Christmas Day 2022

We didn't get up particularly early on Christmas Day, then we had some breakfast and then my stepdad went to pick up his mum and brother. Lee and my mum and I started getting things ready for lunch, and then once everyone was settled we started opening some presents. Lee's mam had bought us each one of these ridiculous hoodies and wanted a photo of us in them so we sent this one to her. And one of my first presents from my mum was the Speedy Bosh book, which is all vegan recipes. I actually bought another of these for Lee last Christmas, so I was pleased to get this. We actually made one of the recipes at the beginning of January which I hope bodes well for the rest of the year! I'm vegetarian but love to eat vegan. 

Lee ordered me this Jesse Malin LP without me knowing about it! I have seen Jesse a bunch of times and have tickets to see him again in February, I really like him, so I was thrilled to get this. It's got a song with Bruce Springsteen on it too! 

We had lunch around 2pm. I had "turkey" and stuffing from Marks and Spencer which Lee had picked up for me just before Christmas. It was nice and quite sweet, with cranberries in it. We had vegetables, Yorkshire puddings, stuffing, vegan pigs in blankets, and of course gravy and bread sauce. I love bread sauce so much, I don't know why we don't eat it more often! 

I got this pair of Dr Marten boots from my mum and stepdad. They were second hand off Vinted and I found them in like October. The black is supposed to rub off and reveal the red underneath, so you can see this has already started happening. I love the effect! Plus these are already worn in a bit so haven't been wrecking my feet. They aren't in perfect condition but for the price we paid I'm happy and it means I'm less precious about them as they've already got a few scuffs. I love them!

Around 3.30pm Lee and I went out of the front of the cottage and down the long garden on to the quayside at the front. I made sure to take photos of the cottage! I took some pictures of the beach, although the tide was mostly out. There was a family playing with a frisbee which was exciting their dog a lot! It wasn't too cold and it blew the cobwebs away.

My dress was this gorgeous star print dress from the Judi Love collection at Very. I bought it in like October and then saved it for Christmas because it was so nice! It's so lovely on, really light and floaty with sheer sleeves. It's a nice length too, I wore tights underneath but I could have easily not done. 

On the way back into the house I took this lovely photo of the one solitary rose in the garden, isn't it lovely? 

The last photo is of Lee's new shoes. His old Converse were falling apart so I bought these off Vinted. They were only £33 and they honestly look like they've never been worn. Aren't they a gorgeous colour?

We played a game for a bit, which was fun. Then Lee took Norman's mum and brother home, and when he got back we had some bits for tea. It was a nice, relaxed day! 

Lee and I in our ridiculous fluffy hoodies. I used mine as a blanket in Somerset (there was only single glazing and sitting in front of the windows was quite cold) and I've worn it since we've been home because our attic room can be cold. It's very warm!

Speedy Bosh book - I can see us making a lot of this stuff

My Jesse Malin LP! Lee and I have quite the collection of vinyl now

The back of the cottages looking at numbers 4 and 5

And the other way - the gate was the way in

Setting the table - I bought these Lindt bears somewhere or other for each of us to have

Christmas dinner! 

New boots! I am so happy I found these second hand

The front of the house

Looking up the garden

The beach - the white tents are Butlins, and we could hear some kind of party going on with Wizzard playing

Looking across the bay

Towards the harbour, where we had been the previous day

My new dress! Isn't it lovely? I love it, I might wear it for my mother in law's 60th actually too

Pretty rose in the garden

And finally Lee's new secondhand Converse trainers

Christmas Eve 2022

On Christmas Eve Lee and I first of all went to Porlock Weir. I went with my mum and stepdad when I visited Somerset with them back in 2015 and liked it, so Lee and I drove along. We walked over the little bridge and on to the beach a little bit, and looked at the boats. There's nothing to do in Porlock Weir, but it is beautiful. There was a gift shop open so we went in there and I bought two raw pieces of rose quartz and some earrings. Then we went to the pub - the Porlock Hotel had some seats outside with blankets, although it wasn't freezing, so we sat there. I had a mulled wine and Lee had a hot chocolate.

Then we headed back to Minehead to meet my mum and stepdad for lunch in the Hairy Dog. It was pretty nice. Lee and I walked up the main street a little bit, then went to the harbour with my mum and stepdad for a look. It was really lovely, I haven't seen Minehead harbour before. Then we went in the two amusement arcades that were open on the front. One of them had a Pacman 2p machine which have slot events too, I did so well I was there for half an hour just with one pound of 2ps! It was lovely! 

By this time it was around 4pm so we went back to the cottage. We had buffet tea which was nice, and then we prepared stuff for Christmas dinner the next day. I was making a lemon cheesecake, but it turned out that two of the lemons were rotten, so we improvised with some oranges and made a St Clements cheesecake instead. It was fine! 

It was a lovely and relaxing Christmas Eve, if different from usual! 

Beach at Porlock Weir, Lee took this photo

Looking across the little harbour

And again - as you can see the tide was right out

I love boats in harbours

Lee and me!

This little robin was so cute!

Looking across the bay

And watching some people climb this thing - I wonder if it was a war thing?

I love pebbly beaches even though they're hard to walk on

Lee standing on the tiyn bridge across the harbour

I also like harbour equipment like this

My mulled wine

And Lee's hot chocolate

Looking up the main street in Minehead

Minehead harbour

Again, with the ride right out, although it was coming back in by now

Boat pulled right up on the shingle

More boats

My stepdad used to live in one of these houses right on the quay

Fishing net

This was on the way back to the cottage as the light was fading

And this was the back of the cottages about 4.30pm!

Trip to Somerset - Day 1

As I said, we went to Somerset for Christmas. My stepdad's mum lives down there (as do two of his sisters) and he wanted to spend Christmas with her, and my mum wanted us to go too. So we found a cottage way back in April, booked from 23rd December til the 28th. Lee and I had originally planned to travel down on Christmas Eve but then he was given the 23rd off work for free, so we decided to go then so that we would have Christmas Eve to relax, which turned out to be the right decision and really lovely! 

We set off about 10.30 and stopped for some lunch on the way down, but it was still nearly 5 o'clock by the time we got to Minehead. Somerset is a really long way away! My mum and Norman had arrived a bit before us and had taken his brother to their mum's, so we all arrived at the cottage at the same time. It was one of the Coastguard Cottages right on the front on Quay Street, which my mum has liked for a long time so she was happy to stay there. Downstairs there was a dining kitchen, a living room, and the bathroom. Upstairs were three double bedrooms and a tiny toilet in a cupboard. It was quite spacious and well equipped, with a beautiful long garden at the front overlooking the bay. 

We unpacked and set up the Christmas tree we had taken and all the presents. There was a lot! Then we went to Norman's mum's house, where we ordered an Indian takeaway. It was nice! One of Norman's sisters and her husband arrived, I've not met them before so that was nice. We were early to bed though as we were tired from the travel. 

I was wearing another new pair of Snag Tights, this time black with bats on, I love them! I wore them with my black Simply Be dress with blue hearts on. I like clashing patterns! 

I took this photo of the tights just as I was getting ready on the Friday morning

The living room in the cottage just as we arrived - it was warm and cosy

We took this little tree and my mum brought some little baubles, we wanted to feel Christmassy!

And look at all the presents spread underneath the tree! It's a good job we didn't want to use the woodburner

The table at Jean's house all ready for tea

Simply Be dress

And a better view of my tights!

The Week Before Christmas

I was quite busy the week before Christmas, as I usually am, trying to get everything ready and see people. On the Monday my craft club had a fuddle - where everyone takes some food to share - which was really nice. We did some quizzes and a Secret Santa too. I was at home for the rest of the day. On Tuesday I went to work as normal and then in the evening went out with my friends Gemma and Stacey for tea. Gemma is living and working in Ecuador at the moment but she was home for Christmas so we arranged to meet up. We all went to school together many moons ago! Gemma asked if we could have Indian food because it's not available in Ecuador. Of course we said fine, so we went to a place in Wakefield that I've only been to once before. It's quite a big restaurant and it was absolutely packed! 

We shared poppadoms and then I had balti saag aloo paneer which was lovely, I love paneer. I had ice cream for pudding too. Gemma brought both Stacey and I scarves from Ecuador which are made out of alpaca wool, I've been wearing mine a lot as it's very warm. It was nice to see them both. 

On Wednesday morning I went to get my nails done. I like to have gel polish for special occasions. I go to Quirky Sparkle in Barugh Green. Anj is really lovely and the salon is just in her garden so it's lovely and private. I decided to go for candy cane stripes on my ring fingers and white sparkle on the other ones. I spent the rest of the day at home. 

On Thursday morning Lee and I had to go to the post office to pick up a parcel which they had tried to deliver on Wednesday at 7am, neither of us heard the door! It turned out to be this huge Hotel Chocolat box from our friends Leanne and Adi which was lovely. We haven't broken it open yet! Lee went into the supermarket to get supplies for the next day as we were travelling to Somerset which is where we spent Christmas. 

I then drove to Huddersfield to meet my friends Gillian and Michelle. Amy was supposed to come too but then she was ill, so couldn't. But we had booked a table at Bambukat, which is Indian street food (I told you I ate a lot of Indian food that week!). I was a bit early so read my book for a bit before the others arrived. Gillian and I shared some poppadoms and then I had a paneer curry thali. I love thali because you get lots of bits of things, I really like that. Michelle had a thali too and Gillian had a chicken biryiani. The restaurant was nice and I'd love to go back and take Lee. It was cold inside though! I took a photo of the three of us which is lovely.

In the evening I decorated my Christmas cake. I didn't make it - the chef of the cafe where I work did. He was doing them for £6 and the size is perfect for me as Lee doesn't like Christmas cake. I just did these little gingerbread men, aren't they cute? My mum and stepdad dropped in briefly because they needed us to take some stuff to Somerset as they had one of my stepdad's brothers and his stuff travelling with them. Otherwise it was a quiet evening as we needed to pack! It was a busy week!

Saag paneer curry, I do love spinach in a curry

Ice cream

Fresh nails!

And the other hand too. I love the candy canes!

The huge present that arrived!

Decor inside Bambukat

Me and Gillian and Michelle - we met at 6th form college over 20 years ago and I love them both very much 

Thali - the paneer curry is top right and the other curries are potato curry and a tarka dhal

And finally my Christmas cake with its cute little gingerbread men