As I was tidying up at work this afternoon, watching the sun set below the horizon and the frost get even frostier on the car, it dawned on me that even though the day had been stressful and at times unpleasant (ack!) with the setting of the sun it was like being cleansed and was bringing with the night a new day.

Tomorrow I have lots of things to look forward to, I have a new day at work, a Christmas tree to bring into the house and dress (hopefully it’ll be delivered in the right place!), I have a day full of new potential.

I’ve really enjoyed NaBloPoMo this month, and even though I’ve rambled at times, had days when I didn’t feel I had much to say, I still managed to say what I wanted to.  I have things to say, whether people want to listen or not!

I’m looking forward to December so much, I’m looking forward to the tree and spending Christmas with family and friends, I’m looking forward to Christmas cards and Christmas pudding.  I love all of it.

[Mr. VP and I will be snuggling up with a bit of this tonight!]

Once the sun had set there was a deep orange line on the horizon for an hour or so, there were 2 planets – Jupiter and Venus, no less! – in the sky with a whisp of a moon underneath and the most lovely gradiating blue sky all around.

Tonight I’m going to savour the last of November before it becomes December, the last brief moments before the festive season really kicks off.  Mr. VP is downstairs mulling me some apple juice with Pimms #3 (winter mix) and cinnamon sticks.  And on the stereo, Otis Redding is singing one of the loveliest Christmas songs I have.

Thanks NaBloPoMo for being such a wonderful incentive to do things in a month when I usually want to hibernate.

Edited to add:

[Mr. VP made very lovely mulled apple juice!]

Gosh it’s cold out there.  I knew that there was a reason for me feeling that cold, but as Mr. VP and I wandered around Corbridge this morning, our noses were stinging in the freezing fog it suddenly dawned on me just how cold it actually is.  The fog had touched branches, hedges and fields, it’d left behind hoar frost, with sharp spikes of ice sitting atop everything in sight.  It was so beautiful to watch as we drove over the A69 and then dipped into the Tyne valley.

Can you believe this pretty river is actually the Tyne?  It’s very much different to the one that goes through Newcastle.

There is a certain light at this time of year that makes Winter so unique.  If the cold wasn’t enough, the low orbit of the sun, barely rising from the horizon before sinking below it again.  Today it was an impeccably beautiful day, and it seemed as if we were some of the first people out of bed.  It took us ages to de-ice the car and get going ourselves.  But when we drove out and about, the sights were worth it all.

Today we ordered our tree.  It was the first thought that invaded my head as I woke up this morning, must get the tree!  It will be delivered when both of us are at work, but never mind – I can’t wait for Monday night as we decorate the tree and celebrate the loveliness of Christmas.

Mr. VP and I chose another fairly large one, less wide than usual but taller – this is one of the tallest trees we’ve ever had, but it was the one that called out to us.  Our choice this year took less time than usual – perhaps it was the cold – and believe it or not we were the first people to have bought a tree this year from our supplier.  It’s a Nordman Fir and I’m sure will look lovely up against our new fireplace wall.

It’s going to be really busy soon for both Mr. VP and myself, so these days when we can spend time doing what we want to do – together – is something I treasure.

The thermometer on our PC tells us it’s apparently -1ºC outside, and I can quite believe it.  The lawn which was white with frost this morning remained white all day and was becoming more white as I took the washing down from the line – the washing that was, in places, frozen.  I try to line dry whenever there’s a dry day – but when it’s this cold it doesn’t seem to get really dry.

This is the perfect time for a bit of snuggling down and enjoying good food.  I am personally stuffed from a lovely dinner of free-range roast chicken with all the trimmings from Brussel sprouts to maple-syrup-glazed parsnips.  Truly delicious, as was the chocolate cake I made for us both to eat at work next week as a little treat in our lunchboxes.

I really am going to finish the neck of Mr. VP’s jumper, though I haven’t either had the time or felt particularly like knitting for the last few days – I’ve had far too many things buzzing around my head for that! One of the things I’m looking forward to and have been looking forward to for some time now, is getting our tree. Due to work and one thing and another, we’re hoping to get up really early tomorrow and get our tree – I can’t wait! I know it’s early, but it’s been hectic around here, and finally having our tree here will make it really feel Christmassy.

Though that’s not the only thing making it feel Christmassy. This song, which isn’t strictly a Christmas song (yes it has bits of Christmas music in there, but still), keeps going around my head and I love all the versions, from Joni Mitchell’s original to Madeleine Peyroux’s silky version but for me being a bit of a James Taylor fan, this version is lovely. His Christmas album, which I found last year, has become one of my favourites.

And if you want real Christmas, then this little number is definitely one not to miss. Tiny Tim, bless!

I’ve always had a keen interest in animal husbandry and how you can raise your own livestock for eating if you have enough land.  That keen love of self-sufficiency has carried on and grown through our chickens and our veg patches.  But I also have a really keen interest in how animals, once dispatched, are used.  In supermarkets so much of an animal goes to waste, whereas in times gone by every part of an animal would’ve been used.

I remember in my youth (which happens to not be that long ago) when it was commonplace to see tripe, liver and brawn in every butcher’s shop.  Nowadays, apart from proper butchers (who are sadly, fast declining) the choice of meat available to us which aren’t the “nice” cuts are growing fewer.  Can you imagine your local supermarket selling whole ox tongues or brawn on it’s shelves?  I know I can’t.

Yet when we visited France there was an abundance of great meat, pig’s trotters, brawn, livers and kidneys.  It was a veritable cornucopia of meat that you wouldn’t get over here, and that’s simply because people are too squeamish to try it.

This week I have had 2 cuts of meat that are nowadays instantly put in the bin but that used to be a regular occurrence on people’s plates.  The first were pig’s ears.  The saying goes that you can eat everything on a pig except it’s oink, and it’s true.  There is nothing you can’t eat, from the ears to the tail, everything.  I was a bit dubious about these ears.  I boiled them for 4 hours in a flavoursome stock made with bay leaves, onions, garlic, peppercorns etc and once cooled I sliced them up and rolled in beaten egg and breadcrumbs, added mustard and put into a hot oven.  They were pretty much like slightly chewier pork crackling, not a meal per se, but nice to nibble on.  Next time I’ll change the egg to breadcrumb ratio and also change my seasonings to try something different.

Today I did something I’ve been meaning to do for ages – I made pig’s trotters to Hugh’s recipe, and they were delicious.  There is little or no meat left on the trotters – and what is is tiny, it’s mostly skin which turns lovely and sticky in the sauce.  It doesn’t sound nice, it doesn’t look that nice, but it was really delicious.  You taste mostly the sauce, served with noodles it was delish.

There isn’t much in any animal I wouldn’t eat – probably only the brain if I’m honest, because I believe in using the whole of an animal rather than wasting it.  If it’s died to be on our plate shouldn’t we at least make the most of it. I will be trying these again in the future, as they were not only tasty they were free (a bonus in these times of economic uncertainty). Yum.

Wouldn’t you believe it?  I started out so well, and now I’m flagging.  I think it’s because recently I’ve been really busy and not in a particularly bloggable way.  Just, you know, life.

I’ve got to finish the neck on Mr. VP’s jumper so I can start the sleeves (I am at least on the home straight, though I feel the next few weeks are going to be *really* busy).  I’ve been reminiscing over old posts and looking back at where I was and where I am now.  You’ll get the finer details of that in time, bear with me.

I’ve been inspired by Marie to go through my bookcases and sort my books out, as since moving the furniture in the dining room when we were decorating last week, I didn’t get to properly go through the shelves and sort them out.  So I think a duster, a good bit of sorting and a bit of woodsilk should sort it out.

I also plan to make a pilgrimage to the sea some time this week, before work becomes too hectic.

However despite everything else that’s going on, I did get round to playing with testing the Christmas lights.  You know, you’ve got to do such things.  I might well seem a spanner short of a toolkit when I admit that my love of Christmas lights knows no limits (apart from blue LEDs, or LED lights in general).  There is something so aesthetically pleasing about the colours and the reflections and the shapes.

I can’t wait until I can unveil VintagePretty’s new Christmas 2008 theme, just a few more days to go. Woot!