December 24th and Christmas Books From My Shelves

Some Festive books from my shelves

 I've had this for years.............but have yet to get round to reading it!   .

  The book below has only been here for a couple of months. It was a 1p + postage buy from Amazon
 after I got  interested in the Edwardian Country lady books and bought the colouring book.

It's got seasonal bits in from dozens of authors past and present as well as Edith Holden's drawings and nature notes, articles from Punch, recipes and even a couple of knitting patterns. I've been reading a little every day.

And a book that's been around for ever, it's moved house as many times as us and I guess originally came from the States (as it's priced in cents!) via jumble sale.

The well loved poem by Clement C. Moore written for his children in 1822 and a Must Read on this day every year.

Back Soon
Sue

December 23rd and the Library Books for Christmas

When I collected my books from  Novembers Library van visit, there were three seasonal ones amongst them..............
Jeanette Winterson  - Christmas Days; 12 stories and 12 feasts for 12 days.

The library website summary says
" Everybody loves a Christmas story. The tradition of the 'Twelve Days of Christmas' is a tradition of celebration, sharing and giving. And what better way to do that than with a story? Read these stories by the fire, in the snow, travelling home for the holidays. Give them to friends, wrap them up for someone you love, read them aloud, read them alone, read them together. Enjoy the season of peace and goodwill, mystery, and a little bit of magic. There are ghosts here and jovial spirits. Chances at love and tricks with time. There is frost and icicles, mistletoe and sledges. There is a Christmas Tree with mysterious powers. There's a donkey with a golden nose and a tinsel baby that talks. There's a cat and a dog and a solid silver frog. There's a Christmas cracker with a surprising gift inside. There's a haunted house and a disappearing train. There are Yule-tides and holly wreaths"

I read and enjoyed but wasn't overwhelmed.

Although the latest book - Nine Lessons - by East Anglian author Nicola Upson isn't necessarily a Christmas book it is set during the Christmas season in Cambridge. This is the 7th in her crime series featuring Josephine Tey, so well written and an excellent read. If you like historical crime and haven't read these it's best to start with the first, look at Fantastic Fiction for more info 

 

From Col's room on the 10th floor at Addenbrookes he could just see the top of Kings College Chapel, which is the pictured on the front of the book and famous for it's Nine Lessons and Carols service on Christmas Eve.

Still here from November is Edward Marston's latest offering " A Christmas Railway Mystery" - that will be a quick and predictable read, actually I might not even read it because I've just remembered that I abandoned his last one as it was so dreadful.
I also have half the November books still here, what with one thing and another, didn't seem to get much read.

But on Thursday it was Decembers library van day and I collected another load of ordered books and there is yet another Christmas book amongst them

On the far right is Tidings; A Christmas Journey by Ruth Padel. The library summary says.......

"In the tradition of Charles Dickens and Dylan Thomas, 'Tidings' takes us on a journey into the heart of Christmas, showing us celebrations down the ages and across the globe - as dawn sweeps from East Australia to Bethlehem, from London to the Statue of Liberty in New York. This is Christmas in all its magic, reminding us that it is a time not only of good tidings, but of loneliness and longing, compassion and connection.

I've read it, took less than an hour, it's a poem in a small book.

Plenty of other interesting books there too.

Thank you to everyone for lovely comments yesterday. It was such a surprise that Colin could come home as the consultant told us early on that he would need at least 3 weeks after the transplant and that meant definitely stuck there for Christmas. When he had his own stem cells back in 2016 he was in hospital for 7 weeks, due to various problems, so we had been quite prepared for that to happen again.

 Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 22nd and Decking the Halls with boughs.............

Yesterday being the Solstice it was the day for bringing in some greenery.

From the garden I collected some bits of Rosemary, Elaeagnus, Ivy, a few pieces from the Leylandii and just one little piece of Bay from the plant that moved in a pot from the smallholding to here via Ipswich. It's been planted out now but needs a few more years to get going so I didn't want to take too much from it.
The holly - with berries - came from a lovely big tree about a mile away, I spotted it a few weeks ago and because we live on little used back roads it was still there when I went to bring a little home.
We've planted some holly in the mini-wood so one day there will be some to bring in from right here, although holly is so slow growing it might be the next person to live here who benefits.

A vase of greenery at each end of the living room and ivy on the mantel-piece. I'm Decked!

Now, on the subject of Holly and Ivy........... here's a thing.......a pretty thing and a happy surprise find. I had to go shopping at Aldi, so of course popped into the Hospice charity shop just over the road, where they always have a table of Christmas things and what did I spot, YES it's another bit of Holly and Ivy Portmeirion, a small footed bowl, priced up at £4.50 but Great Joy, they had a "Everything Half Price" notice on the table. Happy Dance........

................. But I really didn't mean to start a collection!

And Finally ........here is some news I wasn't expecting to say..........Colin is home! Much to our surprise they decided his blood counts were good enough to let him out a week earlier than we thought and I went and collected him yesterday afternoon. We have to go to Addenbrookes twice a week for blood tests where they check and re-adjust tablets and recovery will probably be up and down but at least he'll get a good nights sleep here. In a few weeks time he will have a bone marrow sample taken and that's when they'll be able to judge how well the donor stem cells have worked.
Having him home but still needing to rest and keep away from people with colds has quite thrown Christmas plans up in the air......... but in a good way.😊

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 21st and Yule or The Winter Solstice

Susan Cooper is an author best known for a series of fantasy novels for children

  

BUT is it the shortest day?

According to my diary................and this is very depressing!

Today ............Sunrise  08:04                                   Sunset 15:54

Tomorrow.......Sunrise  08:04                                   Sunset  15:54

23rd   Sunrise 08:05 (a minute later)                       Sunset 15:55 ( but also a minute later)

24th   Sunrise 08:05                                                 Sunset 15:55

Am I reading this right?...... that's 4 days all the same....................4 Shortest days?

Then at last on Christmas Day we gain a minute   Sunrise 08:05  but Sunset 15:56

Then for the next 6 days sunrise is a minute later - at 08:06 but we gain a minute each evening. - Oh Hooray!

Is my diary right?

Anyway I've been out and brought in some greenery as people have done on this day down the centuries, more about this tomorrow.

BTW the jigsaw puzzle is coming along slowly.

Sue

December 20th and the Jigsaw puzzle

Way back in April at a charity shop somewhere I found a jigsaw to do over Christmas.

For the life of me I can't remember where I got it from but my accounts say I paid £1.

Got it out to make a start and immediately hit a problem, it's long and thin, panoramic and won't fit on the bit of board I have for jigsaws.
So Plan B, the table in the living room which we eat at when we are not feeling posh enough for the dining room....... that is all the time when we don't have visitors.
Then I hit another problem - it's a blinkin' difficult puzzle - took me an age to even get the edges sorted and the perennial problem with second-hand jigsaws.........are there any bits missing?
 I'll let you know........probably next year.........or I might just  give up in a huff!

Update from Addenbrookes........ When I went up to see Col on Sunday I said how good it was that he hadn't lost any hair after the chemo, in 2016 it went quite quickly. I spoke too soon because yesterday I had to use the clippers to take all the remaining hair off his head to save any more hairy pillows!   He is beginning to feel better, his mouth is less sore and he's eating a little. The blood counts are looking better too so hopefully onward and upward, and our son got the dongle working so he's connected to the world again. He has had one or two small temperature spikes but no trace of infection.......thank heavens - infections caused so many problems when he was in Ipswich.

And the A14 update - not too bad yesterday, busy but moving well but it's a pity everyday isn't like Sunday morning, I think I only saw 4 trucks all the way there. Yesterdays' delays on getting home were caused by the traffic lights at the hospital bus station getting stuck on red and about 6 buses had to back up and shuffle about to get out a different way.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 19th and 50p for Christmas Decorations

Way, way back in November 2013, when my first blog was just a baby, I went to a Christmas sale in the village but only found a 50p decoration to buy
This was it.

The Post was on 30th November 2013 and was one of the 30 ways to save £1 posts and also in the title it said "50p for Christmas Decorations"

You can see the post here if you feel  so inclined

A strange thing then happened, the post went crazy.............at the time I was getting about a couple of hundred page views a day, but this got over a 1000! and if anyone googled "Christmas Decorations" a picture of this decoration came up with a link to the blog.

It's now got 2,271 page views!! while posts before and after vary between 200 and 400.
How odd
I was reminded of this when I bought this little glass Nativity scene for 50p from a charity shop in Stowmarket last weekend.

It's meant to have a tea-light behind it, but that doesn't really add much. Need sunshine I think to get a good effect or a good LED.

I've added it to the mantel-shelf with a rather ineffective battery tea-light for now...................
The question is, will the same thing happen again, will this post go viral? .............................................................I shall wait with bated breath for a massive spike in page views!!

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 18th- And the Christmas Trees in the Church

Stowmarket Church have a Christmas tree festival every year. Before Col went into hospital we popped in to have a look. Unfortunately there was a funeral due to be held there so we couldn't stay long. One of the helpers at the church said that unusually they had three funerals that week.........must be odd to attend  a funeral in a church stuffed to the hilt with decorated trees.

So I went back on Saturday for a better look and found the choir practicing Christmas carols which added to the festive feel.

 Sorry my photos are awful - taken on the phone and however hard I try I can't seem to get the thing to keep still and focused when I click, but you get the general idea


There were well over 100 big trees with all sorts of decorations and lots of small ones too. The Prayer Tree (3rd photo) was full of prayers for loved ones

For a donation they serve coffees and mince pies so I sat for a while with a cuppa listening to the carols and watching all the people looking at the trees.

Then had to fight my way out of town, the roads out of the car park and then out of town were heaving with Christmas shoppers coming and going.

Thank you for the comments about the  children's book, think I should be on commission! .........and I had no idea that it's not easily available, when I checked back found that I'd got my copy in May for 88p plus postage............... The moral of this story is Shop Extra Early for Christmas!

Also Hello, Hello and Hello to 3 new followers, numbers are going up in leaps and bounds and it's also good to hear from people who've never commented before.


Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 17th and The Christmas Book for Children

I'm not sure where I heard or read about this book, but it sounded so special that it had to be bought.

It's Christmas Eve and the house in Exeter Street is crammed full of guests- and more keep arriving. But Mrs Mistletoe squeezes them into every nook and cranny, the dresser, the bath and even a baby in the kitchen sink.

My favourite illustration, just the sort of page to linger over and point out all the people sleeping in the house

And just to make sure Father Christmas knows how many children are sleeping in the house

Did Santa arrive and remember everyone...........of course he did.


This book will be enjoyed by the grandchildren in a year or two I think.


Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 16th and The Lights in the Night

  Is it a low flying UFO??

No

Just some Christmas lights that I can see from the bedroom window. They run along the front of a garage by a house at the end of another lane across the fields from us. I don't think anyone else can see them except me! even the people who live there can only see them if they come out of their house and stand in front of the garage.
Certainly not the best photo of Christmas lights you will see this year!

Meanwhile, here are this years minimal Christmas decorations, apart from the mantel-shelf. I could fetch the big tree out from under the stairs but really can't be bothered this year.

 BTW the advent calendar is good, it has things relating to the doors and windows opened,upstairs they are cooking, cleaning and eating and  under the house on the ground floor is someone milking a cow and some chickens also a cat cleaning itself, harking back to when animals lived under the living quarters which helped to warm the upper floors in winter.

Thank you for all the comments yesterday. Sorry I didn't get to reply properly.
 I'll pass on all the good wishes to Colin. Hopefully the chemo effects will wear off soon. He's now having high energy juice drinks which go down better than the milk shakes.He is taking anti sickness tablets and has a mouthwash and they are giving him oramorph ( nasty stuff) to help with the pain. Just a case of waiting it out I think.
I think the double issue Christmas Radio Times falling to pieces is as much a tradition as buying it!

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 15th and the Radio Times

One tradition that continues regardless is the annual buying of the Double Edition of The Radio Times (as they would say on the Beeb.........  other TV Listing magazines are available but not as readable)

Did you know there is a website featuring all the Double Issue Christmas Covers?  
from 1969? No, neither did I but there it is!

I picked this at the newsagents at Addenbrookes on Tuesday, when I got home I found my copy wasn't stapled together properly so is bound to fall apart by 5th January - bother.
I shall peruse and see what will be watched.

A14 update - two trips there this week, no traffic hold ups thankfully and I'm remembering to put the radio on as I leave home for traffic reports so I can detour via Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill if necessary.
  Colin update............he got the stem cells from the donor as planned last Friday. Now it's a case of waiting, they can't tell if results are good for several weeks. The side effects of the anti-rejection tablets are sickness and awful indigestion, not helped by having to drink litres of water everyday and not feeling like eating much. Side effects of the week of nasty chemo are ulcers in the mouth and throat which sometimes get so bad that people have to have a feeding tube, he hasn't quite got to that yet but his weight is dropping. His blood counts have all dropped - which means risk of infection is higher. He hasn't had many visitors as people keep getting colds so can't visit, but as he is spending most of the day dozing he's not too bothered. There is still no internet connection at all on the ward which is why he hasn't updated Facebook but our son might have got the dongle to work so maybe next week.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 14th and The Free Lunch

Who said there is no such thing as a free lunch?

There is in our village. It's all because of something called The Townlands Trust Charity. The Trust - dating back to the 1800's once owned 5 tenements, which were almshouses, and more than 75 acres, the houses were sold off  30 years ago but the land is still rented out - once to households for allotments but now to farmers, they actually owned our bit of meadow until it was sold off in the 1980s. A long time ago they gave "2 penny loaves weekly to the poor" but now it's a free Christmas lunch to over 60's as well as a donation to the church and the school.

When something says "free"  I'm there like a shot even though I thought I wouldn't know anybody. But when I rang up to book a place the lady told me that Mrs F - who lived in our cottage before us - would be going so at least I would know her.

The meal was last Monday at a large pub on the A140, just a few miles up the road from home ........ it was a  snowy and icy day. Avoiding the busy main road I drove there "the back way" so I could go slowly through the slush.

Not as sunny as this on Monday!

 The food was delicious,  I had chosen a veggie option of filo-pastry parcel filled with leeks, nuts and mushrooms in a mushroom sauce served on a bed of rocket and with roast potatoes. For desert a chocolate brownie with ice cream. Then there was coffee and a mini mince pie. On arrival we found a bag of chocolate coins on the table for everyone and a raffle ticket each.
My ticket was actually drawn out - mainly because there were enough gifts for everyone! and I picked this

No idea what's in it, I shall save it until Christmas day, but I'm hoping  from the shape that it's edible😊.


Thank you to everyone for comments. I'll do a hospital update soon.

My £12 Christmas treat money has so far bought some Pringles for £1.25, another box of the Nescafe Salted Caramel coffee sachets for £1.50, some Port Salut cheese for £2 and I wanted Jacobs Cornish Wafer biscuits but Asda in Stowmarket didn't have any, so there is still cash left for next shopping trip. I'm quite cheap to keep at Christmas!

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 13th and Christmas 1958 in the USA

 Last month I was fiddling about online and came across this from  1958 in the USA.

It's a Betty Crocker baking ad from a magazine.                                                                                  

 Ladies were just as busy preparing for Christmas back then but Betty Crocker had a answer to everything!
Still going strong on supermarket shelves in this country today

Back Tomorrow
Sue                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

December 12th and The 5p Money Box

Every year I  avoid spending 5p pieces and take them out from my purse.......where they are usually stuck in the corners......... and pop them in a tin, then before Christmas I open the money box and use the money for a treat of some sort. If there are more than a couple of 10p's in my purse at the time- I add them to the tin too.

This year the total was £10.35 in 5p's and £3.80 in 10ps. The 35p went back in the tin for next year  and £10 x 5ps into 2 bags for changing at the bank. I shall have to collect some more 10p's to make them up to £5 probably in the new year as banks prefer things in proper amount in bags. When I'm tipping my purse out to find the 5p's I usually have lots of 1p and 2p pieces weighing it down, so some get put in another tin in the drawer. Found I had enough of each to fill the £1 bank bags.

Now I shall go on a minor spree to spend my £12 - something edible perhaps.

Thank you to everyone for comments and hello and welcome to several new followers.



Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 10th - And the Card Making

This was my desk several weeks ago




Making Christmas cards for the family with 3D Decoupage sheets, which I got from Craft Creations two years ago. There wasn't anywhere to work on them at the very small bungalow so I couldn't do them last year but got busy on them in the Autumn.
I thought they looked quite good when finished, but put them all in envelopes the other day without taking a photo - Duh.
 I think Christmas card writing is all finished now. The Christmas card stash has been greatly reduced as I avoided buying any in 2016 and 2017 January sales and at two years of boot sales so this January I give myself permission to look round the charity shops again.

Thank you to more new followers and for comments - much appreciated.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 9th and the Small Treat

I originally bought these as a Christmas present for husband of a friend. Then decided to get the same for me to cheer up December Alone Month. Hope friend's husband likes them...........I do

Very Delicious. A £3 treat doesn't break the bank.

In my December Cup - Even better

This cup and saucer came from a charity shop several years ago and I intended to fill with chocolate and give away, but kept it instead............... It gets used for a month each year.........Another superfluous and un-necessary object! (Let it go Susan.....Let it go!)
Actually I may not be able to use it much longer - it's so blinkin' heavy to lift..........

And a mention of cups reminds me that I recently  found some bits to top up our tableware.

 They came from a charity shop in Stowmarket for £10. We've had this Johnson Brothers Summer Chintz for over 20 years. It's very common (as in 1,400 offers on ebay!) so bits often pop up in charity shops and car boot sales but I've never seen or owned the sandwich plate before. Having found these we now have enough to last us out.

Hello and welcome to 4 (I think) new people who have clicked the follower button, I'm shamelessly hoping to get back to the 400 and something followers that I had on the old blog........some way to go as yet.

Thank you for comments on recent posts and all the good wishes for Col's health.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December the 8th and The Partridge in a Pear Tree.............

.............................actually just a Pheasant on top of the fence!

 

I spotted him sitting there but had to take the photo through the window because he would have been off like a shot if I'd opened the back door. They are so common but still their colours are  impressive.

I did venture out of doors to take this............Sunday's full moon. Had to stand and freeze while some cloud moved away

The things I  do to fill a blog post!

Latest from Addenbrookes...... Colin was feeling very rough yesterday, they've given him some particularly  nasty medication to combat rejection of the stem cells he will be given on Saturday. He was warned that it had horrible side effects.
I travelled up to see him and, just as I joined the end of a traffic jam, heard on the radio that the A14 was blocked by bales falling off a lorry. Took 40 minutes to do 5 miles. Then on the way home the park and ride buses had been held up in Cambridge city centre so there was a longer wait than normal to get back to the Park and Ride car park. Then it was 50+ miles home in rain and spray from trucks.I do feel sorry for the people who do this drive daily for work - I would go nuts!

I must apologise for not getting round to commenting on many of my favourite blogs at the moment. There don't seem enough hours in the day this week, next week should be better.

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 7th and The Christmas Cake

The recipe I use is a Mary Berry recipe from her previous incarnation ( Before Great British Bake Off) when she was writing for magazines as a Freezer Expert.

The pages were torn from a Very Old Family Circle magazine from about 1984.  There's a picture of MB and her 3  children aged 15,14 and 12. When I was trying to work out the date of the magazine  I found online that one of her children died in a car accident when he was only 19 - how very sad.


 I asked Col a couple of weeks ago if I should  bother with a Christmas Cake this year with him in hospital, and he reminded me that I could always take some into hospital for him to eat with an apple and a chunk of cheese - just how we like it for teatime on the days after Christmas
So the fruit was soaked in cold tea for 3 days and then I mixed it all up and baked. I made 1 ½ times the recipe this year to do 1 large and two mini cakes but then looked for the mini cake tins. Searched every cupboard twice then once more and can't find them anywhere. Surely I didn't take them to the car boot sale thinking I hadn't got room for them anymore? I'm almost positive that I didn't, so where the heck are they, I haven't got that many places they can be.
Anyway instead of one large and 2 mini, I made 1 medium and 1 small. One will be kept for January. I've bought icing and marzipan so will get that done nearer to Christmas after I've fed the cakes with a bit of Brandy.

I've got notes on the top of the recipe of the quantity I've made over the past few years and what sized cakes are made from the amounts used.

The recipe is on the separate recipe page if you need it but I expect everyone has a favourite cake recipe already.

 Thank you to an anonymous comment for putting me right on the spelling of mantel-piece. All these years I've assumed that as a MANTLE was a cloak that went over clothes then it must be MANTLE-piece going over the fire place, but NO, it should be MANTEL-piece. Well, you learn something new everyday.......and spell checker never told me I was wrong either!

Thank you to people who've left comments on old posts, I often forget to look back. The update from Addenbrookes is that Col has been having various chemo stuff since last Friday and isn't feeling too bad so far though tired from lack of sleep due to hospitals being such noisy places at night. He is in a room on his own but it still seems noisy out in the corridor and in the ward kitchen opposite his room. Years and years ago when I read hospital romances(! Heavens knows why?) I'm sure the nurses used to dim the lights and whisper at night.........

A comment from a Sarah asked if it was another superfluous and unnecessary  trend from The States to have  china tableware for use only at Christmas? (or in the fall)  I'm not sure but I know that my mum had a set of Colclough Ivy Leaf china that was only used for visitors and at Christmas and that was back in the 1960's. I don't know how long Portmeirion have been doing their Holly and Ivy ware, but quite a number of years?
 Luckily Sarah has a set of Wedgewood White Country Ware china from the 1980's to use, but  I now have a totally unnecessary yearning for the Holly and Ivy Butter knives............no idea why as I've never  before in my life owned a butter knife!

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 6th and the Christmas Stamps

I love to buy the Post Office special Christmas stamps to put on the cards that are sent around the country.

This year books of 12 stamps come half and half, religious and secular. Madonna and child and the prize winner from a children's design competition. The others look like this.

Copied from Post Office page

Here's the LINK for last posting dates

Now I just need to get on with writing the cards.

Hello and welcome to Gingembre a new follower, hope you like reading and thank you to everyone for comments about the Cake Plate. It was one of those once a year special finds!


Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 5th and the Best Ever Bargain

This has just got to be the car-boot bargain of the Century.

It's a Portmeirion  Holly and Ivy  footed Christmas cake stand which I got from the local small car boot sale in September for £2.........complete with storage box...... Honestly - Just £2. It was a man selling a whole load of house clearance stuff and when he said £2 I didn't hesitate but must have looked astonished because he said "If I'd have said £20 you wouldn't have wanted it would you?". I said no definitely not as it's not something I really need. I didn't tell him that I might have paid £5 or maybe even £10, as it's something I've seen in Wyevale Garden Centre at Christmas and they sell there for around the £35 mark!

It will stand in the middle of the dining table for the next few weeks so I can enjoy it, although the Christmas cake probably won't go on it until January when we have a family get together.

I had to rush around the other day  and get Christmas cards done for the Ipswich relatives so I can put them into a Ipswich Scout Post Box next time I go shopping, it's only a few days until their last posting date. I wrote about Scout Post last year and looked online to see where they have collection boxes this year. Seems they are EVERYWHERE!  They've even expanded into Felixstowe now as well. Must be a really good fundraiser - it is 25p to post a card in their boxes -back in the day when I was an Akela we just had a Christmas Jumble Sale/Bazaar, which was a very popular event.

Thank you for comments about Debenham, I really need to go there more often to check out the 10p bargains of out of date tins and packets at the Co-op. It was on Radio 4 news yesterday about East of England Co-op's doing this to help stop food waste. You heard it HERE a few weeks ago!

Back Tomorrow
Sue

December 4th and The Christmas Shopping Festival

Our nearest small town/big village is DEBENHAM  - 3 miles away - and I drive through when heading to Youngest daughter's house over near the coast. Creeping through the traffic jams, because of the cars that are always parked everywhere...................... I glimpsed a poster.

I knew we had a Co-op, Pharmacy, a Hardware shop, Hairdressers, Estate agents, Fish and chip shop, Small Antique type shop, Newsagents, Cake shop/Cafe and a Flower shop but didn't think there were enough shops to have a Shopping Festival!
Better go and look.
Turns out there is also a Butcher's shop, Greengrocers, Fancy gifts shop, Cafe and Deli and a Gallery featuring work by a Craftsman Jeweller and local artists.
What a surprise!
Maybe I ought to pick up my books from the little branch library there rather than the Library van so that I get a chance to look round more often and find out what things are going on.

On the green was a Christmas tree with giant baubles!

There are some very old buildings in the town, years ago there would have been even more shops and more than the two pubs that still survive.

After a good look round I drove out to the edge of town where we have a Sports and Community centre beside the High School ( this was where Col's 60th birthday party was held back in March) where the church were holding their Christmas  bazaar.
Then I thought I'd better head home and light the fire. Wish I'd stayed a bit longer because on my way home I saw some Morris Dancers with blacked up faces and ragged jackets heading toward the green to do a display. Probably East Suffolk Morris Men.

If this You Tube video works you might be able to see them doing a display somewhere a few years ago

(BTW please don't question  the blacked up faces, they are nothing to do with anything Politically Correct or un-PC, but date back to the time when village people performed mummers plays around the villages and didn't want their employers to recognise them..........)

And what did I buy from The Christmas Shopping Festival?.............some Pears from the Co-op!

I think there are some new followers again - Hello and welcome to reading my ramblings

Back Tomorrow
Sue