Very grey here, but accentuating glowing burnt copper birch and soft grey green lavender leaves. The robin that accompanies all work in the garden, currently resides in an old moss lined teapot hung in the ivy, which he has added much to for his comfort. No gratitude, he flatly refused to come and be photographed in the falling snow.
Rather displeased to discover Nigel's signature scent of ink is in fact a poetic name for some perfumers product, rather than as I had imagined, a wonderful mixture of melting soft etching ground, ground pigments, minerals and sweet poly glycerol, with notes of old wooden cabinets... the smells of ink and printing presses and other evocative creative joys. Oh well.
I'm hopefully away to a Belgian Christmas market in December, (my birthday present) and also visit 'my' little out of the way shop for vintage ornaments. (a guilty pleasure)
Happy Birthday @IngenTing and @RainbowZebraWarrior's DD.
@piscofrisco Hope DD recovers soon, but both she and dog enjoy being
unwell in comfort. My trick with 'twigs' is too go hunting after autumn storms.
@BobBobBobbing We too have a Twig (and a large slice of preserved tree trunk). I made my now ancient serious chopping board many Christmases back, hand cutting and planeing a large chunk of felled tree after discovering the price of a decent chopping board would long term be beyond me, but lusting after one anyway. The rolling pin came from another tree. Very interested in your glass center. I have a kiln sitting in storage currently, just at the point I felt I was getting where I wanted to go with glass. I have to sit on my hands now until summer.
@ElectiveAffinities I put a box of holly and Ivy clippings out regularly for the interested to keep them from helping themselves. My lot got trained in dipping Epsom salts to add to paint or mica edged leaves with.
@CrepuscularCritter
Our dry ingredients always sit out in glass jars for a week waiting where they can be observed to ensure there's no weevils, moths etc in them and a reminder of anything else needed to be obtained. Here, it is a hangover from difficult days .. but I'm quietly amused that maybe younger family members might just ascribe more romantic ideas to it as a tradition.
@LillianGish I've been making adapted versions of Mrs Beeton's Christmas pudding for many years. She was my original cookbook brought in a charity shop, and an absolute lifesaver. I make a year in advance using half the fruit soaked long term in mixed alcohol the other half not, and feed them.
Our cake is also made with long term alcoholic fruit, but our 'real Christmas' cake in January contains a bean and ground frankincense and myrrh both for symbolism and effect. The second Christmas pudding gets eaten in that week. (unless as has happened twice here, the bean finder demands it cooked and produced to be eaten before midnight!)
@bigbadbarry you will be able to change it (if you remember) when the next thread starts.
@Teacaddy66 One trick if a cake really seems un-salvageable, is to dry it out and then use it to make bread and butter pudding.