History now

It has been good to have the time to see more of my grandchildren over the Christmas holiday but that seems a long time ago now.  I never cease to be amazed at how quickly things seem to slip into history.  We spend a long time looking forward to Christmas and planning nice things (ie food and presents) for the people we love - and then suddenly the time is past and is a memory.  They are good memories, though. We spent a long time preparing for Christmas at church too with all the music and services we were involved in.  We took a Christmas service to an old people's home and to several other places too so hopefully we helped create some good memories for others too.

I was in a charity shop the other day and saw not just one, but two things that my little grandson will probably love to find in his Christmas stocking next December.  I was very pleased and we have now set aside a cardboard box upstairs in a corner which is labelled December 2015.  I'm very good at putting things (and not just presents) in a "safe" place...  Hopefully the box will help with this problem.  Hopefully too, the cost will be spread over the year as our income is plummeting this year.  I always buy things as I see them and put them away but I don't always start in January. We don't give big presents to the family or to friends but like to give a token of our love and friendship.  Presents are often hand- or homemade too.  I had somebody come up to me on Sunday and tell me regretfully that they had finished their marmalade already and I know from the rest of the conversation that they enjoyed it.  In fact, I think that this family would be disappointed if they didn't receive a hamper of homemade goodies.  It is nice to know that they are appreciated.  Lots of presents contained some of Elaine's Gingerbread Biscotti (from MortgageFreein3 blog) and I know that these went down very well.  I kept all the not-quite-so-nicely-shaped end pieces for me and I think these will definitely be made again!  The crumbs from cutting them up into slices were put into a tub and sprinkled over some ice cream and were fabulous.  Even my husband liked them and anything ginger does not usually please him.

My littlest granddaughter is being weaned a bit early.  It seems that all the feeding problems are down to the fact that she is reacting to something that her mum was eating and is being passed down through the milk.  They were given some different milk on prescription but she could not tolerate that either.  The only one that proved acceptable was £11 for a small tin and as the family budget is severely straitened, the doctor said to try weaning despite the various allergies in the family. However she has loved everything she has tried and has shown no more reactions to anything so we are hoping that all will now be well.  We are also hoping that we can find what her mum has been eating that she reacted to in the milk so that she is not given that to eat.