Secret of Vintage Jewelry

... and one of our members had her two delightful grandchildren with her to babysit. Gill showed them how to make a folded strip of paper into a chain of snowmen and I showed them how to make a snowflake out of folded paper too. They'd done some splodgy paintings and were enjoying all the fuss they were getting.

I'd been given an attractive card by Margaret featuring a print of a robin painted by her (see above). This is something of a departure for her as she normally only paints swans, and quite prolificly too (see Gill's poem in the art exhibition posting from November).

To set the scene, we have had a bit of snow, and have been told that we only have an hour in which to have our annual fuddle - this is the local dialect word for "party". I thought it was funnel for a long time, but they put me right this year. With only an hour to go, we have warmed up the food where necessary, laid it out on a table and are about to scoff the lot,clear up and be on our way home in less than an hour. Exactly the same thing happened the previous year, with an event booked shortly after we were due to vacate the premises, and so we are becoming experts at the at high speed fuddle.

We all enjoyed one another's cooking, but Maggie's soft cheese and puff pastry bar (with assorted nuts and seeds) seems to have been the biggest hit this year. I could describe it but I would probably sound like a Marks and Spencer's food advert (ooer!)

John had created something that looked like a Dundee cake, but was actually a sort of tropical version involving figs. Schloer and low alcohol wine stood in for the real thing, and we had a very enjoyable and quick party, before departing to loved ones for some, and last minute shopping for others (and indeed both for me). We won't see one another again until the New Year.

As this is probably my last posting before Christmas, it only remains to wish all readers the compliments of the season, and I will be back on line once the festivities are over.