My Tiny Plot

This year I finally got around to starting my Christmas Mantel Village. I spied this one last year over at Posy Gets Cozy and immediately hatched a plan to make it my own. Unfortunately, I ran out of time last year so this year I made sure to get organised and buy all the paper, glue and glitter I needed to make a start.

This year we made a village church. I made it out of an old orange juice carton and some cardboard. Then painted the base blue and the roof red and sprayed it with snow out of a can. I also used white plasticine for the snow on the window ledges and orange acetate for the window glow. The trees are bottle brushes that were shaped, sprayed with snow and sprinkled with glitter.

My idea is to make our Mantel Village into a family tradition. Something we can get out every year and add to. Hopefully, Jackson will enjoy doing it too once he’s old enough and it will form part of his memories of Christmas at home. 

I think Christmas memories are important. My Christmas memories are of wearing my special (albeit tartan) Christmas dress. Every year that thing came out and it simply wasn’t Christmas if I wasn’t wearing it. I remember too a velvet-covered wind-up Santa that turned round and sang Jingle Bells. Quite scary but very, very festive. And of course the Christmas fairy lights debacle. Every year my Dad would drag the Christmas decorations out from the loft to find that one set of lights just didn’t work anymore and he would spend hours fiddling with each light to find out which one was the weak connection. Ah, happy times.

What’s your tartan dress? What was your family Christmas tradition? Come on, everybody has one!

This year I made myself a little Christmas present – a calendar featuring some of my favourite photos from the past year here at mtp. I used online printing service Lulu.com to create it and when it arrived a few days ago I eagerly unwrapped it to see if it was exactly what I wanted.

It was. It’s huge! And the photos are deep and colourful – just like I hoped they would be. Here’s a photo of it next to a coffee cup so you can get some idea of scale.

I made the calendar for me (honestly I did) but if you want one they are available to buy at Lulu for £15.95. That was the minimum I could do it for since the printing costs were so high. However, I will say that the quality is very good. And the calendar is quite large too. 

My calendar will take pride of place in my office and will no doubt oversee many a new post on mtp. Happy 2009!

In December it’s all about tidying up, getting as much digging done when it’s not frosty and generally preparing for the worst of the Winter weather. You might even think about insulating your cold frame if you have any plants in there. But don’t forget to carry on enjoying the fruits of your summer labour in the shape of jams, jellies, chutneys and fruit syrups.

1. Test the ph of your soil and apply lime if necessary. Don’t apply manure at the same time
2. Get on with your winter digging so long as the ground isn’t frozen or waterlogged
3. Get hold of some well-rotted manure. Farms are ideal or buy it in bags if you have to
4. Earth up Spring Cabbages and winter brassicas
5. Pack straw around vulnerable perennials like Artichoke
6. Harvest Brussels Sprouts from the bottom up
7. Dig up some Leeks and heel them in for easier harvesting
8. Spread a layer of well-rotted manure around fruit bushes
9. Prune fruit trees but remember to burn all prunings as they might be infected with disease or aphid eggs
10. Dig your Runner Bean trench – leave it open to the elements for now

If you have any more suggestions for December jobs, add them to the list.

If there’s one thing that really says Christmas for me it’s Eggnog. I first tasted Eggnog about six years ago. We were visiting a friend of ours who lives in Vail (alright for some eh?). And he invited us back to his mum and dad’s little house tucked up in the hills far away from the glitz and fur coats below. Their house was very Christmassy with a big log fire roaring and the first thing that our friend’s mum said to us once we were inside was, ‘Would you like an Eggnog?’ – I was sold! So now, in our house, Christmas just hasn’t arrived until there’s some Eggnog chilling in the fridge. Here’s my recipe.

Eggnog

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup of sugar
• half a teaspoon of vanilla extract
• quarter of a teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• three quarters of a cup of brandy
• one third of a cup of dark rum
• 2 cups of whipping cream
• 2 cups of milk

It’s Chriiiiiiiiistmas! And I’m making a little something for my Secret Santa. I have to confess that I’m enjoying the ‘make do and mend’ aspect of this recession. It gets you thinking about things in a different way which can only be a good thing. Making something, with my own hands holds a lot of meaning for me. It’s more; heartfelt, individual, handmade, personalised. Even the fact that it’s time-consuming is a good thing because it gives you time to think about the person you’re making it for.

Here’s hoping my little Secret Santa loves my handmade gift. Ah ha!… you thought I was going to say he or she didn’t you – but you see I’m smarter than that :)

I’m certainly glad that I’m not relying on my garden for sustinance right now but I’m also always amazed by the way the garden looks empty but when I get out there I can bring in a winter harvest like this. As you can see I picked some Leeks, Spinach, Parsnips and the last Spring Onions. Not bad!

And it also went a long way too! I made roast Parsnips and Creamed Leek and Spinach to go with my lunchtime vegetable lasagne. Also I put the Leeks with some Courgette and cheese I had in the fridge to make Courgette and Leek Gratin for Jackson. He’s going to love it. Leeks are one of his favourite flavours.