It's Christmas Holidays come on Everybody !!!!

 Woohoo, the Christmas hols are finally here, thank goodness Mr Twigs has the next week off work too, so we are all cosy toesy round at Twiggy Towers.

I had to collect poor old Twiglet from school on Tuesday lunchtime as he was wiped out and poorly and had fallen asleep in the reading corner at school - bless !! so he missed the school play and his opportunity to be a dancing snowflake:(

Anyhoo being a super trooper he was back at school the next day and managed to finish the week, he now has a stinking cold - bleurgh!!!

We've had some more snow last night and everything looks sooooooooo beautiful - I can say this as I don't have to go out in it :)

Right, mucho catching up to do.  

First of all look at all my lovely goodies that I won in lovely Lynsey at Swirlyart's giveaway.

Master Twiglet was a very lucky boy and that smashing Lee over at Solsticedreamer sent him this wonderful Worm World - I, I mean WE can't wait to play with it !!!

We had a terrific time at Thomasland last weekend and went on every single ride - top fun !!!

I was sooooooooo scared on this little rollercoster, what a wuss !!!

  Little cousins, awww they really love each other.

  Here are Twiglet's lovely Christmas school makes.  

This cake was so scrummy someone had a bite before I got my camera out !!!!

I love this snowman and it was handsewn by the boy himself !!!

   How cute is this???

 A lovely tree to hang on our lovely and overloaded tree !!!

 Here is our new slimmer tree in all it's overloaded glory, less is definitely not more in this house.

  Check out this fab cake Nana Twigs has made for Twiglet, so cute.

Righto off to do a bit of pre Christmas stitching now and look forward to the Strictly Come Dancing final tonight!!

Keep cosy and safe.

Twiggy x

Pencils at the ready ???

Ooooo we had a smashing time at Thomasland yesterday and we're all still wiped out - 6 hours and every ride done, phew!!  I'll pop some pics on here once they are uploaded.

Anyhoo, as promised a couple of recipes, I'll warn you though they are very scrummy, so make two lots one lot to keep and one to give away!!

Nana Twigs Lemon Curd

4 large eggs

4 large lemons - use juice and zest

350g  caster sugar

225 butter cubes

Whisk eggs in a bowl.

Zest and juice the lemons, put whisked eggs, zest and juice of lemons, caster sugar and cubed butter into saucepan.  

Put on a medium heat.

Stir or whisk constantly until it starts to thicken - takes approx 7 - 8 minutes.

It thickens suddenly, lower heat and let it simmer for 1 minute, still stirring gently.

Put in sterilised jars and try not to scoff it all at once.

Store in fridge.

Onion Marmalade

1.25kg onions
3 tbsp salt
1kg sugar
500mls red wine vinegar
2tsp caraway seeds

Chop onions cover wih salt leave for an hour

Rinse & dry

Add sugar, vinegar & seeds into saucepan, boil for 5mins then add onions. 

 

Cook for a couple of hours on a low heat until the mix becomes thick, onion translucent & brown. 

Put in sterilized jars.

Enjoy 

 

Twiggy x

Snow stopped play !!!

 Flippin heck it's chilly up here, -17 degrees the night before last, a mile or so from us - brrrr.  (Above pic is high up on Royd Moor )

Anyhoo, hope you're all keeping safe and toasty.

After Twiglet's 3 snow days off last week, we're really into the exciting pre Christmas build up at his school now.

We went on a lovely trip to a local marina where the children had a visit from Santa, who came up the canal by  boat - their faces were a picture. (apparently the lovely chaps who work there - The Safe Anchor Trust) had to get up early to break the ice so the boat could sail).  We all had a jolly sing song, the children visited Santa's grotto, had lunch, made badges, did some colouring, received a goody bag and had a terrific time. (The Mums enjoyed it too - magical). Twiglet is most taken with his flashing lights fire engine he received !!!

We have the Christmas Carol concert in our village church tomorrow, I'm going with my lovely in laws as my Mum has hurt her ankle and Mr Twigs has to work :(

Saturday we are visiting Thomasland again, with Twiglet's little cuz.  He's excited cos they have a snow machine and guaranteed snow 3 times a day - hmmmmm !!!

Well we finally set off to go sledging last Saturday and went up to our favourite spot.

   I thought we'd had more snow than this time last year, but crikey, look at this. 

 We had to make do with having a good play instead, check out 

 Twiglet walking on top of the snow drifts.  This is the road we usually drive up !!

 Made a few snow angels and then home for hot chocolate.  

Ace fun.

 

Sunday saw us keeping cosy and putting up the Christmas tree which I'll show you next time, very pretty and overloaded it is too :)

Righto, off to do my grocery shopping and ironing now.

I LOVE this photo!!

  Take care on those slippery pavements and keep safe.

Twiggy x

PS I was lucky enough to win lovely Lynsey at Swirlyarts competition recently, I will blog my lovely goodies soon.

TGI Friday

Well after 3 snow days, Twiglet finally returned to school today, although they didn't start until 10am. We're sat here in our PJs all cosy and there is a strong smell of wax as I switched the light on, the bulb blew and the house went completely dark. Twiglet said thank goodness the TV is ok, can we have candles, so that's what we're doing.
Very cosy.Honestly, he went to school armed with spare socks, wellies you name it, got sent out of school to walk home in school shoes and NO socks and one glove. I had to go back in school with him, apparently no one had noticed or found his socks. His wellies were the only pair left next to the door next to a plastic bag with his spare socks and glove !!! I don't expect his teachers to dress him, but a bit of observation would be nice.

Anyhoo, we've had a lovely cosy toesy time this week. I managed to go to my first ever meeting for my new job on Monday evening BEFORE the snow started, it was nice to use my brain again!!

We found time to make Postman Pat buns.Christmas trees.And a bit of Christmas stitching.Righto, off to dish up the cottage pie I made for tea.

We're hoping to go sledging this weekend.

Have a great weekend and keep safe and cosy.

Twiggy x

Twiglet is pleased to announce..............

That the snow finally arrived last night.He has a snow day off school, so wrap up warm and come with us on our little walk if you wish.Hope you enjoyed it.

His Daddy doesn't know yet, but when he gets home from work they are going sledging in the dark.

Twiggy x

PS The young man has just had a warm bath and is now in his fluffy Pyjamas - apparently he will wear them for sledging later :)

Making and doing

Well Twiglet thoroughly enjoyed his school disco on Friday. He went as a fireman in the end as he'd ougtrown his Superman outfit!! He was very pleased as he won a prize for his breakdancing skills and was kissed by B a very forward young lady in his class:)

Here is a bit of the young man's school art work, Elmer the elephant, isn't it fab???He also got his wish on Friday night as we finally got some snow, however it was just a dusting really, so he's still got his fingers crossed for enough to build a snowman this week!!We had a very invigorating walk on Saturday, just lovely.

When it's chilly and icy outside, I like to nest. I watched Little Women for the umpteenth time last night and made these.

A couple more hearts, I think the second one looks very retro.

And a little owl!!!Today my thoughts turned to Christmas gifts and food. The old jam pan came out, we started with a batch of chilli jam. Then moved onto a first for me onion marmalade. It all smelt delicious and unblocked our sinuses again, so medicinal too.I'd just finished popping it into jars, looked out of the window and it had started snowing and a little robin appeared on the garden table. Of course he'd disappeared by the time we found the camera but it was a lovely pre- Christmas moment.

Righto, off to prepare for tomorrow and to do a spot of stitching.

Take care, keep warm and safe.

Twiggy x

Hunkering down for the snowy season.

A snowy scene from last December.

Well it's that time of year again folks, cough, sneeze, splutter. Twiglet has a proper old mans cough and we have grotty colds and coughs but are following the lovely boys example and just getting on with it.

What a top little chap.

Here are the Pudsey Bear biscuits and pizzas I made on Friday, beautifully decorated by Twiglet.We had one of those unexpectedly lovely days on Sunday. We went over to Nana and Grandad Twigs for a most delish lunch and Twiglet wanted them to come to the park with us. My lovely, lovely Father in Law who is 80 next year(it is hard to believe it, his exuberance is infectious!), loved whizzing round on the miniature steam train cuddled up with Twiglet and said he'd not had so much fun for ages !!

Like many of you we are nesting and hunkering down for the snowy season. Mr Twigs has been sent off into the attic, curtain poles have been found. We had some terrific long heavy curtains at our old house, which have never been unpacked. One will do nicely for the draughty front door and a set will be shortened for Twiglets bedroom.

I've done a bit of Chrimbo shopping today, cards, wrapping and stuff and we went to the garden centre after school with my lovely Mum who is staying over. Bought Twiglet and Mr Twigs some snuggly, thermal welly socks, so we're all ready for the walk to school.

Twiglet has a school fancy dress disco on Friday, he is going as Superman :) do you think Superman needed thermal socks in the snow???

Here's some of our making. Mr Twigs red cabbage (we managed to salvage 2 cabbages from the flooded lottie!)My Christmas hearts.Inspired by Kirstie's Homemade Home, a Christmas cushion for Twiglet, (he saw another cushion I'm making for my pal for Christmas and wanted one making with a car on it). I'm rather pleased with how it turned out.I know I'm on a make do and mend vibe at the moment, but all this lovely fabric was half price, so it was rude not to !!!I want to say a HUGE thank you to lovely Louise from Home is Where the Heart Is, for the terrific and surprise parcel we received on Saturday. Some gorgeous little birdies for Twiglet's window and a great little book and beautiful cards for Twiggy. Thank you so much Louise, we love them. Twiglet has postitioned two of the birdies so he can see them when he's laying in his bed!!Righto, must go and drink my Lemsip and watch Kirstie now.

I promise to post Nana Twigs yummy lemon curd recipe in next few days and I'm planning on having a little giveaway in the next few weeks.

Keep your eyes peeled, stay cosy and take care.

Twiggy xxx

PS I' ve got my very first governors meeting - as the minute clerk - on Monday night, wish me luck !!!