Making: knitting a chunky yellow and grey cowl
Cooking: chicken, bacon & puy lentil soup. I’ve had a run on making chicken soup; one week with noodles, another with diced potato. So good to leave in the slow cooker to cook, while I do other things. Ready to dish up when it’s dinner. Easy and tasty
Sipping: Brewdog’s Zealots Heart gin
Reading: A Literary Christmas – a lovely collection of writing and poems put together by The British Library. It was delivered last night
Waiting: for Christmas dinner! My favourite roast ever
Looking: at all the lights on houses, trees and in gardens. Love them!
Listening: to a beautiful song on the radio: Love is a Compass by Griff. It was used in a Disney Ad. The cute ad gave me tingles!
Wishing: for a dry afternoon / evening as we’re going to walk a Christmas lights trail
Enjoying: my new Let’s Knit and Inside Crochet magazines, a real treat. I also bought some new wool at my lovely local yarn shop, to knit another Edenvale Cowl. I wear my other all the time when walking. The chill wind can’t get me!
Appreciating: this year’s quiet build up to Christmas, it feels a lot less frantic
Eating: mince pies laced with cognac, brandy & port
Liking: some of the new Christmas songs, others are dreadful, naming no names (Robbie Williams!)
Loving: HFW Refried Beans recipe from his Veg book, I made them to go with tacos last night
Buying: crunchy veg for a Red Cabbage, Apple & Walnut Winter Coleslaw. It will go perfectly with cold cuts next weekend
Managing: to avoid wrapping a single present, it’s always the same every single year. All in a rush at the last minute!
Zoom in to see the water droplets on the branches
Watching: The Prom film on Netflix tonight
Hoping: still the same as everyone else…
Wearing: a furry polo neck top and nightwear, it’s earlyish
Following: the news…dithering about Tiers / Christmas….
Noticing: people wearing funky masks, a guy had a great Movember type one on yesterday, I told him I liked it, of course. Maybe he grinned? So hard to tell. He did thank me
Sorting: baubles, on Tuesday, when we bring the tree in to decorate
Getting: excited
Bookmarking: recipes for January. I’ve found this Slow cooker Honey Mustard Chicken recipe on BBC Good Food and these Tesco Midweek Meals
Coveting: new clothes! Haven’t bought any this year as not being about to try them on doesn’t work. I’m reluctant to spend lots of time queuing in a PO to return online items which don’t fit (might be repeating other TS posts?)
A carousel 2020 style: sanitiser, covers on some horses to distance people and spaces to queue on ….
Feeling: relaxed
Hearing: birds tweeting in the hedge outside my bedroom window
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Tell me a few Taking Stock type things of your own, please? It’s always good to hear from you
I really enjoy reading your “Taking Stock”s! Your Literary Christmas Anthology looks great. I also love the hedgehogs and the decorated church path. Will Christmas services be allowed this year? We can have midnight masses here but without singing :( and with following all the rules (only 20% of seats can be filled). I suppose some churches will have more services – at 9, 10 or 11 pm as well as at midnight. Many will stream the mass online.
My own Taking Stock: Doing: lying in bed with a migraine, listening to Fidelio from Covent Garden (March 2020 performance) on the radio.
Hoping: to be better tomorrow.
Looking forward to: my son+daughter in law coming to lunch.
Needing: to finish so many Christmas preparations!
Take care and enjoy your light-watching trail!
Just eaten a mince pie with a mug of lapsang tea. The fire is lit and the room looks and feels cosy. Veggie stew cooking in the kitchen, and looking forward tothe Repair Shop and Sewing Bee tonight. Love your pictures.
That blue bottle is gorgeous. I love when bottles are so pretty! Hope your holidays went well. :)