Homemade snowglobes...

The mantra that greets me every morning goes like this 'Mum, when are we putting the tree up? When is it Christmas? When is it December? When it's December can we put the tree up?

Don't worry I haven't buckled yet - there will be no Christmas trees in November. Instead I've opted for distraction and decoration by stealth! I've put our child labour to good use and employed the minis in the business of making their own decorations, and we started with ....snowglobes. 

Upside down jam jars and hot glue gun ready, we went in hunt of small festive things to decorate them with. We tracked down some cake decoration reindeers and model trees (fortunately BH is a model maker so we raided his supply!) with a bucket load of glitter we decorated the base and glued the figures in place. 

My girl lovingly created a winter snow scene that Disney would be proud of...

My boy decided that nothing says Christmas like WW2 soldiers gunning down Bambi...

I swear this is what happens when you go out of your way to ensure that your children's toys are non gender stereotyped - they go and do it anyway!

We're going to fill them with a mixture of water, glycerine and glitter and glue the lids on -  then we can give them a shake and let it snow....

Buche de Noel- chocolate log to you and me...

I know it's Stir Up Sunday but as the only one in the house who likes Christmas pudding, the tradition has never quite taken off here. Not one to be deterred though, I was determined to bake something today that got us preparing forthe coming season. Inspired by our walk through Dalby Forest yesterday,  the minis and me opted for a chocolate log...

We went for the Buche de Noel from Nigellas Christmas - although we agreed that it couldn't be a Christmas log yet - it is still November! 

 

 

A quick round up of the kitchen cupboards gave us everything we needed. The recipe calls for the eggs to be separated and the whites mixed like a meringue - we got a bit distracted and put them in whole at first - oops! Not ones to waste ingredients we worked them into a batch of brownies but that's a whole other post! After that mishap SG was on serious supervision watch - although she did ask why the recipe called for it to be mousey - when I explained 'moussey' she looked extremely relieved! 

 

The egg whites were whisked into peaks with sugar, the cocoa and egg yolks folded in and baked for 20 minutes. After cooling we turned it out onto a sheet of greaseproof paper and made a rich chocolate buttercream to spread all over before rolling up. SG got busy with the spatula and voila...

Le Buche...

               

notice how we're sticking with pine cones for now though!... resisting the urge to get festive just yet!

Saving a seat...

The cold snap has left BH at a loose end of late. To take his mind of the building work waiting to be done and to give him a brief respite from swaddling condensing pipes to stop them freezing I asked if he could have a go at reupholstering the chairs we use in our kitchen. I acquired them many years ago and I've been loathe to part with them despite only having three and the fabric being worn out.

This is how they appeared when I went to work...

 and this is what I found when I got home...

A perfect fit, and it means I get to keep them for many more years! What BH doesn't realise is that now he's revealed this hidden talent I'm already compiling a list of future upholstering projects!

Decoration of the day

At last, a calorie free pudding!!!