This and that.

 Jack is coming today so I have been rushing around getting ready for him.  Life is wonderful when he has been but the run-up to his arrival. . . . oh dear!  I now need a sit down.

While I've been sitting Claire-from-along-the-road texted to suggest a walk.  I declined.  I'm still walking around the block but I've been doing it almost every day so I have awarded myself a gold star and allowed myself a breather on the grounds that I will be sending the day chasing around after Jack.  

Most of my Christmas cards have now gone so I can breathe a sigh of relief.  I enjoy writing each card or letter - it's just the sheer number of cards and letters which can be daunting.  

My advent stable is filling nicely with five animals, two herdsmen and a star and there's an angel perched on top.  I take care when I put it away after each Christmas so that the figures come out in some sort of order but I vary the order and I can never remember which order I have put them in so there is still an element of surprise.  

I've had an e mail from Tracing Rainbows to say I have won her giveaway!  That's another lovely Christmas surprise.  

Tickets

This is a very quick post as I have two tickets for the Spirit of Christmas Fair which I have won but find myself unable to use.  The fair is at Olympia (London) and the tickets are valid for any day from Tuesday 30th October to Sunday 4th November.  If they are of any use to you please email me using the link on my profile page.  

And the winner is. . .

I did the hatty thing and the winner is

Jo, I've just tried to send you an email asking for your address but failed.  Could you try the email address on my profile, please?  Thank you.

Many thanks to everyone who left comments

Pre Christmas Giveaway

Well, as you've seen I'm well into getting ready for Christmas!  

I've got this little wooden nativity set to give away.  It was made at The Rock Foundation, our local charity which supports young adults with learning disabilities.  They have various fund raising enterprises.  I'm a year-round supporter of their tea room!  (No surprises there.)  

This nativity set is very light and packs flat so it will be easy for you to pack away after Christmas.  The scene just slots into its base and must stand on a firm surface.  It also means that I am happy to post it anywhere world-wide.  

 All you need to do is to leave a comment below.  I'll draw a name out of the hat on Sunday 21st October after which the winner will have two days to let me know where to send it.  

And the winner is

Mama, could you let me know your address, please?  E mail link is on my profile.  Thanks to all who entered.

Reminder

Just  quick reminder that you have until midnight tomorrow to win these three books.

Just make a comment on this thread.  Sorry, UK only.

Giveaway

I've been winning a few competitions and I'd like to share some of my good fortune!  Actually I won these books pre-Christmas last year and decided to hang on to them until now so that the winner could have them ready for the winter as they all have "cold" titles.  "The Winter Folly", "The Snow Goose" and "The Snow Rose" all by Lulu Taylor  All are new and unread.  

Sorry, this one is just for UK addresses but I have something else in mind for international posting in a few weeks.  Just leave a comment below before Friday 25th August and I'll do the hatty thing.

Further into the parcel

A few weeks ago I was the lucky winner of a Minnesota themed surprise parcel and it has been great fun.  I’ve been snacking my way through part of it but some has had very special attention.  Jack’s attention, no less!

Jack the Lad

Now, to understand this you have to understand that I am “generously proportioned” and any woman reading this will know what that means.  And so that lovely tee shirt “Wild Minnesota” could be the means of Jack sharing in the fun of the parcel.  I hope Sam approves!

Another gift in the parcel was Spam.  Now I have to admit that I have memories of Spam, or more specifically Spam fritters for school dinner.  It was not my favourite meal so my eyes have always been carefully averted from that particular supermarket shelf. 

First I checked on Wikipaedia and found that it was definitely a Minnesota “thing”.  However, a check on a couple of supermarket website soon revealed that the Spam usually eaten in the UK is from Denmark.

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth I decided to look at Spam in the tin.  And more than that, I decided to eat it.

Spam and tomato sandwich with soup served British style

It happened that after Jack’s visit I was shattered and needed something very quick so a Spam sandwich seemed just the thing. Spam and tomato to be precise. 

And I really enjoyed it!  I don’t think it will be a frequent addition to my repertoire but an addition it will be.  I’ve wrapped the rest of the contents of the tin and frozen them so it will reappear soon.

Thanks, Sam, for the Spam.

The Parcel

There was a card through my door yesterday.  A card from Parcelforce.  A card telling m that the postie was sorry to have missed me but a call at the local post office would be A Good Idea.

So today the trundle truck and I went up into Caistor and we came back with this.  A parcel from America, from Minnesota.  Sam from A New Frame of Reference organised a giveaway to celebrate the first anniversary of her blog.  I've read it almost since she began, which was a few weeks before I began this blog so I was very interested in her "mystery" giveaway of a gift basket of all things Minnesota (but she stipulated that she would not be packing a lake).  

I e mailed Sam earlier today to tell her that the parcel had arrived and told her that opening the parcel would be the start of my Sabbath delight today. I brought it home and even made sure that I didn't look at the customs declaration! Sam said she wouldn't ruin my surprise by telling me about the things she had sent before I had opened it - thank you even more Sam!  

But this is what was there.  Everything was packed into the pretty basket inside the box and the first thing I was aware of was coffee - a wonderful pong!  There is a mixture of things with which I am very familiar  (Spam, Post its, Scotch tape), things with which I am sort of familiar but in a new variety (tee shirt, coffee, granola bars), and things which are novelties to me like Minnesota cultivated wild rice (which is black!), salted nut rolls and Lucky Charms treats.  Some these will be sampled tomorrow.

It was a fun box to open and I imagine it was fun for Sam to compile.  She said that once I had opened it she would explain some of the items so I am looking forward to that.

THANK YOU SAM!