Christmas has come and gone and now New Year is upon us, a thoughtful start.

My Father in Law with Harvey as a kitten

Well just a short post to wish everyone a fantastic New Year. I sit typing on a chilly but perfectly crisp day, the blue sky clear and the hard frost crunching under foot. The layer of ice on the pond and the canal being frozen indicates how cold it has been but a touch of snow would be nice.

Finally a day with minimal eating.....my OH adores cooking and he makes the most fantastic food although he is a bit of a tyrant, a Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen, it is his way or the highway so to speak. We have continued to eat well however there is lots now in the fridge just to finish up and no more large volumes of washing up for me!!!!!!!

Luna

The house is finally looking like a semblance of itself although we still look rather over stocked on furniture, Xmas trees forcing a rearrangement. The tree is surviving well, no interest by five cats in the tree or ornaments, I must have the oddest cats!!!!! and with watering the base we have a tree still looking good.

Bertie

Harvey

Monty

Reuben

The cats have found the frost too much especially the grass which they seem to treat incredibly suspiciously. Bertie has found launching himself up the maple gives him a good view into the neighbours gardens, I just try not to look at him coming down!! He is our slightest cat, the one who broke his leg this year and probably the one everyone feels protective to. Monty on the other hand is truly looking massive and the ground does shake when he pounds in, looking down across his shoulders I've measured his bones to be 5 inches(13 cm) across. He is just one big beautiful unit, a rugby player in a former life! Luna has now become most beautiful, her coat hangs from her as if she has been groomed daily but I barely touch her and her tail makes up half of her size, a plume to be proud of. Harvey and Reuben are most loyal in the most different of ways, Reuben detests attention but loves to be by you always, he will never be more than  a couple of metres away whilst Harvey runs to me and push in for love but I do have to say he is almost a one person cat.

On the saddest of notes, January 2nd will find us having a day of thoughtfulness as it is my Father in laws funeral, a man of great gentleness, a man I never heard a bad word from in all the 30 years I knew him. He didn't like fuss and the funeral will show no frills just those who knew him being respectful, so here is to you dear gentleman......you loved your walks, the birds, the family and the cats, especially one!!

Holidays and favourite food

Harvey, 2yrs 1 month

Reuben, 1yr 7 months

Well we run full steam ahead to the end of this year. I sit listening to the wind and rain outside and whilst it is already 8.00 am there is little light in the sky because of the dour weather.

Monty, 1 yr 3 months

I have just been going through the photos over Xmas and although we have not been studious in our attentiveness to this I must say we are keen on photographing food!! so I have just taken some last photos of the year of the cats.

Bertie, 8 months

Luna, 7 months

Although our run up to Xmas involved both two members of the family having health issues we did manage to get them all here for the day. Grandad was definitely fragile whilst my Sister in Law had only just had a two knee operation a week before!!

It wasn't our most lively Xmas but one that revolved around family. Everyone enjoyed their presents and I could not be more pleased with a darn lovely pair of boots and a beautiful Coach handbag, a total surprise, and my Focus magazine subscription.

Mutton……that was our Christmas dinner. Gorgeous - 5 year old heather fed Black Face Mutton.

http://www.blackface.co.uk

Full plates and only just fitting the family in.

A huge 4.4 Kg Shoulder and a 3.4 Kg Leg arrived to be shoved somehow into our normal oven. We cooked the shoulder in the end for 7 hours on 140 C surrounded by stock and wine whilst on a bed on onions and veg. The shoulder we added a mustardy/ herby crust to and cooked for 3 hours. This year we were reasonable in our variety of vegetables etc. We each had ONE carrot, yes only , but a special one. Tom Kerridges carrot recipe is a must,

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/christmas_carrots_90489

 Scrape and smooth the carrot, one for each person then place in a pan of buttery, sugary water and cook for a long time. Those carrots become unctuous. Brussel sprouts were sliced finely on a mandolin and just sweated simply with butter and fried lardons. The Cauliflower cheese was just thick creamy and cheesy whilst our roasts were parsnips and potatoes done in goose fat. Yorkshires were added as golden clouds of yumminess and the deep glossy winey gravy made up from the stock upon which the mutton had cooked finished up our lovely main Christmas meal.

Then we started again!!! Dessert. But only one this year!!!

The MOST calorific dessert ever, I have always threatened to work out the calories. Croissant Butter pudding, wow, wow, wow. This buttery, creamy, whisky soaked, white chocolate saturated dessert is divine. It's light in texture with sweetness but with a kick of alcohol. To add to the unhealthyness we added custard, yumm.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/whitechocolatewhisky_86302

So that was Xmas however I had not had my favourite meal of the year yet, Venison Wellington which finally made its appearance yesterday. I am so happy. A Venison fillet had been sitting in the freezer waiting for this special moment. It did not let us down. So happy.

Apparently it is not special enough for Xmas!!! but for me this is the king of meals. The venison is wrapped in a mushroom duxcelle with added herbs and bacon held together with large savoy cabbage leaves and enclosed in puff pastry. The jus is slowly made from spare meat and veg with loads of wine and beef stock plus a little redcurrant jelly. Then finally we have shredded savoy cabbage cooked down with sweated onions and fried streaky chopped bacon with a tiny splash of cream. Did I mention I was so happy.

Well I may post again before the new year but maybe not so Happy New Year to one and all.See you in 2014.

December - Cooling winds and decorations up up up

Our variety of Christmas lights

The front garden

Well chomping at the bit at the beginning of December I attune myself to the new lights we have bought for outside. Last year we had got down to our last string but we are back on form again this year, not quite blackpool lights but our house does stand out a little with our neighbours as well.

It's amazing how long it takes! I start stringing then have a change of mind and then again. A good three hours finally gave results.

Bertie looking curlyat 8 months

The tree is now up as well and as ever with get rather carried away with size. Last year it touched the ceiling, this year however we had a hard time getting it in the car and then after soaking it for 24 hours it did not fit into the tree holding bracket : ( Out comes the saw twice once to take off and inch or two off the height and then cutting along the side to get it to fit in. Still however it has fallen over, my cutting straight is obviously left handed and NOT good.This tree is magnificent. It is SOOOOOOOO bushy everywhere, it does take up one sixth of the room.

I do have to say though if you want to see Christmas done properly my neighbour has Xmas mugs, Xmas tea towels, Xmas singing things up the stairs, wow it just is a grotto. Her hubby is of course doing the  "baa humbug" routine.

Luna, our girl, at 7 months

Pressies are soooo hard : ( I only have to do the kids. The eldest buys what he wants, the youngest needs to get his and let me pay as we need his feet, my daughter is the easiest  but even that is not that easy, now we are passed computer games I have no convenient back up!!!

Luna asleep

Soon hubby is home. Just a week and a half. He loves Christmas but he can do a bit of Gordon Ramsey grumps in the kitchen, here's hoping a change!!

Luna our lovely Selkirk variant girl cat has just been spayed, the vet wanted to do her midline because of her coat and wanted to get her weight up  to do it. Well what an amazing job!! Her shave was truly minimal, her cut so neat and as it was glued we have not had any weeping. Needless to say she did not wear those horrible head cones nor did she have a bland diet coming home, the others would have terrorised her and trying to keep her away from their food is not possible. Bertie is still entire and at the moment man-ing up. None of our boys have ever sprayed and we left them all to a year, Harvey 1 and a half, so as long as Bertie behaves we will go down that route.

We have found a great window cat shelf on ETSY which has been loved by the cats, extremely comfortable, safe and very easy bird watching from the window. As you can see our heavy weight boy fits and it holds up to the strain!!!!.

Monty trying out the new ETSY shelf

Gosh that looks comfortable

Just rushed off to get the cats their whole food prey, i.e. DOCs and small mice. We are very lucky to have one of the best suppliers in the UK literally only 20 minutes away. It's a bit gruesome but once you realise the DOCs are what are rejected from the chicken industry and they are so natural for the cats to eat and at 6.5p per chick it is a very, very, very, cheap addition to their diet.

A bag of 50 DOCs

Snoozing again