Birthday Giveaway...

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It's my birthday today and what better way to celebrate than by
holding a giveaway..?

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Everyone who leaves a comment in my absence
(during the Christmas/New Year holiday break)
will be included in the draw...
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I'm not revealing what goodies I'll be offering but I'm sure you'll
just love them..!

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photo: stone chalet

.Meanwhile, I'm celebrating my special day on the ski slopes before heading

to Provence for the New Year festivities...

"And in the end,

it's not the years in your life that count

but the life in your years"

unknown

I do hope you all had a wonderful Christmas

I most definately did...

- thank you all for your warm wishes,

I'll be catching up with your blogs as soon as I get back...

Leaving on a jet plane...

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Listening to: White Christmas

Otis Redding

Hope you all enjoy a

Happy and Fun Christmas..!

~~~

Je Vous Souhaite à Tous et Toutes de Très

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Joyeuses Fêtes de Fin D'Année..!
.*

Top photo: Dave Worrell

All I Want for Christmas...

.; ~Let’s Help Africa~
.
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Don’t offer me,
Luxury suites with
Queenly beds to lay my head,
‘Else I will show you mud huts
In Africa with bamboo beds.

Don’t tell me,

‘Bout the latest fashion,

You think are pretty sweet,

I care more, for children in Africa,

With no shoes on their little feet.

Don’t show me Breaking news on Television,

And make me cry,

Just give your hand,

Let’s help Africa,

Then you can watch me smile..

Sita Madu Wynn

A seasonal favourite...

..

Cinnamon and ginger Crisps

Ideal for hanging on the tree
like ornaments...they look good, taste wonderful and their aroma

is so Christmassy...

* My photo: the first, and, so far, only, Christmas decoration on our tree..!

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup molasses
2/3 cup light corn syrup
4 1/2 cups sifted flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.

Beat in molasses and corn syrup

until well combined.

Add in the remaining ingredients and stir until a smooth dough forms.

Chill for 30 minutes.
Roll out thinly on a lightly floured.

Cut with floured cutters.

Bake on greased cookie sheet for 8 minutes
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ENJOY !
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* Both my girls have somehow managed to catch tonsilitis, laryngitis and

a dreadful cold all at the same time - so, instead of being out and about, I'm grounded..!

In between visits to the Doctor's surgery and the health shop for natural

remedies, I've been writing out Christmas cards, gift wrapping, decorating and baking..!

Quite a blessing in disguise actually - hopefully by stopping work earlier for the holiday break,

there won't be the usual last minute rush that we've all become

accustomed to...

Down Memory Lane...

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"La fortune tient moins aux possessions accumulées

qu'à la capacité de vivre avec peu"

Mike Horn,

Objectif : pôle nord de nuit, 2007

Images: Baileys Home and Garden

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"Fortune is less about accumulated possesions

than the capacity to live with little"

Mike Horn,
Objective : north pole by night, 2007

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Most days I feel like I'm still in my 20's, if not my late teens,

so, being reminded that I am now more than 20 years past my 21st birthday

somehow comes as a bit of a shock - plus, by the end of the month

I'll be another year older..!

Anyway, what I'm leading to, is, that

it doesn't seem that long ago that I was an undergraduate,

house-sharing in London with a group of great friends from around the world.

It was seeing the storage boxes and baskets above, the other day on the

Baileys Home and Garden

website that brought back vivid memories of the rather "original"

interior decoration we created.

Made up, mostly, of a collection of hand-me-down bric à brac and zillions of

wine boxes, trunks and wicker baskets of all sizes and shapes

for storage - none of which we paid much for as we were impercunious, to say the least,

and much preferred to spend the little money we had on books, travel and

entertainment..!

Elsewhere...

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"Soyez le changement

que vous voulez voir dans le monde"

Gandhi

.

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"Be the change

that you want to see in the world"
Gandhi

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See below for info. on our ONG set up following

the 2004 Tsunami in SE Asia:

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ici

here

et ici

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Believe me...

“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue,
and the dreams that you dare to dream
really do come true”
Lyman Frank Baum
.Image: Dreyer & Hensley

Enjoy your weekend..!

What I've be listening to today...

Idées Cadeaux...

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This time last week, late evening,

when the girls were settled for the night,

I went on a shopping spree for Christmas gifts late into the night...

.*Here are just a few of my purchases:

.Necklace crafted from recycled glass
from Viva Terra

Slate Cheese Board Set
from Viva Terra

Kitchen herb plantabox

by Plantabox

Vintage Baking Trays
by RE

Vintage Welsh Blankets

by RE

Assorted French Christmas Postcards
by RE
.
Why these are a few of my favourite places to shop online:
- RE
sells the sort of things that I love, and know my family and friends will
appreciate - the quirky, often old, little things that give a house
some character and distinction...
- Not On The High Street
supports small businesses and offers gorgeous gifts
with a conscience...
- Viva Terra

sells a wide variety of eco-friendly artisan products

from around the world...

* never easy when those you're buying for, already have everything...

I can only show these (and not all the other things I bought)

as the recipients of these gifts do not visit my blog..!

Weekend Sportif et Gourmand...

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It was sunny, extremely cold and windy

Snow conditions were just great

Traffic conditions were not

I can still hear the wind whistling in my ears...

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.It was the last weekend of November

We enjoyed an excellent "après-ski" evening with family

and friends

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Fondue Savoyarde
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Our first fondue of the season was a success
The great food, wine,open fire and music really warmed

us all up...
Weekends really are far too short
- as I write this, reliving the weekend,
I can hear the crackling sound of logs burning

in the open fireplace, the laughter...

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Fondue Recipe

Ingredients :
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12 oz Emmental cheese, grated
12 oz Beaufort cheese, grated
12 oz Gruyere cheese grated
6 glasses dry white wine (from Savoy if possible)
1/2 glass kirsch liqueur
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
white pepper
1 or 2 loaves French bread
1 egg (optional)
.

On the day before or the morning of the meal, cube the bread,
and leave it out to let it dry a little.
Rub the bottom and sides of an earthenware pot or
cast iron saucepan with the garlic.
Pour wine into pot and place on stove over medium-high heat.
Bring wine to boil, add cheese and stir slowly with a wooden spoon.
Before cheese is fully melted, take pot off the stove and place
on a lighted fondue burner.
Season with pepper and add kirsch while stirring.
Once cheese has entirely melted, serve with bread on fondue forks,
stirring occasionally.
If cheese bubbles rapidly, turn down heat.
(the next stage is optional...)
When cheese is almost gone (maybe 3/4 cup left), break a raw egg
into the pot and stir rapidly with the cheese.
After a minute, add remaining bread into pot and stir together
with cheese and egg.
Then turn off the burner and enjoy what's left
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BON APPETIT !

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