Christmas - in a nut shell!

A horribly wet day again! A quick trip to M&S to collect some ordered items and then to deliver some food from church to the Bingley Food Bank.

The rest of the morning has been spent cooking a ham in cider - it is now in the oven with its honey and mustard coating - and making pea and watercress soup for Christmas Eve lunch. The recipe says perfect for summer! Well it has been warm enough and I hope it will be light and refreshing with some smoked salmon pate to accompany.

The poor weather has given me the excuse to photograph my latest addition to the Christmas tree. A little nativity scene with Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in the stable which is made from some sort of nut shell or gourd. It has a little stand too if you don't want to hang it.

I spotted it in the souvenir market on Castle Hill, Buda on our trip to Budapest last October. I do like to collect these little mementos and as they are just for Christmas you don't have to worry about what to do with them the rest of the year. It joins things from Germany, Venice, New Zealand, Australia, Jordan, Prague, Bruges, Yellowstone and Norway as well as some brought as gifts from Mexico by my daughter and California by a friend. These and ones from the children's childhood make for many memories when trimming the tree.

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