Happy New Year to you all! I hope that you enjoyed your break.
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Thankfully the kids did like their gifts. They have had lots of play. One of the smallest gifts turned out to be a big favourite, though. We steer clear of getting teddies for my daughter, even though she is always convinced that there's room for one more in her vast collection. Father Christmas was the one that caved and got her a wee mouse. He's still the Mouse-with-no-name, but she's been taking him all about the place. 
He does have the disadvantage of being too small for cuddling at night, though. I took pity on him left out in the cold on her nightstand, so I knocked him out his own little matchbox bed, complete with mattress, pillow and sheet. Much better. The only problem is that she now thinks that some of the other teddies could do with their own bed, too...
Christmas was a little quiet compared to ones back home: no big family gatherings, complete with dopey quizzes, games and playing cards for pennies until the early hours of the morning, for starters. We had the traditional Christmas roast dinner a day late on Boxing Day. I don't know how others make it look so easy. It tasted perfect, but my kitchen was a tip afterwards and the smoke alarm went off (I added Yorkshire puddings to the menu, and spilled some of the batter onto the bottom of the oven. Smoke ensued...). Still, Martha Stewart can rest easy, knowing that her job is safe for the now.
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The rain kept us cooped up indoors for much of our break, but we managed to fill the days. I'm a few pounds heavier, thanks to having very little help when it came to eating the Christmas cake. The local paper published an editorial full of suggestions for recycling fruitcake (doorstop, dumbbell, pothole-filler... etc) - maybe I should have sent them some to sample... 
I had no trouble finding takers for the gingerbread cookies, though.
I did try to explain to the kids that it is more humane to eat the head first.
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So, New Year's Resolutions? Apart from losing the extra pounds left by the Christmas cake (Ok, and maybe even a few of the extra pounds that have appeared in the last 10 years, too...)? Well, I was off to a running start, by finally making 50 tooth bags for my daughter's Kindergarten:
Then my momentum ground to a halt when I realised that 'sort out the garage' was next on the list... I get a whole year for these, right?
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Translation of the Day:
UK English: tip = an untidy place in US English
I keep seeing posts from people yearning to see some Spring colour, so hopefully this will help. Yes, our daffs are already blooming. Of course a winter person like me is not happy about this - there's already been several days of short-sleeves weather, so I know that shorts weather might be sneaking around the corner soon... pah.
It turns out that hand sewing with rough dry winter skin on your hands is a real pain, as the thread keeps catching on the skin. So you might want to dig out some moisturiser before tackling this project... 
