Well hello there!

 

Well here I am again.  I can't believe how long ago it was I made an entry! 

Thank you for your Christmas cards and ooooh Wendy, you made my day with your little parcel, thank you so much.  Its on my tree as we speak and I will post a photo on here soon of it.

Auntie Midge's funeral seems a long time ago now.  It was a very strange affair really.  Midge was very upset years ago when her sister converted into being a Jehovas witness after she emigrated to Australia.  Midge was a very forthright lady and made no secret of her views on anything.  When her sister visited, Midge was very rude about her meeting up with her church friends etc.  So, we were very surprised and a bit shocked that she had a Mormon funeral - I think Paul's brother must have converted and as he arranged the funeral, that is what it was.  I could imagine her spluttering in her coffin at not having had a Christian service but hey, Paul's brother ran the show!  We also found out that we were not being spoken to by one of Paul's cousins and her daughter .... well what a fun day it was, I can tell you!  Paul's cousin's sister died about 10 years ago and left a young son, Jake, aged 7.  She had remarried and had been with her new husband, Graham, for about 2 years by then.  This sister of Paul's cousin and her daughter have decided not to talk to us because we remained close friends with Graham after Jackie died and tried to support him as best we could.  Her sister's husband would not have the little boy stay or anything as he was a miserable old so and so.  That is why Jake was left in Graham's care.  Graham went through a lot, with the support of his lovely family, to bring up Jake and give him a good life.  I could personally never understand why her sister did not devote more time and effort to Jake.  Anyway, we kept close friends with Graham and when Jake was 15 Graham met a new lady and decided to marry her.  That is when things went badly wrong.  This was when Jake decided he did not like her (a bit of jealousy, I think) and this is when the daughter of Paul's cousin started to say to Jake that he could move in with her (this did not happen but thoroughly unsettled Jake).  The upshot was that the week before the wedding Jake signed himself into care and walked away from Graham.  This was at about the time when the children came to live with us.  What is funny is that I saw Paul's cousin about a year ago and she was very pleasant and all of a sudden we are not popular apparently because we went to Graham's wedding .  I feel very hurt because I was always so supportive with her and her family.  I was so fond of her mother and her sister and spent a lot of time with them in their times of need.  But I suppose there is no reasoning, eh?  It was a very strange day altogether.  Lots of other things happened that day but I can't go on all day about them.

I have been busy (hmm, on my broomstick).  The filing clerk at work is no more ... hoooray!  We are better off without her and I hope she has a merry Christmas too, baaah humbug.  I have to work on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve just for half a day, which is a pain because my main station is closed, so I have to get off the train halfway up and then go on the underground ... hmmm.  I have to go though as it is really my turn to go in.

The children are getting very excited about Christmas especially now that they have broken up from school.  As usual, I have spent far more than I should have done on them ... I realise this as I am wrapping things up.  Luckily I save every month into a Christmas Club, so this makes Christmas easier.  We have Lisa (one of the twins) and her boyfriend coming for Christmas Dinner and also Keith, who is Martin's dad.  Paul has already given me the speech about how many people we can cram into this little house .... yes, they are all staying!!!

Tomorrow I make the bigos.  Yes, every Christmas I keep up the tradition of making this Polish Hunter's Stew.  Paul is my main peeler and chopper!  Here is a recipe I got off the net (there are so many variations) if you are interested!  Christmas is not the same unless the house smells of bigos!  I add all different meats to mine, including pork and beef.  I also add tomato sauce, carrots, cooking apples etc etc.  I intend making a couple of big pots, so you can imagine this is not a cheap dish to make.  I must say that it also gives you really good clear out, better than colonic irrigation. all that sauerkraut, hey!  This dish is so good, even the Engish like it, my old neighbour drives here every Christmas Eve to pick up her portion, tee hee!!  Martin gets territorial about it and glares at everyone who has a portion, ahhh.  I am also being taken out to lunch tomorrow by Martin.  Just the family, which will be lovely.

HUNTERS STEW (Bigos) 

50g butter
2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 jar sauerkraut
1 can tomatoes, peeled
1 small white cabbage
300 ml strong beef stock
250g smoked sausage
5 to 6 pork ribs
salt and pepper

Melt butter in a saucepan and fry the onions until golden. Rinse the sauerkraut in cold water, drain thoroughly and mix with the onions. Add the tomatoes. Chop the cabbage finely and mix in. Add the stock, stirring well, and then the pork ribs. Slice the sausage and add into the stew. Allow to simmer on low heat for one hour. Season to taste. Remove from heat and leave covered for 24 hours. Refrigerate and reheat before serving. Serves 8.
Note: If you prefer the dish to be more sour, add more sauerkraut

I went to my friend at work's wedding in Darlington recently.  It was so lovely to be there with her for her day.  The wedding was held at Guisborough Hall, which was a wonderful place and very atmospheric.  Here are a couple of photos from the weekend.  You'll see that Rosie is standing by a really old fashioned coach.  These were used to take us from Guisborough Hall to the Church (took about an hour) and was great fun.  We had a wonderful day and it was a great wedding.  It was nice to have a lot of friends there too.  I won't even tell you about the journey home though, suffice to say that I will travel lighter next time.

Well dear friends, I am sorry I am so far behind with everything.  I have 691 alerts showing up.  I have got to tell you all that I do appreciate your friendship and do so enjoy each and every one of you all as well.  I wish each all of you the best of times this Christmas and send all my wishes for a healthy and happy new year.  PS:  If him upstairs is listening, please give my friend L-J a break will ya? 

What a rambling entry this is ...

Hugs, Tells x

 

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