blend Tea advent calendar... Bedknobs and Broomsticks!

Advent Jewellery

And behind Door No. 7 in my Avon jewellery calendar... little silver triangle earrings!