The heat is on

It took us a long time, but today we finally turned on the heating for this winter. I remember last year we already turned it on in November. This year we were able to hold out a bit longer. It has been freezing at night and I couldn't get my feet warm any longer. So heat is on. And it's still working. I am always a bit worried when it's been off for so long if the boiler will break down. But holding up so far. Yay!

Things have been pretty uneventful lately. Work has calmed down for the year. Should be like this until  January. I am looking forward to our holidays in Canada. Three more weeks!!! Which also means that Christmas is just around the corner. I actually bought some Christmas cards on Friday and filled in the envelopes with the addresses. Now only need to write the cards. Better do that tonight and get them out the door during the week so they arrive on time. I picked a nice Japanese design. It's a great winter scene. Snow falling on trees and some people walking towards a gate holding up umbrellas. Very serene. Everyone will get the same card. I wish they would mix the motifs more in christmas cards packs. But the nice ones are always one motif per pack. Hopefully nobody will compare cards ;-)

I have been able to keep up with running twice a week. The long run has been a bit shorter than intended. Turns out that running and breathing in cold weather and wind really really sucks especially running into the wind. Urgh, that was one of my worst runs last weekend. I basically walked most of the way because I just couldn't suck in any air. This week went much better and I was able to extend my long run for a bit again. I cheated and walked for a couple of hundred meters about half way through though. The incline I had to go up was just too steep, so I took a break and had some water. Walked up the hill and started running again. But overall I would say a really good run.

Now enjoying a nice Sunday evening at home. The bf is cooking and I am listening to podcasts and will make some nice winter punch later. Already took a bath in a mulled spices/ ginger scented bath water. Veeery relaxing. And very deserved after running in the cold. Hope everyone else is also enjoying the first Advent!

Merry Christmas

I know I said that I would probably not get into the whole Christmas spirit this year, but to my own surprise, I was wrong. I met up with a friend of mine at Borough market on the 23rd. I wanted to buy some nice sweets for Christmas Eve. I had planned to make our own Christmas Tea. Boy, the selection was amazing and I had a hard time choosing, but in the end I think I did get some nice pieces.

The market is really not that big, but it was super crowded and we were exhausted after navigating it for about an hour. So we decided to grab some tea. We ended up also sharing a cupcake because looking at all the sweets made us hungry!

Look at the size of this cupcake!

The cupcake was actually not that good. The icing was more like a butter cream. It tasted ok, but was totally not what we expected.

Christmas Eve was a quiet day for us. We headed out in the morning to buy some groceries we still needed and some more plates and glasses. As my bf's dad and stepmom are in London over the holidays we needed more than just the two plates we used to have. Luckily the store still had the same plates we bought in October. They were on sale then, but still had some left so were even cheaper now. Score! I think we paid a pound per plate. Also picked up some wine glasses.

So this is our nice Christmas tea that we had in the afternoon. Some nice scones with clotted brandy butter and raspberry jam and some sweets (Baileys and chocolate cheesecake, marble cake, chocolate eclair and those two Portuguese sweets filled with custards). And no, we couldn't finish it all. We saved some and had it for dessert in the evening. But it was amazing! I really liked the brandy butter. Might have to stock up on that before it goes out of season.

The next way was spent preparing for the bf's dad to come. We pre-cooked a steak and ale stew and pre-boiled some potatoes to roast later in the evening. In the afternoon we headed out to pick them up at their hotel. Because no public transport was running in London we walked. It was actually a pretty nice walk. Not a lot of people out. The wind was chilly, but walking kept us warm. Only took us a bit over an hour and we didn't hurry or anything. Their hotel turned out to be pretty nice. We stayed for about half an hour and then ordered a cab.

Once home we started cooking again. Made roast potatoes, reheated the stew, made some brussels sprouts and some salmon. Boy, that was an amazing dinner. I forgot to take pictures, but all the dishes turned our really nicely. As a started we had ciabatta bread with roasted aubergines dipped in olive oil, vinegar and some herbs. Amazing! We need to host more dinner parties. So much fun! Then we had some wine and beer. And coffee as a dessert. Nothing else because we were stuffed! It was a really lovely evening.

His dad is into photography and he gave us some photos from home and now wants to buy us some frames and hang them up. That should be nice as our walls are empty at the moment.

I don't know. Sitting together and sharing a meal really made Christmas feel like Christmas. It's a shame we didn't have candles or decorations. I will definitely remedy that the next time we have a Christmas at home.

Hope everyone else had a nice Christmas as well. Here's to a good New Year!!!

Advent Calendars

When I was in Germany this year I picked up these niffty postard advent calendars. Of course I didn't post them to anyone but brought them home. The top one is mine and the bottom one is for the bf.

The colours look a little bleached out in these pictures. They are much stronger. I love them both though. I like the classical colours and image in the first. And I like the warmness of the colours and image in the bottom one. Will have to get somebody to send me some for next year!

Nikolaus!

Yesterday, 6 December, was Nikolaus. I am not sure how many countries actually celebrate Nikolaus, but in Germany when we were kids it was a big deal. I almost liked it more than Christmas. The night before we would bake these breadmen (Stutenkerle) and would be allowed to decorate them ourselves. We could even choose what to make (boy or girl).

Then we would put out special plates (some people put out boots) onto the windowsill so the Nikolaus could leave us presents and candy.

The next morning the plates would have our Stutenkerl on it, plus some clementines, nuts and some chocolates. We all got a little present, usually a book or a tape. We would be lighting candles and then all have breakfast together. And since it was winter and still dark outside it was always such a nice and calm atmosphere. Yes then we had to go to school. But the Nikolaus days that happened to be on a weekend became even more special then. And we would all go out for walks and do things as a family.

So on Monday I slaved away in my kitchen to produce these:

Big Stutenkerl for work.

Got a new brush on the weekend. I love how it's silicone and sooo easy to clean.

Little one for the bf.

And this one is for me.

Size comparison. The big one looks small, but it was much bigger than the others!

So yay me. Now I finally feel in the right mood for Christmas! Gonna order my bf Christmas presents on the weekend and then I am all done! Hurray! Oh and maybe I will get some decorations. This house is a bit blank at the moment.

So happy belated Nikolaus everyone!

Weekend filled with Christmas stuff

This Saturday I decided that I wanted to go see the German Christmas market at the South Bank. We left the house early and since the weather was nice decided to walk all the way there. We stopped at a little café for some breakfast and then headed towards the London Eye.

We stopped by St. Pancras where they had a huge Christmas tree made entirely out of Lego!

Isn't it gorgeous?! My photos really don't do it any justice. Anyway we kept heading towards the Eye though we didn't go a direct path. On our way we discovered a little outside shopping mall. We might go back sometime soon because it was just too lovely, but we didn't have that much time to linger.

We made it to the Christmas market really early and sat down to a cup of mulled wine. It tastes soooo much better at the market than anywhere else. I find British pubs tend to water down the wine and all you taste is spice. But this one was really good and strong. Yay!

We had then planned to go to a German pub to eat lunch, but it was not open when we got there. So we headed back and found a nice burger place for lunch. We also stopped at a camera place and inspected the camera I keep thinking of buying. It's even more lovely than I thought it would be. So I will deffo buy it, just might wait till after Christmas. Or not...

I also need to make a decision on whether I want the bf to buy me a Kindle for Christmas or a Kobo Touch. I just cannot make up my mind. There are so many things going right for either one of them. Darn. Not good at making decisions, but bf refuses to make the decision for me. I figure I will make up my mind before or on the weekend. Or not. I actually already made up my mind about three times and always changed it again... Stupid me. Anyone has opinions on which one they prefer?

 

Ok, back to internet research on ereaders.

It's almost winter

I wanted to do a real post, but instead I got to play around with the background and colours. I wanted to give it a more winter/Christmas feel. I don't feel like winter at all yet. Mainly because it's not really cold. The last few weeks it has been really mild. I think it might get a bit colder this week. Let's hope so. I really want to get into the right mood before Christmas hits.

Anyway, will try to post about my weekend later! Everyone have a happy Monday ;-)

Back in London, alive and kicking

We made it back in one piece. Our flight took off early in Bremen and we landed in foggy London way before schedule. We had left Stansted airport just about an hour after take off. Sweet!

Christmas time at my parents' place was fun. Unfortunately because of our delay I didn't have as much time to visit people as I would have liked. I was planning to make cookies, a wreath, do some shopping, meet friends and family before Christmas. Well, that didn't happen. Since I got robbed of three days I only managed to bake a cake (much quicker than cookies). Managed to make it lactose-free as my sister's boyfriend is allergic. But that was about it. My sisters plus husband/boyfriend and brother arrived the day after me and then we were busy catching up, drinking mulled wine and eating cookies (my older sister was kind enough to bring a ton of really yummy cookies that she baked).

The weather didn't really change. It was freezing, about -10 degrees Celsius at night and -5 during the day. The snow stayed the whole time I was there (white Christmas hurray) and it even snowed a bit more. Grandma, grandpa and an aunt came over for Christmas Eve. We had lots of cake and presents in the evening. Was really nice and relaxing. The next day my Mom even made chicken (she hates cooking), potatoes and vegetables. In the evening I went to a friend's birthday party for a few hours and then had to drive on to another friend's birthday party. Since I can remember they would always have their party on the same day (well, they were both born on the same day, but still, gimme a break). I did not like the driving at 40km/h on icy roads in between their homes. But what can you do. Really enjoyed meeting my friends and old classmates. Bf stayed home as he was still sick.

The next couple of days I hung out with my family and a good friend of mine came over for tea. We managed to catch up, but she had to leave early for more Christmas festivities. I enjoyed catching up with everyone, but I wish I had more time. Everything felt really rushed and sometimes forced because I was on a 'timer'.

Let's hope the next flight will be without volcanoes or snow. I'm all for something pretty uneventful and boring.

Btw, the TV was fixed one hour before we left for the airport. My brother-in-law managed to tickle it back to life. Kinda glad we missed that though. My sister went straight in front of it and couldn't be coaxed away again. Come to think of it, I really don't watch that much TV any more. But I do waste a lot of time on my laptop. I guess that's not really better...