In the quiet I am pottering. Ruth is off with her GrannyK, and Ben is having an uncharacteristic early nap so I have enjoyed lunch on my own and looking over the recent lot of Christmas gifts I have purchased.
8 books arrived this morning from Marks and Spencers. Sadly, I couldn't find them in-store, so I couldn't use my voucher. But 8 hardback children's story books for £8 isn't bad at all. That means that almost all of the children we are buying for this year are covered. Just have one outstanding, and he is older than most of the others, so will have to look carefully for him. Perhaps I'll use my voucher for decorations or food or something.
I have made my tomato chutney, which yielded another 7 jars I think, and now all the jars are labelled up and have pretty gingham hats on too. Just the apple and pear chutney to make now, which I will do at the weekend. It requires vast quantities of fruit to be peeled and cored and diced, so I am doing a bit at a time and freezing it. So far, I have done 1lb of pear, 1.75lbs apple and 1.5 lbs of onion. So need to do another 1.5lbs of pear and 1lb of apple. Hopefully my mother-in-law will bring back some jars when she brings Ruth back later, as I am down to my teeny tiny ones, which I don't think are great for presents - if you are giving chutney as a gift, I think you should give more than one or two servings!
It's also Ruth's second birthday in 3 weeks time. We have got her such cool present, but I must make sure that I finish the apron in time. So far, I have done the neck strap and the waist strap... I've also bought Kath Kidston's 'Sew' book, and that has a pattern for a pair of oven gloves in it, so I might make a small pair of those for Ruth too... (And having just seen the price on Amazon, I am kicking myself for buying it in Waterstones, it was double the price!)
8 books arrived this morning from Marks and Spencers. Sadly, I couldn't find them in-store, so I couldn't use my voucher. But 8 hardback children's story books for £8 isn't bad at all. That means that almost all of the children we are buying for this year are covered. Just have one outstanding, and he is older than most of the others, so will have to look carefully for him. Perhaps I'll use my voucher for decorations or food or something.
I have made my tomato chutney, which yielded another 7 jars I think, and now all the jars are labelled up and have pretty gingham hats on too. Just the apple and pear chutney to make now, which I will do at the weekend. It requires vast quantities of fruit to be peeled and cored and diced, so I am doing a bit at a time and freezing it. So far, I have done 1lb of pear, 1.75lbs apple and 1.5 lbs of onion. So need to do another 1.5lbs of pear and 1lb of apple. Hopefully my mother-in-law will bring back some jars when she brings Ruth back later, as I am down to my teeny tiny ones, which I don't think are great for presents - if you are giving chutney as a gift, I think you should give more than one or two servings!
It's also Ruth's second birthday in 3 weeks time. We have got her such cool present, but I must make sure that I finish the apron in time. So far, I have done the neck strap and the waist strap... I've also bought Kath Kidston's 'Sew' book, and that has a pattern for a pair of oven gloves in it, so I might make a small pair of those for Ruth too... (And having just seen the price on Amazon, I am kicking myself for buying it in Waterstones, it was double the price!)
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