Small triumphs

I've just taken these puddings out of the pots where they've been steaming*  for more than an hour longer than necessary - they look and smell wonderful and I'm feeling distinctly better about the Things That Have To Be Done in the next fortnight!  Having spent time looking at pictures and writing poems yesterday, I was resolved that today would go towards organisation and visible preparations, though the unexpected sight of morning sunshine delayed this somewhat.

A strenuous but not too long hike up the arboretum, where a fallen tree prevented us from driving up to the car park and had us walk up from the road, was fitted in between elevenses and lunch; we arrived home just as the rain became heavy, having managed to miss it altogether while walking. Then parcels to be posted, puddings, and a start to the Christmas wrapping of presents that are going to be handed over ...

Mr PB has taken on the card-writing again this year, though there are always some I like to write a wee note in. The overseas ones will be late in arriving, and I don't care. Tomorrow a small group of us will sing Evensong in the candle-lit church - a precarious wee service that has become a custom. Apart from that, there will be no other tasks fulfilled - a feature of getting older, I find, is the inability to cope with quite as many parallel jobs as I used to. But this has been a good day, and I've just found out that I've achieved all my Fitbit goals for the day ...

* The recipe, if you're interested, comes from The Glasgow Cookery Book that belonged to my Grandmother when she was young. It's fascinating, and the pudding is wonderfully light compared with most. The steaming basins are not quite as ancient, though the orange one has been used every year of my married life.