Well, it has been a rather frantic month here in sleepy, rural Tipperary. The autumn slipped by quietly, enlivened only by the mowing of the ever-rampant grass and some gathering of unexpected but most enjoyable apples from the new orchard. We entertained the idea we might potter along, easing into Christmas in a calm and restful way. Yeah, right. As we wanted to mark our 40th anniversary we planned the meal for our friends and a wonderful evening it was. Please see the previous entry for details – but it took us quite an effort to organize ourselves, having become unused to keeping to a timetable!

We wanted things to be perfect, if possible, so there was a lot of cleaning and polishing. Jacqui’s meal was a triumph but nothing that good is achieved without a great deal of work. We ended the month exhausted, taking a number of days to just stop and rest. And eat all the delicious leftovers of course. I even had Southern Comfort “tipsy” trifle for breakfast one day. A day when I was not driving, of course.

Then winter descended with a bang. Two fierce storms swept over with exceptionally high winds and torrential rain. We were fortunate there was no serious damage apart from a mass of branches from one of the old poplar trees. These broke off and landed across the path to the pond at the end of the wood. This is a tree marked for felling by our tree surgeon, Fergus, and we are glad most of it withstood the gales. Now we will go down and remove the debris after Christmas, drying it out and chopping it up for kindling.

We had a couple more visitors just afterwards. Julie, our friend who used to live in the cottage next door, was over from England. The dogs were very happy to see her and we had a nice talk, reminiscing on her time here. Then my niece, Polly, arrived on a long weekend. She flew into Shannon and we picked her up from the bus station in Limerick. This did nothing for my aversion of the town. The roads in were narrow and poorly signposted, the bus station was actually clagged on to the train station and parking was a nightmare. Add the fact the sun was shining in our eyes the whole way and you have a severe headache in the making.

Despite this we found one another in the station and a lovely weekend ensued. Realizing she needed some rest and comfort our youngest dog, Charlie, followed her around. He cuddled up next to her at every chance and slipped into her room to hold paws as she napped. He’s a natural therapy dog, so intuitive and a most calming presence. We visited the little Christmas market in the town one day and made a gingerbread house another. Jacqui baked the cakes, two loaves, and I showed Polly how to cut it into shape, ice the roof and add windows and doors.

I still have the little figures my mother used and it looked very festive. Some bits we pinned on with cocktail sticks to keep them in place until the icing set. Polly decided it looked as if Vikings were attacking it, a novel interpretation of the poor miniature band. As royal icing takes a lot of stirring I used Jacqui’s big mixer, to great effect. All went well until I tried to get the whisk out and turned it on with the cover open. Icing flew everywhere, including over me. We cleaned up but I’ve been finding odd splashes all over the kitchen for the last week. I suspect my mother would have laughed at the whole performance.

Jacqui has been quietly making Christmas puddings using the secret Mavis Finch recipe and we’ve been sampling them. They are, of course, excellent. She’s also baked the Christmas cake though we’re not allowed to sample that yet. As the pudding recipe was used by my grandmother and passed down to us we remember our families well at this time of year.

After several days recovering from all the driving to Shannon we were back on the road, off to bl#*dy Limerick again, this time for an eye appointment at the regional hospital. Each of these trips took four to five hours and the dogs were decidedly put out, especially as we decided to push on the next day and do all the shopping and errands in town the next day. After four shops in town, four stops to deliver “thank you” biscuits to the exceptionally helpful businesses and two supermarkets we are well and truly exhausted. But – we are finally home and are easing into Christmas at last.

It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster year and I’ll do an annual catch-up of the highlights in a couple of weeks. May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and send all good wishes for the New Year.

Thank you for reading and for your support this year. It means a great deal and I hope you will stay with me for 2025.

Now I must go out and try to get the lights up along the front hedge.

Jennie.