happy Christ mas everyone!

How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given...

Breathtaking isn't it? And how big a contrast with the nonsense and noise all around us.

I hope whoever you are, the wonder of the greatest gift reaches your heart this Christmas. The gift was a baby, born in the poverty of a stable. Years later, as a man, he allowed himself to be sacrificed for us, then rose from the dead and now reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords... welcome him, get to know him, and the joy of this season will last all year round.

You can read his story here. Happy Christmas!


aargghh...

My mememememe as requested by Ali, who's going to promise never to do this again to me!!!!!!  (Hear me do ya?)  But in the spirit of the season...  good wils an all that jazz:
8 TV shows I watch (if this is my editor reading this... it's being ghost written by a non-BBC employee on my behalf.  Clue - IT'S WHY I DO RADIO.........)

  1. the News, and uh....
  2. the News on another day and so on.  (In fact, I might "see" the news maybe once or twice a month.)






8 favourite restaurants:

  1. 1608 in Bushmills.
  2. The Bushmills Inn.
  3. Pier 36 in Donaghadee.
  4. Amazing 66 in New York.




8 things that happened to me today:

  1. a friend from work called to visit
  2. we struggled our way through half portions of Christmas dinner in the local greasy spoon at lunchtime... a rehearsal for Thursday
  3. I shopped.  On a Sunday.  Waiting for the lightening... but it was for antibiotics from the pharmacy, so maybe that's ok?
  4. we were so early for the "candles by carol-light" at church, I had time for a little doze before the service started.  Am hoping anyone who noticed assumed I was deep in prayer. 
  5. I started to make fudge at 1145pm.
  6. The fudge took a while so I made cranberry confit to go with the Christmas turkey. 
  7. When the fudge and the confit were ready, I stuffed dates.  I hear you.  Life's too short.
  8. I made the mistake of opening my emails and having a blog wander before bed.  It's now 1.38am.

8 things I look forward to:

  1. bed!
  2. having "the l'il guy" here all day tomorrow
  3. finishing the quilts I'm making for Christmas
  4. (sort of...) going back to work in the middle of January
  5. curling up with a book and a toasty fire
  6. the Good Book club
  7. book and pudding circle
  8. catching up with friends home for Christmas

8 things I wish for:

  1. a clean bill of health for all my friends and family in a season of bugs
  2. Christmas day... with the family all here
  3. Boxing day... with the rest of the family all here
  4. the day after... with nobody all here!
  5. a cure for cancer, and in the meantime, a way to treat it that doesn't feel worse than the disease
  6. a vegetable garden that isn't full of clay and doesn't get blasted by salty sea winds
  7. everyone in the world to have a roof over their head, food in their belly, clean water to drink, and the warmth of friends and family in their lives
  8. for Maddy and all the missing children to be found safe and well and be returned to their loved ones and for the sickos that abducted them to find their dangly bits shrivel up and turn to ash at the stroke of midnight.

8 people I tag:

  1. None - my new year's resolution getting early exercise. 


Yeay.  All done.

...it was a return ticket!

Lol - I think I forgot I had a blog. Cheers Ali and Anon for the reminder.

Yes, I came home from the States... but not until I'd had a blast. A couple of trips to New York (cheers for driving Michael) and a trip to Philadelphia (you too Salim!) and the gaps were filled in with visits to shops, soccer games (YES - ME!) but only because Luke was playing.... and a record three birthdays!

Tata - the great-grandmother was 100 - what a dame! John - the dad was 70, and I was .... uh, old enough to forget my age, and anyway, my birthday was really the day after I got home, but heck, who'd turn down a birthday cake!! And to ice the cake of indulgence, I discovered the joy of silk underwear. No more to be said. Mmmmm.




I'd plans to visit other friends and wander about a bit, but the old energy levels were low when I arrived, so I just decided to stay put... and knit. (Got that scarf finished yet Ebbs?!)

So it's geeky, but I got to visit a little wool nook in Soho (The Purl Bee) having browsed the website loads... if your a wooly type - I recommend it, and the quilting shop they own - it's a handful of shops up the street. If you're in the area, wander down a few yards to "Once Upon a Tart" - their chocolate and pear offering with a glass of fresh lemonade is worth it. "Amazing 66" in Mott Street did the job for lunch in Chinatown - best sesame chicken ever...



Now then, for serious quilters - if you're ever near Kutztown PA- the Wooden Bridge Dry Goods store is well worth a visit. They managed almost singlehandedly to double the weight of my luggage on the way home. I had nothing to do with it - bolts of fabric just jumped into my trolley and unwound themselves round my credit card.

Life will be quieter now in Forks Township now I'm back home. I suspect some of the local stores have noticed the drop in takings. Salim will have less grief and no one to argue back! Jennifer won't have to buy as many teabags. Ebby's fabulous choc chip cookies will last for longer. Coley, Luke and the dog will welcome the end of the endless yackering and Hannah will have one less "pupil" to "teach" when she's playing school. But heck, I miss them. Return match soon?!

Salim, Ebbs, Hannah, Jen, Nicole, Luke.

The Gang on an NY visit: Freezing cold on the eighty-somthingth floor of the Empire State building - minus something and very, very cold.

So, some snaps - not many, as my camera is STILL not back from the repair shop after NINE WEEKS! I am so unamused I can't say.... had the old one with me.

And home to the viral Gallop and Gulp that seems to be sweeping the nation... yeurchhhh, and sympathies to anyone else who caught it - have horrible images of the half of Ireland sitting on the loo with a bucket on their knee....