....... smell a lot like Christmas!! Yes, somewhat later than most, I have baked the Christmas cake! The fruit had been soaking in brandy for two days, and I assembled the other ingredients this morning
but before I started baking, we popped out for lunch at Lochcarron. Malcolm had lovely thick lentil soup
and I had Moroccan chicken - deliciously spicy. The thick slice of bread was very tasty too
I have made the Christmas cake so often, I only need to consult the recipe for the amount of each ingredient, not the method. So it was soon in the oven, and the delightful smell of Christmas was wafting through the house. After taking it out of the oven, I had already taken the brown paper collar off before I remembered to take a photo
oh yum, a thing of perfect beauty! Over the next couple of weeks it will be fed more brandy, before it is iced
yesterday afternoon, I made a start to quilting the reindeer wallhanging
after quilting the main body of the quilt with a little loopy meander, I stitched in the ditch round the border
and then made a start to stitching straight lines on the borders. I hope to finish it tomorrow
I keep forgetting to show you my little Sue Spargo needle case, that I have been working on at patch'n'chat. Having stitched all the pieces in place
I have made a start to the embellishment, stitching round the wings with bullion knots and coral stitch
then working on one of the flowers, with French knots in the centre, and over-wrapped bullion knots round the edge
those of you who have been reading this nonsense rubbish drivel informative and entertaining blog for a while, may remember that over the years I have suffered from bouts of nasty pain in the right hand side of my face. During the summer, I saw an ENT consultant at our local hospital, as I have a funny lump inside my ear which my GP might be a factor in the pain. The consultant said that it wasn't to blame, and that he thought that I had trigeminal neuralgia. But as that comes under neurology, I had to wait for another appointment, to see a neurology consultant. That happened yesterday, and he confirmed the diagnosis. So it has only taken ten years to finally find out what is the cause of the pain! There isn't any real treatment for it, although he did recommend a drug that I have not yet been given (the ones I have had so far have nasty side-effects) but he told me about a last resort operation that I could have, but as it would involve drilling a hole in my skull, I'll pass on that!!