Need a hand hold part 4

Glad you’re feeling a little better this morning @Imbluedalale . I have some of those sachets of ginger tea from a Chinese shop too. A bit spicy for me too but works if you put a little bit in with lemon juice and honey. Sone sort of snacking platter for Christmas Day sounds a good plan, I bet M&S will have something nice. Maybe some canapé type things to go in the oven too? I know you aren’t drinking but I’d go for some alcohol free Buck’s Fizz or a posh bottle of fizzy drink. And maybe some nice Mini cakes or donuts or something for pudding 🤔.

i had a lovely roast thanks. I think we are going to my parents (just up the road) for Christmas with my brother and his family but I haven’t confirmed with DP yet for various reasons 🤦🏻‍♀️. I’m a bit stressed about it all 🙈🙈.

I so hope you get to do your roast chicken and homemade stuffing balls for all your children together soon. Sending a big hug 🤗.

@BeNavyCrab the smoked mackerel sounds amazing. I love smoked mackerel pate too. And pickled onions 💕💕.

wow, @nornironlady £5.50 for the radio times! I guess most people just buy it once a year so they’ve got to make all their profit in December 🤣. Yellowstone is on my list to watch so glad to know your enjoyed it! That’s so sweet that your son’s favourite is coronation street 😍. What an amazing present for your ds, I bet he will be thrilled!

Oh I love Strike, he's such a complex character but with a strong core of humanity. Haven't watched Yellowstone yet, so I will watch out for that.

I bet your son is going to be so happy with his scooter. In some ways it's easier when kids are old enough to know what they want for Christmas, as long as it's affordable. We just did a declutter and took some old toys to the food bank, so hopefully they will go to people who can't afford a present.

@Apolloneuro Your panto experience sounds hilarious. It reminds me of the time I went to see a Batman movie in the 90s. It was in this tiny hall of a very tiny village, the sort of place that has one of everything but no more. It wasn't a great film and had had bad reviews. There was this one scene where Batman was running over pews in a church and they were all tipping over backwards. It was really quiet ludicrous and we both burst out laughing and obviously leaned back in the seat, because the next thing we knew was us and the whole row tipped over backwards! We couldn't stop laughing and nobody was hurt thank goodness.
@Munchyseeds2
Those are some great picks for Christmas TV and I would happily join you to watch them.

@nornironlady I was also in the camp of people thinking your name was something to do with ironing but now you have explained it, I can hear it. I can't believe how expensive the TV mags are now. It's many years ago when we stopped buying them because they are too expensive, now it's astronomical at £5.50.

I also use ginger shots and fell in love with ginger when I was pregnant. We were sailing at the time and I suffered from bad morning sickness mixed with seasickness. We made our own version of gingernuts and they really helped to settle my tummy. Have you tried the Rochester non alcoholic ginger wine that you can get from Holland and Barrett? It's lovely and fiery, my daughter's favourite "wine" for Christmas when she was growing up.

@AdmittowearingCrocs Sorry to make you crave smoked mackerel, it was so tasty. Lidl do some smoked fish in a vacuum pack, that's not super expensive. There's different varieties, some with chilli, pepper or lemon and something herby.

@Imbluedalale Really happy to hear you are feeling better from the cold. It's hard to feel festive when you're by yourself but it does mean you get to eat all the treats yourself. I'm a bit boring when it comes to cheese. I do love it but I'm not very adventurous. I love cheddar cheese the best, preferably an extra strong or vintage one. I also like a nice pickled onion with it. We found this massive tin of Balsamic vinegar pickled onions and they are so tasty without a strong acidic burn that some of the jars of pickled onions have.

@Imbluedalale I went upstairs yesterday to wrap the one gift I have for my son. He's getting an expensive electric scooter on the understanding that would be it. I got a PS4 headset but he has a PS5! I've got to get that sent back to Amazon today. Another one ordered asap hoping it comes this week!
I've a good friend who is down with this bug. He's on his own so I've offered to go with honey and lemon and pick up a prescription if he needs one. I've never known it so bad.
@Munchyseeds2 My son got into Outnumbered on Netflix or IPlayer a while back. We will all be sitting down to watch over the holidays. Coronation Street will also be on being my sons favourite show! There's a new Strike out today on BBC and I just finished Yellowstone, jaw dropping tv. The best characters I've ever watched. Beth Dutton is a force!

@Imbluedalale glad you are feeling a little better lovely xxx

Mackerel pate is hard to describe but I love it, its nice on crusty bread...m & s will probably have some if you want to give it a go
Have you got the Christmas day viewing sorted yet?
We are looking forward to Wallace & Gromit, Gavin & Stacy and Outnumbered

£5.50??....I'll give it a miss 😂

Good morning Spoonies. Welcome to Monday and my last full week of work before I have some time off for Christmas.
@Apolloneuro I have to say I loved the sound of your panto. I used to go but I end up bored and fed up like my son so I didn't get any tickets this year. Pretty sure last years weren't used as he didn't fancy it so lesson learned. There's a person here who is in panto every year for over 30 years and he must be well in his 70s. It's time for someone fresher 😂
@Imbluedalale I would love that ginger tea. Stronger the better but I make my own ginger shots so I'm used to it. I love bringing them to work and seeing steam flying out of a workmates ears if they've never had it before.
I hope you feel better soon. This is the first day I've felt properly myself. Head is clear.
I bought TV Times last week out of pure habit since childhood. When I have TV guides at my finger tips! £5.50 it was...... when did that happen!!!!

I’m here too! Dd and I spent the day with DP at work so been a busy one but managed to do roast pork and bought a chocolate cheesecake.

sorry you’re all coldy @Imbluedalale . Hope you’ve feel better after a detox with the potato skins.

The panto sounds hilarious @Apolloneuro . glad the girls enjoyed it and didn’t notice your giggling too much.

hello all the other spoonies 👋.

@BeNavyCrab glad you have been able to rest today. How good is that for your husband to win the prize.
Oh I love smoked mackerel so quite jealous. 😁

I'm here too, I had a nice restful day reading some crafting magazines. My husband got a lift to a local race in the morning so I had a snooze. He came back happy after having a good race and picked up an age category prize. It's a handmade prize,a gold sprayed seashell stuck to a wall tile and the words written on it. Unfortunately it must have been some sort of marker that wasn't waterproof because by the time he got home most of the words had been rubbed off in his pocket but we soon fixed that with one of my pens. He really enjoyed the battle for first in ages between another runner from another club and they were only a few seconds apart at the end.

I love lemon drizzle cake too and definitely look at a menu before we go. Partly so there's no unexpected expensive costs but also so I can dilly dally with my choices, without annoying others. It's really good to have a treat to look forward to and cake is up there with my favourite treats.

We got an unexpected one last night when one of my husband's customers dropped in a package with some smoked mackerel in it, that he'd caught and smoked himself. It's so flavoursome and really nice to be thought about and given something special.

I'm here!!
Not been up to much really, xmas tree is in and decorated, DH has started to re decorate the bathroom ( after just a little bit of moaning from me😂)
Roast chicken for dinner, just 2 days at work this week so all good.

Hope the ladies who aren't feeling fab are starting to feel a bit better xxx

Just want to add that the best panto I've ever seen was Captain Hook with Lesley Grantham and Joe pasquale, they were just bouncing off each other and there were lots of gags that just went over the kids heads

The worst was a few years later with Danny la Rou....honestly it was sad and the rest of the cast were trying to carry him

Ooooh that sounds delicious, I don’t blame you looking at the menu. Always good to be prepared and it’s something to look forward to. Thanks for the tip about the iced Madeira cake, I shall keep an eye out for it.

I love an M&S cafe. I recently went with my best friend during a birthday shopping trip. The cakes were so good looking I couldn’t make up my mind what to have 🤣🤣 Finally went for a lemon drizzle as it’s one of my favourite 🍰

@Apolloneuro thank you, I have had a quiet day as next week is really busy and then next Monday I am driving to my DS and DIL to spend Christmas with them. So still lots to organise and packing to do.
You are right, it has been unusually quiet on here today.
@Imbluedalale Laura I’m sorry you have a rotten cold. So many people have it. I spoke with my oldest DS today and he is unwell with it too. Hope you feel better very soon. What day is your doctors appointment regarding your throat. Hopefully you will be on the mend by then. 🤗🎄🎄🎄