Getting ready for Christmas

Me that is, not the squirrel- this is just an emergency blip taken of this squirrel through the window, with Xena standing next to me and barking at the squirrel, it's a wonder I even managed to get a shot as they disappear pronto when Xena is seen.

It was tipping down with rain this morning, and so Gavin walked Xena to the woods (she hated her wet walk) while I started preparing food. As everyone arrives tonight, I made a vegetarian chilli for supper so it will be ready when they get here. Inca is joining us only for tonight so it will be lovely to see her again. I spent the morning worrying about my family driving on the very busy pre-Christmas roads in the pouring rain, but thankfully the rain stopped by lunchtime and we even had some sunshine. But I do still worry about them driving at peak times.

Once I finished the chilli - there was a lot of chopping of vegetables - onions, sweet potatoes, carrots, red peppers - I started on a butternut soup which we will have for lunch tomorrow (with pates, cheeses etc). I have my menus sorted and hopefully I have remembered to buy all the right ingredients.

An update on that leak we had upstairs - our usual plumber felt he could not do the job as it was too big for them - as it includes replacing ceilings and painting - so I found another plumber via our local Nextdoor (it's an app where you can buy or sell services or things in your local community) and he came earlier this week and then came back today with his team to have a look at the job. He seems very good and knows exactly what he is doing - he confirmed that the leak originated from poor plumbing when the house was built. How it passed the final building inspection is beyond me, the outlet pipe from the bath goes straight onto the ceiling below with no catchment area - yet our insurance are trying to say it is repairs and maintenance! They will come back in the new year to fix everything.

Did anyone watch Christmas at Holkham Hall on Channel 4 last night? We visited that on 4th December on their opening day and it was lovely to see it all again and hear the thinking behind the designs. Polly, aka Lady Leiceister, is very down to earth and she is the one behind this annual project.

So the count down to Christmas begins with the family arriving tonight....