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