All good things, as they say, etc. means time for the second tree to return home, so to prolong the agony, I drove her up to London, to her flat. She lives quite near Borough market and so we wandered into there to find some food on our way to Spitalfields.What a lovely buzzin place the market is and right on her doorstep!The smells were so enticing.

I always stop and admire this little shop everytime I go there. Each stall and shop is enhanced by the fact that there are so many in one small area.

We gave into temptation and ordered a garlic and prawn wrap, which you see being prepared outside the shop. So many tourists take snaps of the stalls that this trader even had a sign suggesting people ask before taking photos!

Such a fabulous design! This beauty advertises a clothing store in Spitalfields market. I want it!They don't make them like they used to do. Ohh that sounds old. I'd better stop using such phrases!

Cheese purveyor extraordinaire! I love cheese from here. Unbeatable delights and such love goes into the shopping experience.
oh well, another year closing and a fresh one opening. What challenge shall I set myself? Any ideas?

This year has been strange because suddenly I didn't want loads of cards everywhere! I usually get so many from children at work that I run out of spaces to display them.
Anyway, this time I chose a few and placed them on the sideboard in the dining room and on the kitchen mantlepiece mostly. ( I chucked some away!!) I felt rather guilty afterwards. Mind you I know what to do next year, after reading a blog idea here http://eighteen25.blogspot.com. How exciting! I can keep the cards and dispaly them without taking up loads of space or time to hang and rehang because they have blown down in the wind. Result!

Having been on a couple of Raymond Blanc cookery courses, my daughter has gone RB mad! On discovering a few of his knives in K and L sale, she proceeded to jump up and down with excitement and ordered me to put them all in my basket. We could rationalise them later!! She is good at that! We collect things and then go and sit down and decide which to keep and which to discard. However, she managed to persuade me to buy some for myself, some for her (her birthday also being quite soon) and some she bought for herself. They were half price! I have never seen anyone so excited. I love shopping with her.

 Chill out and chat time!

Do they look cooked?

Into the oven we go and cross fingers!

They look ok but the pastry had to be glued together with milk in places! Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone.

Rolling the crumbly pastry. You would not believe how tricky we found this! I don't normally have trouble but for some reason we both made quite crumbly pastry today. Oh well, we will never make it in the catering business.

Nails freshly shallaced, she began to combine the pastry ingredients. She is so lucky, her nails are naturally neat and well shaped. Mine have to be coaxed into some semblance of order.

aprons on

Do you like my vintage apron? I bought it in Brick Lane and I love it!

Making pies

I have been having great fun with my eldest daughter.She came down to stay for Christmas early, so we could spend some time together. Yippee!

We decided to make mince pies after spending hours shopping for Christmas. Firstly I could not buy mincemeat anywhere. I went to 5 shops before I found some. Yes I know I could have made it, but wellll you know how it is!

Beach huts are the newest designs I have made recently. A friend asked me to make one for her with some additional things in the sea but when I unloaded it from the kiln, I forgot to photograph it before giving it to her. Perhaps she can take a pic for me.It is hard to be organised sometimes, in all the excitement.

The panorama shot looks a bit wobbly up close but with practise, I'm sure it will work brilliantly.

My last fair before Christmas! It was great being able to leave my stall up for a few days. I was able to have a lie in on Saturday and today.

Why is it so cold at fairs? Maybe something to do with open doors I suppose. On Saturday I had loads of extra layers on. Although it kept me warmer I felt bundled up and lumpy! Today I chose to brave the chill and to wear less layers. Funnily enough it was not so cold because I could move around more.

It was quiet today so we burst into spontaneous song along with Doris Day! I met a new lady who does sandblasting and she runs courses, so maybe that could be my next adventure, who knows!

WoW, I tried out the panorama facility on my iphone at the square Tower today. It worked really well. I shall be doing more of them now I know how to work it. This was just before the fair opened and I only managed to do one side of the upstairs, but I was really pleased.

Brighton craftaganza

Other stalls setting up. I have used my iphone images for these pictures because I have left my camera at work!! What an idiot. I can't get in to collect it now until after the New Year. Oh well I wil just have to cope as best I can!

Freezing cold and tired, I arrived at Fabrica to set up my table for the craftaganza Christmas fair. Warm greetings from other stall holders soon melted away that exhausted feeling,reminding me of why I loved this fair last time. Although there didn't seem to be quite as many potential customers as in March, I had my best sales to date. Very exciting. I also met a lovely young girl who was amazing. She had such natural style and poise. Her clothing range was gorgeous too.