smallholderwannabe

This blog is mainly a rambling kind of diary of the transition from smallholderwannabe to smallholder.

Friday, December 25, 2020

Merry Christmas

 Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy (and healthy!) New Year in 2021.


We have had a quiet day today. We had our church service on YouTube this morning, had a fabulous dinner (turkey with lots of trimmings - yum!) and then we did a Zoom meeting with the rest of the family. Smallest grandson was up at 4.30 this morning and got told to go back to sleep : ). Tonight we are just doing what my son calls "chilling". Hope you have had a peaceful day too.

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Thursday, December 17, 2020

Christmas hampers

 I have been making more things for the Christmas hampers. This year I decided that all adults are getting a hamper. There are a lot of preserves so I could really do with baking  something. My problem is that my oven is starting to suffer from old age and decrepitude. The hob is working fine but the oven is not so reliable any more. I have a microwave that doubles as an electric oven but whereas it seems to cook a dinner, it is hopeless for cakes and even something small like scones come out pretty rubbish now too. I was thinking that it is probably getting to the time when we need to revamp the kitchen but I don't want to buy a cooker before we do the kitchen because it makes sense to do it all at once. When we get around to it, that is, because neither of us has much enthusiasm for decorating at the moment.

Anyway, back to the hampers. I have made onion marmalade, a bigger herb salt mix, and some of Pam Corbin's (from River Cottage) souper mix. That is to go with the jams (blackberry and apple, French apple, damson and autumn), jellies (quince and medlar) and chutney (blackberry). Not everybody will get everything because not everybody likes everything but hopefully they will like what they get.

Then I just have to box and deliver them... socially distanced of course.

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Saturday, December 05, 2020

Another Poem

Another poem that was sent to me by a friend who spotted it somewhere. No idea who the original author is. 


T’was a month before Christmas,

And all through the town,
People wore masks,
That covered their frown.

The frown had begun
Way back in the Spring,
When a global pandemic
Changed everything.

They called it corona,
But unlike the beer,
It didn’t bring good times,
It didn’t bring cheer.

Contagious and deadly,
This virus spread fast,
Like a wildfire that starts
When fuelled by gas.

Airplanes were grounded,
Travel was banned.
Borders were closed
Across air, sea and land.

As the world entered lockdown
To flatten the curve,
The economy halted,
And folks lost their verve.

From March to July
We rode the first wave,
People stayed home,
They tried to behave.

When summer emerged
The lockdown was lifted.
But away from caution,
Many folks drifted.

Now it’s November
And cases are spiking,
Wave two has arrived,
Much to our disliking.

It’s true that this year
Has had sadness a plenty,
We’ll never forget
The year 2020.

And just ‘round the corner -
The holiday season,
But why be merry?
Is there even one reason?

To decorate the house
And put up the tree,
When no one will see it,
No-one but me.

But outside my window
The snow gently falls,
And I think to myself,
Let’s deck the halls!

So, I gather the ribbon,
The garland and bows,
As I play those old carols,
My happiness grows.

Christmas ain’t cancelled
And neither is hope.
If we lean on each other,
I know we can cope.