Festive Films

I know that Christmas is not greeted with great joy by everyone but I am one of those people who just loves this time of the year. My birthday is in December and I think that adds to the festivities. It is a busy month with a night out for my birthday, our annual visit for a short break at Portmeirion Village in North Wales and the Christmas Carol Service at Manchester Cathederal. 

There is all the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping for food and last minute gifts, getting the house decorated and making our home ready for guests. We were busy all weekend with chores such as defrosting both small chest freezers in the garage to make room for festive food (they were both like igloos with the lids refusing to shut) and putting the tree up.

After all that busy work you need to put your feet up and relax a while. This is something I preach more than I practise (I struggle with doing nothing and am a 4am-5am riser who sleeps lightly). I am forcing myself to try to rest and take time out and at this time of year festive films cheer me up no end and force me to sit down and relax. So what have I (we) watched so far:

It's a Wonderful Life (I cry every time) I can't make up my mind over whether I prefer the black & white or colourised version.

The Polar Express (Wonderful Tom Hanks)

Flint Street Nativity (Laugh out loud British humour)

Miracle on 34th Street (Lovely Dickie Attenborough)

The Holiday (Heart warming rom com. I go more for Jack Black than Jude Law)

A Christmas Carol (Animated version with Jim Carrey)

The Santa Clause (Feel good family film)

What do we still have left to watch?

White Christmas (So glamorous - I always cry at the end)

Scrooged (Bill Murray at his best)

Love Actually (A British Classic)

The Nutcracker (I saw the ballet over 20 years ago and was enchanted)

We've watched more than we have left to watch but I am sure there will be some great films on TV over the next couple of weeks. Which are your favourites Christmas films?

Christmas Candles

At the end of November I has a major clutter-bust and corralled all my candles and candle holders from around the house into one large storage tub. I was a little shocked to find as much as I did as I had not noticed how many I had when there are just a few items stored in the kitchen, in the dining room, in the lounge and in the garage. When they were all together,  I realised I have a problem ... I confess I am a Yankee Candle  addict. I am thinking of setting up YCA - Yankee Candles Anonymous.

I found candles that I had forgotten I had bought but also ones that I had bought last year in the January sales with the intention of using this Christmas. I was so pleased to find boxes of tealights in a variety of Christmas scents. I wrote about buying them last year in this post. I have already finished a box of Fireside Treats and the tealights gave a lovely soft glow with a slightly sweet smell of marshmallow. It was not too overpowering, just a gentle fragrance.

I have now opened Snowflake Cookie and I love that they are a baby pink colour rather than the usual Christmas red and green colours. Just smelling them unlit they smelt good enough to eat but when lit they gave a home baked shortbread scent.

I am lucky to have a Yankee Candle shop not so far away at The Lowry Shopping Centre. In last years's sales I bought this cute wax tart burner. For those of you who have not used these before, you need a burner which holds a tealight underneath a bowl. You place the wax tart in the bowl, light the tealight underneath and as the wax tart melts it releases the aroma.

I have not used wax tarts for years but bought a huge bulk bag of mixed tarts from eBay a couple of years ago and then forgot about them. I didn't have a tart burner at the time and had planned to buy one but never got around to it. I bought this one in the January sales to put away for this Christmas and was so pleased to find quite a few Christmas themed tarts when I opened up the bulk bag again.

The wax tarts that I found are Christmas Wreath which is the green tart. This smells fresh with a hint of pine but so strong as to smell like a toilet freshener, it's more like a fresh Christmas tree scent. I also found Home for the Holidays which is the red tart. This has a soft warm slightly sweet scent like  mince pies.

The last Christmas themed one I found was Sparkling Angel which has that freshly washed laundry smell. I also found two more scents that are Cranberry Chutney and Cinnamon Stick which smell just like their name.

Nothing beats an evening with the fire lit, candles glowing and a glass of wine. We have two table lamps in our lounge and a matching standard lamp. We sometimes turn one or two of the lamps off to give a soft glow to the room just for a short while before we go to bed. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. 

M&S Foodie Haul

After being cooped up for 10 days in the house I decided to venture out to pick David up from work and we arranged for me to park in the local Marks & Spencer car park. This meant I could nip into M&S to buy a few staples for the weekend. I only needed fresh vegetables and bread. 

They had just reduced a huge selection of their Christmas party food from £5 to £1.50 and after checking it was freezeable, I could not resist stocking up on these nibbles as they make great canapés.    I usually serve canapés at around 1.30pm on Christmas Day as we tend to eat our Christmas Dinner at 3pm and by that time we would be starving and slightly merry if I did not provide something to stave off the hunger pangs and soak up some of the champagne. We have a repeat day on Boxing Day when more family come to stay so I usually need quite a few canapés when I'm feeding 10 people.

So here's what I managed to find: 

2 packs of 9 mini vol au vents - chicken & asparagus, bacon & mushroom and salmon & watercress. I love vol au vents and they were staple party food in our childhood home in the 70s and 80s. Just the other day I said that you don't see them these days so it was great to find some nostalgia. These are rectangular rather than the fluted oval ones of my childhood but still look very scrummy. 

2 packs of 12 mini cheese on toast selection - cheddar cheese and oak smoked ham & cheddar cheese. I don't think I would have bought these at £5 but at £1.50 they are worth a try.

1 pack of smoked salmon and prawn appetisers. I adore these and could eat the whole pack if left on my own. David loves these as much as I do so I will try to keep an eye open for more reduced packs. Again these were reduced from £5 to £1.50.

For eating in the evenings when you just want a snack:

A box of a selection of sliced quiches - leek, mushroom & bacon, quiche lorraine, cheese & onion. Reduced from £3.30 to £1.15.

Sausage rolls reduced from £2.30 to £1 and 2 packs of mini pork pies which were reduced from £1.30 to 35p

I will serve all of the above on the two festive days. I also found the following items for just David and myself to eat on other days.

1 pack of 50 piece party selection containing mini cocktail sausages, mini sausage rolls, cocktail scotch eggs and  pork & tomato bites. We've had these many times before and I usually put a selection of these in David's packed lunch along with his sandwiches. We'll have the sausage rolls warmed up in the oven for lunch on a weekend.  These were reduced from £5 to £1.50

1 pack of hot & spicy chicken breast bites with smokey dip.  This will do as a starter for the two of us  or as part of a main meal if we are having an American themed meal. Maybe with stuffed potato skins, smokey ribs & coleslaw. Again £5 down to £1.50

1 pack of 12 oriental vegetable selection dim sum - crispy vegetable balls, sweet & sour wontons, wok toasted sweetcorn cones. We will have these as a starter when we are having a Chinese or Thai meal. Reduced from £5 to £1.50

I noticed some mini roast ham joints that were reduced from £5 to £1.50 and there were quite a few of them so I picked out 4 and thought these would be great sliced on sandwiches or even warmed through as a mini joint for the two of us. I did not have my reading glasses with me and it was only when I got home that I noticed they were best before 4th January 2016. I think the guy reducing everything had got his months mixed up as it was 4th December yesterday. I can just keep these in the fridge rather than having to put in the freezer.

I also managed to find a few more reduced items for us to have over the next couple of days. Crunch green vegetables to accompany the roast leg of lamb dinner on Sunday for just 25p a bag. I also bought Yorkshire puddings for 60p. I usually serve these with roast beef but thought they would be a lovely change with the lamb. Stilton cheese toppers for on burgers at 60p - a quick and easy meal on a weekday evening when I'm late home from work. Two packs of minature new potatoes for just 70p a bag.

Finally I have been loving the wine offers that M&S have been running over the last few weeks. Their cava has been reduced from £9 to £7 and if you buy 6 then there is 25% off so it is £5.25 a bottle which I think is a bargain. I keep buying it to put away for Christmas but we keep drinking the odd bottle. You just can't beat a bottle of fizz and I adore cava.

The Orchard at Tesco

Are any of you aware of The Orchard at Tesco? I joined some time back and receive emails several times a year inviting me to join in a short campaign. At the moment the campaign is called "Christmas Showstoppers" and my showstopper was their Finest Christmas Pudding in the 907g size.

I received 5 money off vouchers: 4 vouchers off the pudding and 1 voucher for a free jar of cranberry sauce. The pudding normally costs £10 but when I ordered it on-line it was on a half price offer for £5. This meant I could have 3 puddings for free. I ordered an additional one and paid £5 for it so 4 puddings for £5 is pretty good. We are big Christmas pudding eaters in our family and as I hold two Christmas dinners in our house, one on Christmas Day and one on Boxing Day they should all disappear fairly quickly. The box says they feed 8 people but as we are greedy in our family I would say it will probably be 4 or 5 portions at most.

To remain a member of The Orchard, you have to submit a review of the food you have tried and preferably add a photo to your review. They also like it if you add reviews to Facebook and Twitter. There is an area where you can add details of any conversations you have had with family or friends about The Orchard or the food you have eaten. You earn clubcard points on you submissions too.

I ordered on-line because I have not been out of the house for over a week following my surgery. I generally don't order grocery shopping on-line and I don't think that I would want to for fresh food items. I like to have a look and feel of some of my fresh produce such as fruit and vegetables before I buy them so I can assess how fresh they are. The only other item I ordered with my puddings was a case of 6 bottles of champagne for Christmas and the New Year. This was incredibly cheap and worked out at only £7.50 a bottle. It was on offer at £10 and if I bought 6 bottles there was 25% off. I thought it won't be the best champagne in the world but will do for Buck's Fizz in the mornings over the festive week. Well when it arrived I was suprised to find it is a silver quality award winning champagne from the International Wine & Spirit Competition 2015. I think we have it when we have a full house on Boxing Day.

I hope to be out and about next week after the scars have faded a little more so I will be back to bargain hunting in the shops again. My cat has hardly left my side the whole time I've been at home.

It has been amusing seeing David cope with having to buy a few bits and pieces such as bread, milk and eggs. He has phoned me from the shop each time to go through what is available, on offer and what is best to get. Bless him. I'm sad to say I have missed grocery shopping as it will be two weeks by the time I venture out. I never thought I would say that but at this time of year I like looking at the Christmas food and drink and trying the samples that are usually on offer.

Nearly Free Nights Out

I am a lover of a website that you can sign up to for free tickets to films and events. I know that I have mentioned Show Film First before and over a week or so ago, on a Wednesday night we had a nearly free night out with free tickets to see Guys and Dolls at the Palace Theatre in Manchester city centre.

It was a great show with Sophie Thompson and David Haig taking centre stage and bringing the laughs to this fantastic musical. We had stall seats that should have cost us £44.50 each but by signing up to the website I was sent an email advising that tickets were available for free. A couple of minutes later I had two tickets reserved for myself and David and we had £89 worth of theatre tickets for nothing.

I had to collect the tickets between 5pm and 6pm at the theatre on the night of the show and the show did not start until 7.30pm so this was just the right amount of time for us to have a pre-theatre meal.

I had a look on line to see which restaurants were near the theatre and just a short distance away was a Pizza Express. I booked straight away as they had a buy one get one free deal on main meals on a Wednesday and I knew a code would be emailed to me. Sure enough we got the code and not only did it include main meals but it also included BOGOF on the famous starter of dough balls with garlic butter.

Our meal was cheap and cheerful with food costing us just £13.50 for the two of us using the offer and a bottle of wine at just over £14.

With the cost of our return tram tickets into Manchester at £4 each we had a fantastic night for a little under £40 for both of us. It actually cost us more than £40 because we left a tip for our waiter but it was still incredible value.

A week later we were back into Manchester again with free tickets to The Comedy Store courtesy of the BBC who were recording The Show What You Wrote for Radio 4. This was great fun and was the third time we had visited The Comedy Store for free with the BBC. Sign up for their free ticket events on their website here.

The show starred John Thomson (remember him from Cold Feet?) and Shobna Gulati (of Dinner Ladies fame). We loved every minute of it and think it is great to have a few drinks and some great laughs on a night out.

So, how did my surgery go? It was a long day with 3 operations in total. Two to remove the carcinoma (the surgeon did not get it all first time) and one to reconstruct my nose. I don't look too pretty at the moment but know I should look better next week when the stitches are out and the bruising and swelling have subsided. I've managed to not take a day off sick and have worked from home using my laptop and blackberry although I have missed the hustle and bustle of the office. Yesterday morning the most beautiful bouquet of flowers arrived from work for me and have cheered me up no end.

Grammar School Fair

I know I've been missing again for a couple of weeks haven't I? I am sorry that I've been gone for two weeks again but I've had a lot on mind as I am having facial surgery this Tuesday. Not a face lift but skin cancer (too many sunny holidays from years ago wearing just suntan oil). It is curable with the surgery and is only a small lump but more complicated than I thought because of where it is on my face.

I have felt slightly out of sorts and although I have quite a few new posts, they are all half-written as I kept losing my mojo part way through. I think I found my mojo again yesterday as I went to my hairdressers for my usual cut and colour. I spoke to one of the guys there as he has had the same surgery at the same hospital that I will going to. I remembered he had some stitches and scarring to his face earlier this year. I asked him about it and after talking to him he has allayed my fears and I feel more settled about it. I mean, what woman would not be scared of having some invasive facial surgery even it is just to remove a small lump?

So now I have my mojo back I'll finish off some of my half-done posts and here's a new one from today.

Twice a year the local grammar school has a fair/tabletop sale. They are usually in the summer and towards Christmas time. I could not decide whether to go or not as I have recently had a clear out of the garage and realised we have too many things but the draw of a bargain was too much. We were there and back in less than an hour & a half with three bags of goodies.

Firstly I love any shade of pale grey and we have two pale grey suede rugs in our bedroom and guest bedroom so I was pleased to find a pair of large mohair style throws in a soft dove grey for £5 the pair. These are as new with no pulls or pilling. They are just from Sainsburys and I have looked on.  their website here and found similar only in a burgundy colour for £20 each. These will look great on the beds or just to snuggle up in. My cat decided to get in on the act on the photos! She was a stray  who simply moved in about 9 years ago. She is the most spoilt moggy in the world and for originality is called Pussy. My last cat was called Kitty. I don't go for fancy pet names.

My next purchase was my favourite brand of candle - yes another Yankee candle. This time it is a pillar jar in their World Journeys scent of Barbados Island Flower. This just smells divine and I adore the rosy colour of it. A kind of cross between coral pink and ruby red. These cost £16.49 but I paid just £5. It has two wicks which will give a lovely glow on a summer evening.

I found a very wearable duo shade of Clinique eyeshadow for £1. These are usually £22 so a good bargain for me. The colour is called deco dence which is not dissimilar to the shade Day into Date. I love these Clinique duos as the texture is silky to wear and the colour lasts.

I also bought this new Champneys exfoliating mitt from the same lady for 50p. These are usually £4. This will be great to run with a body scrub in the shower.

I also bought my usual collection of DVDs - 6 in total and they ranged in price from 3 for £1 to £1 each. Some good viewing to keep me out of mischief over the next few weeks. I also found a Victoria Hislop hardback book that I have not seen before. It is called The Sunrise. This was £1 and as it is hardback I'll take it to Tenerife next year in my hand luggage to read on the plane. I'll do my best to catch up with all my other posts over the next few days and I have plenty planned on getting ready for Christmas. (I've already wrapped my gifts!)

An Expensive Carboot Sale

I am so sorry that I have been awol for a couple of weeks. This has been due to an unexpected break in the Lake District and some unexpected hospital visits that I had to go to. Well rather late but here is my post from a couple of weeks ago.

Nothing was expensive at the carboot sale it's just that it was an expensive day for me because I bought so much. In fact I spent £100 there. I took £55 thinking that this was plenty. I ran out of money so David gave me £10. I spent this and then had to wait for him to catch me up to give me another £20. After I had spent this I said we should go home. "Let's just look down this row again" he said. I had to borrow another £30 from him after wanting two more items which cost £30.

What did I buy? Well here is what £100 buys you at the Cheshire carboot sale.

Two Le Crueset pans in a charcoal grey. One is a small skillet which will be great for omlettes and the other is a griddle pan. I love these and have one already which I use for cooking beef and lamb steaks. They give the meat a lovely char-grilled flavour. Delicious. The griddle pans sell for £99 so the £20 I paid for the two was a good price.

Two trio sets of Yankee Candle candles. These are usually £21.99 but on offer at £14.99. I paid £10 a set and they contain 3 Cafe Culture candles in 3 different scents: cappuccino truffle, pain au raisin and tarte tatin. I am going to give one of these to my niece as part of her birthday gift.  I also bought another of the large 22oz jars in Nostalgic Snow for £10. These are usually £21.99 each. I bought one of these the other week and like that it has a fresh peppermint smell. The white colour also appeals because it goes with anything.

So far this was £50 spent. I then spotted two items that I had to have. An 80ml bottle of L de Lolita eau du parfum by Lolita Lempicka, who is a French designer (Lolita is her psuedenom). The lady who had this on her stall always has lots of beautiful new items. She sells the kind of things you see in a smart gift shop/boutique. This was £20 and she had a couple of bottles. She had opened one as a tester and the smell is divine. I have checked this on line and the price is around £60 - £80.

She was also selling these gorgeous Fat Face capes at just £10. The one I have is in grey and ivory rather than navy and will look great worn over a jacket, jumper or dress with thick knit tights and boots. I wanted to buy lots of other lovely items from her but resisted. She said this year the owner of the carboot sale was planning on running it until Christmas so plenty of time to buy other things from her. This was now £80 spent. David has said that he will pay for the perfume and cape and put them away for me Christmas.

So what did the remaining £20 get spent on?

I bought a bag full of sample cosmetic products from Harvey Nichols for £5. There were 10 items in total and included 5 Aqua do Parma samples of parfum and body lotion, 2 bottles of Lancôme toner, a gorgeous Clarins night cream in a good sized glass jar and 2 L'Occitane travel bottles of body lotion and hair conditioner. I bought these from the lady who I bought the Le Crueset pans from.

I also got a cute Bobbi Brown lipgloss and a Boots No7 hot cloth cleanser (with cloth) for £1.50. I've not seen this cleanser before so am pleased to be able to try it at a bargain price of £1. I looked on line    here at the Boots website and found it costs £9.95 for 200ml. The bottle I bought is 50ml travel size.

I bought a Soap & Glory toiletry bag for my nephew. It is brand new and never been used and will be great as a stocking filler for him for Christmas. I may see if I can get some Soap & Glory products to put in the bag for him. This was only 50p

I found an elegant cut glass candle for £1 which I will used myself in out lounge. It is scented but I can't quite place the scent. It smells a little sweet like vanilla or honey.

The rest of my money went on a huge selection of DVDs including numerous boxed sets and CDs. The boxed sets included Mad Men series 1 & 2, John Thaw as Monsignor Renard, Vampire Diaries (I love a bit of trashy teen viewing) and Bonanza (David's choice not mine). There are some Disney films and a mixture of others. The CDs are a real mixture too.

My final purchase was a Dinner Party theme of a meal on the Orient Express travelling from London to Edinburgh. You must have seen these before where there are themed nights such as murder mystery dinner parties. This originally cost £19.50 from Marks & Spencer and I paid just £1.

We had a great morning out in the fresh air scouting out our bargains. What did you manage to find.