Birthday

 

Today is my birthday and here are my presents wrapped beautifully by my lovely husband! I won't say my age but there was a war going on at the time. We were well away from it, as I was born here, on West Drive, along the sea front. So I was born in sight and  sound of the sea!!

My presents.....A huge box of chocolates, a packet of fudge, my favourite, and a trail camera to film what ever come into our garden!

I like the fact its a camouflage colour! Can't wait to get it set up.

We're off to town for breakfast and in honour of my birthday, it has stopped raining!

Chrisxx

One problem of getting old!

 

I use this toothpaste, its not cheap but it does work. I started using it a few years ago when I noticed my lower front teeth didn't like me eating chunks of ice cream, biting it.

All the packaging  looks the same, well there might be a slight difference because  there is a variety, all the same make but now some say, whitening, or repair or faster repair or repair and protect! I don't mind which it is as long as its paste and not blue jell! I don't like the texture of the jell. Easy enough, but as we have our groceries delivered getting what I like is a problem, because we can never remember which packaging is what!!

This week it turned out to be the jell and I feel I have to use it, because we threw one out a few weeks ago. (Dh doesn't like it) And I've got used to it, but now we've worked out how not to get it again, we've kept the box to refer to it not to make the same mistake...altho now I've got used to it does it matter? We were a bit slow working that out!

This getting old is a problem!

Chrisxx

Good food, good company and getting cosy.

 Late Tuesday afternoon I had a call from our Surgery re:- my blood test, my thyroxin dose is too low! I've been saying for months something was wrong, I was sleeping too heavily and dozing during the day and my weight loss had stopped and I was gaining! So now I shouldn't have to struggle so much to lose, except its Christmas so not following the SW plan..altho I won't go mad.

But we started Christmas  yesterday, because we ate out with the Reading Group. And it was super, delish food, good company and a really nice Christmas Santa present. A jigsaw and a coloring book and Dh had a book about Wales and a packet of shortbread biscuits. 

So a  delightful afternoon. We came home and tried one of Dh's biscuits with a nice cup of tea! 

I've bought myself some new nighties from a firm in Kent so I got changed into one early evening.. the sleeves are a bit long but otherwise perfect for me. This a model on the site. One of the things I like to do on cold, wet, winter nights is get cosy in my nightie, watching the TV, guess I must be getting old!

Chrisxx

Great tv.

 On Monday Ruth Jones was in a programme on TV showing and her friend Steve her home town, my home town, Porthcawl. It was super, seeing the places she loved, that I love too.

They cruised the front prom. they went to Rest Bay and actually went swimming there.

They had ice cream from Sidolis by the harbour and even went on some of the rides in the fair ground.

But no fish and chips and everybody knows you have to have fish and chips when you visit the seaside!

It was so nice watching and listening to someone being proud of Porthcawl and seeing its beauty. So many people living here can only moan about the town. Not me I'm very proud like Ruth of my town and although there are things that could be better, the beaches and scenery are spectacular.

Chrisxx

Chatting.

 It was like Christmas of old with Dh and myself in the kitchen yesterday afternoon. We decided we would make a cake for Christmas, regardless of the fact we will be being careful re:-calories!

I had the recipe from my cousin and its one, where you melt the butter in a pan, add the fruit and sugar, allow it to cool and then add the rest of the ingredients. Dh got all the ingrediebts out of the cupboard and I weighed and followed the method.

While it was cooling down, we put it just outside the French Doors and sat inside keeping watch, just in case a cheeky magpie thought it would be a tasty treat and incase it rained.

We chatted about our childhood memories of the preparation for Christmas. Dh like myself had chicken, which was quite pricy years ago. I think ours was one from our back yard and Dh lived on a farm so his came from  there. 

I can remember sitting in the scullery with my grandmother, plucking the chicken, then she would burn any hard bits of the feathers left in the skin with a  tightly rolled up piece of newspaper, a spill, with the end smoldering, it was called singe-ing. Then we made fresh bread crumbs, some for the stuffing and some for the bread sauce. Life in those times was labour intensive! Potatoes were peeled, and veg prepared all the night before.

My Aunt always arranged for someone dressed as Father Christmas to be at the front door, and I asked for my presents and I had to sing! I went to bed happy and my Aunts both had got me presents, any dolls were beautifully dressed, the one Aunt was dress maker.  And like all children of that time pre-1950 in my stocking I had sweets and one present that I'd asked for.. there were usually bigger presents down stairs.

It was lovely chatting to my husband, we have always enjoyed each others company!

And here is the cake... 'Cacen byth yn methu'  Never failure cake!

Chrisxx

Its the tree!

 

Its not  tipping over its my photography!

Dh and I dressed our tree last week and here it is!

Not the modern  style but what we like. Some of the ornaments are presents from special friends of mine who are no longer with us, so extra special.

Chrisxx

Genuine or not?

 It is difficult to give presents to your husband, wife, or partner.

Dh and I do tell each other, what we'd like.  It used to be I gave him three of four for him to choose one. But of course he gave me more than one.. So now I just say one item. I usually know what he'd like, especially if a favourite author of his has a new book out and I usually get him a new jumper too, and he loves dark chocolate. Really I say to him , they are just token gifts because if we wanted something, we'd buy it.

I am careful what I look at on line because he might assume I want it. But I have always said to him what I'd like. because  he can't read my mind!

I pointed these little birds our to him the other day and immediately he asked should he get them for me? 

No, I just wanted to show them to him, because they are supposed to be made out of sea glass? I'm a bit suspicious because there were a lot for sale, and personally I've never  seen such dark colours in sea glass.

What do you think, are they genuine sea glass or not?

Chrisxx

Cheesy Potatoes.

 

Ingredients

11/2  pounds about 650g potatoes, peeled  and cut into chunks.

I medium onion,  or shallot chopped.

160g gruyere cheese

200g thick cream

100g bacon lardons

Tbs spoon fresh thyme.

Knob butter

Tsp Salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

Method.

Par boil potatoes, keep chunks whole, allow to cool.

Melt butter and gently soften onion, do not brown, allow to cool.

Fry lardons so fat is rendered.

Grate Cheese in a bowl add cream, salt and pepper and onion and thyme.

Mix together.

Gently add potato and lardons.

Pour into a heat proof dish 

Cook centre of the oven at 160C (Mediun oven gas 4/5)

Check after 20 mins, it should be bubbling.

Allow extra 5 to 10 mins to make sure cheese has cooked if not bubbling.

Serve with cold meats or as an additional veg with a roast dinner.

Very tasty and excellent on Boxing Day!

Chrisxx

The BIGGEST Flashmob Ever: Carol of the Bells with 100 Musicians in Paris!!

Enjoy 

Chrisxx

How many days left??

 Many thanks for the comments  I've not had the best of days as I slept badly, I'm not thinking straight.. I'm very tired as I've spent quite a while going back and fro to the loo today? Why? I did get wet in the rain Tuesday morning and I really do believe that it effects you.. or it could be the little bit of spice, Dh put in the pasta for our evening meal, it hasn't been a bother before? Anyway I've been in the loo most of the day! ( But it is a lovely Comfortable height loo!)

It did mean me missing the Book Group, shame so I couldn't tell them face to face that I got to page 159 and then gave up. I jumped to the last chapter to confirm what I initially thought, boring, over wordy, repetitive and 1950s bias.. After all Josephine Tey died in 1952! 

Grant, a Scotland Yard Police Officer is in hospital, recovering from an op. on a broken leg. He delves into various history books to investigate the mystery of the demise of the Princes in the Tower? Was it Richard 3rd?  I suppose it is well written and some might find it a very interesting book, not me.

Thank you to those who suggested various medications. I have a multitude of meds, Estrogen cream and Pessaries, Neditol, which is a bladder relaxing drug and the wonderful paracetamol..  So I do have all the stuff to help.. the consultant offered me another drug, but it highers your blood pressure and altho I don't have high blood pressure, I was given it several years ago and the headache was unbearable. Suffered it for 4 weeks and then stopped them. There is no records of previous cystoscopies, scans, wee flows because I had them done in a foreign country... England! I have the same NHS number, but the Welsh health board is completely separate to the English board, so they have no records here.

We're trying to get Christmassy but I've been so tired its been a real effort. But all our cards are sent and this year I've sent two birthday cards separately instead of  sending them together. My birthday is Christmas time too and I usually get both cards, birthday and Christmas in the same envelope, I don't mind but one friend always sent them separately which I really appreciated.

Each time I hear some one on TV say only.......... so many days till the 25th I think it can't be.. so we best put our best feet forward and get sorted! Are you?

Chrisxx

The Appointment!

 When I saw the head Doctor of our Surgery last month, he gave me the Consultant Urologist's letter and suggested, that I write to the Consultant myself re: the vaccine for UTIs, so I did. I had the appointment yesterday afternoon and the Consultant who had said,  that I qualified for the vaccine against UTIs then, yesterday went back on everything he had said, when I saw him in June. He's now saying I have to have a cystoscopy to determine, that I do need the vaccine.

He suggested next week or the week after, and I said not before Christmas. Dh interjected that my health was more important than Christmas, and I insisted after Christmas.

We left the hospital with me in tears, I was so disappointed.. when we arrived home Dh and I spoke about my decision to wait till after Christmas.  He can't understand when I say after Christmas ... because I shouted I don't want to be eating my Christmas dinner sitting on the toilet, because that's what it would be like!!   As it is I sometimes have my after dinner cuppa in the loo!  grrrr they have no idea,,, men! I am like hundreds of other women who go to the toilet 3  times in the night and  that's a good night. I've had 3 other cystoscopies, one without pre-anti-biotics and it was hell! I was wee-ing every 20 mins and then every hour and my bladder eventually calmed down after a couple of days. I can't understand why we have to have a procedure, when it is known to have a possible cause of an infection and pain.

So its after Christmas with some anti-biotics, at least I got those!

                            Chrisxx

Is it hormones?

Do you remember the days when nothing had to be posted..Each time we try a new SW recipe, I always ask Dh has he taken a photograph? Our own SW Face Book is full of photos of meals, I get Dh to look at some of them to tell him, 'Don't make me this!' Pale slices of  meat, no sauce and over cooked greens, and even worse baked potato and no butter!! They lose lots of weight.

I post this sort of thing and my group of friends post similar things. The world of losing weight has to have fun in it, or you might as well hide away and cry.

Do you know there are some SW members who take a container of Tuna Pasta with them, when they go out with family for meals and say they are on a special diet, so have to eat their own food! I couldn't do that! I'd make some wise choices, perhaps no pudding. 

Our Consultant is very animated and there are no boring moments in our meetings.

She posts herself running in the mornings, sometimes in the dark!

Yes she is very committed to her groups and very good.

I seem to be in a not losing mode at the moment. I'm trying really hard and not getting anywhere.. I have an appointment Friday morning for a blood test, and then hope to get a follow up appointment with a Dr, to see if I can get my thyroxin dose changed.. Just have to be up and awake for the 8 o'clock scramble on the phone! 

Chrisxx

The Monster has gone!

 This large piece of drift wood arrived here last April and was named Lizzie.. quite a fuss was made of it with people coming to actually view it.

Children and some adults  too climbed all over it and false bits added to make it look like a monster. Each high tide there were messages on Face Book asking was Lizzie still there and it survived till now, close on 9 months. The storm over the weekend with very high tides saw its end. Lifted by the crashing waves it ended up further along the coast, nearer the pier without its strutting legs and a badly bashed about.. Lizzie is no more!

Shame?  But where did it come from? And when did such a great tree first fall.. a mystery, it will be missed.

Chrisxx 

My Tiny Happy Things

 My Tiny Happy Things,

A beam of sunlight through a window.

My first cup of tea in the morning.

Warm toes in fluffy socks.

The smell of bedding that had been dried in the air.

My husband's hand on my back guiding me along.

His little kiss with his greeting 'Morning love' each day.

When I read those first few lines of a book and I know I'm going to love it.

A morning walking in the fresh sea air.

That first bud that opens on my favourite yellow rose.

A cosy evening at home with the curtains drawn against the winter rain.

These are mine, my tiny happy things.

Chrisxx

What are yours?

An Australian Outback Crime Mystery

 Have you ever read a book twice by mistake, I have and it was this book. It was a kindle so I could have returned it, but I couldn't remember the ending, so kept it. But when I got to the ending I realised why I couldn't remember it. It was an all revealing ending in just the last  few pages and the real reason why Jenny Williams really went to the Australian outback, as a police officer wasn't solved, so a 'no' ending for me. But you might feel differently to me.

Jenny went to Cooper Pedy initially to find out what happened to her aunt and cousin who disappeared 9 years ago.. However a body found in one of the disused Opal mines became her main investigation. She had a few things to get over first, she was a young woman in a man's world and a boss who didn't want to face the real truth.. and there was the dry hot conditions, and the inconvenience of her belongings not arriving with her. So the writing was good, because I could feel the sweat running between my breasts and the red dust that covered everything. She was constantly in the laundry  room washing the few clothes she had!

I did like the character Jenny, her grim determination to get answers and how she stood up to her boss. Will she find what happened to her aunt and cousin, well there are 9 books in this Opel Fields series so plenty of books to find out.!

I think this first book was to set up the characters and the next one will move further with Police Officer Jenny Williams delving into the mystery of the disappearance of her aunt and cousin. I might buy the next one because this book one kept me interested twice!

Chrisxx

Very interesting and feasible?

 Christmas is the perfect time to pause and really think about the shepherds in the Nativity story. I mean, have you ever wondered why God chose them to be the first to hear about Jesus' birth? They weren’t religious leaders or powerful politicians. They were guys out in the fields doing what many considered a lowly job.

 by RABBI JASON SOBEL

But here’s what absolutely amazes me: These weren’t just any shepherds. According to Jewish tradition, the shepherds near Bethlehem were raising lambs specifically for temple sacrifice in Jerusalem. These were Levitical shepherds — men from priestly families whose job was to ensure the Passover lambs remained perfect and without blemish for worship in God's house.

 

When the angels appeared to them that night, announcing the birth of a Savior “wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12), these shepherds would have immediately understood something we often miss. They knew exactly what to look for because this scene was familiar to them.

 

You see, when lambs were born in those fields, the shepherds would wrap them in strips of cloth to protect them from getting cut on rocky cave floors. They'd place the sheep in mangers to keep them safe. The swaddling cloth wasn’t just for warmth but also to prevent any blemishes that would disqualify the lambs from being acceptable sacrifices.

 

So when these shepherds found baby Jesus wrapped in similar cloth and lying in a manger, they would have recognized the profound symbolism. Here was the Lamb of God, born in the same manner as the sacrificial lambs they tended. This wasn’t coincidence; this was God’s story unfolding exactly as He planned.

 

And there’s even more hope woven in: The swaddling cloth Jesus was wrapped in likely came from old priestly garments, the same fabric used to make wicks for the temple menorah. Jesus was not only identified as the Lamb of God but also the Light of the World from His very first moments on earth.

 

I find such comfort in knowing that God chose ordinary people doing their everyday work to be the first witnesses of His greatest gift. These shepherds weren't perfect, and neither are we. But God saw them as worthy to receive and share the Good News.

 

The hope we find in the shepherds’ story is this: God meets us right where we are, in our ordinary moments, with His extraordinary love. Just as He chose shepherds tending their flocks, He chooses us in whatever field we find ourselves working. He has a covenant of friendship with us, sealed by the sacrifice of His Son, the Lamb who became our great High Priest.

No Red Ones!

 I am happy but disappointed.. happy because my eyes are the same. My Macular Degeneration condition has not made any progress neither have the cataracts first diagnosed in 2005. So that is all good, but I so wanted  glasses and I would have bought some, but there weren't any red rimmed ones! 

She showed me pink ones, but to me they're old ladies glasses! And some were like Me-maw's from young Sheldon's grand mother's and Dh and I burst out laughing when we saw them!

It was tipping with rain when we came out of the opticians so I donned my plastic hood, I might look an old lady in it, but I'm not getting my hair wet when I've paid to have it styled!

Obviously this is not me, I \bought 8 of these and yes they flatten my hair, but a brush through and my hair is fine,

    Chrisxx

Us on a Monday!

We have an on line Welsh lesson on Monday mornings at 9:30 so we're up, showered and breakfasted ready, but its hard.. I've got used to taking my time. 

It was a different tutor,  because our usual one wasn't able to do it. And wow, the new one was hot off the mark. But it was excellent, we loved it and I learnt something I've been struggling to understand for a while.

When she asked us where we lived, of course we both said Porthcawl,  we're in different rooms, she asked Dh did he knew me,  and all the students laughed! 

In the afternoon we did some house work; here's Dh cleaning under the sink,,, perhaps we've got too much cleaning stuff?

I did what I call my Tiara job.. the loo and bathroom. Called my Tiara job, because I don't think any of the Royals clean the toilet, do you think they might?

Chrisxx

A Favourite Son?

 There is such a lot of talk about Andrew and Sarah, you hardly know who believe, Was Andrew the late Queens favourite son, was he as wild as people make him out to be?  Known as 'Randy Andy' in his younger days, then tangled up in the Epstein scandal? His ex wife Sarah has some stories to live down to too.

Stripped of their Royal titles and have been asked (? told) to vacate their comfortable home, the Royal Lodge in Windsor park, what will become of them?

 The King will continue to support his brother Andrew, but what of Sarah? Although they were divorced they shared the same home, although it is reported they lived separately. She doesn't have the financial back ground like Andrew, and her latest children's book is not to be distributed but pulped. 

There's rumours she will write 'a tell all book' telling some secrets of the Royals? If this rumour is looked at seriously by the Royals, I'm sure they will make sure she has money to keep her quiet?

I think this is all sad for the Royal Family, but it does show us the 'common' people, that they too have to face the consequences of their actions! 

At least its taken the heat off Megan wife of Harry, she can't do right for doing wrong.. 

Its a tough life being a Royal, rather them than me.. every wrong move, clothes, hair, action is as though they're under a microscope!

I'll let the press say what they like, but they'd better keep their hands off our beautiful Catherine, Princess of Wales!!

Chrisxx