O the rising of the sun, and the running of the deer

Merry yuletide to you,world, and you find me in excellent cheer. The smell of mincemeat and chestnuts is pretty much infused into my skin everywhere, and I am now SUPER DUPER excited about Christmas! And cripes and crackers - somehow it's Christmas Eve! I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep tonight! On Sunday my lovely friend Saffron (blogless) and I skipped into Matlock to indulge in a bit o' last minute shopping, and had a beautiful time! This is what I wore:

My shirt is from a charity shop, as is the jumper, and my new floral jeans are from Primark. You can't see it very clearly, but I'm also wearing a lovely vintage canvas backpack!

 A close-up of my floral shirt...

And a close up of the bobbles on my jumper! I wasn't sure about the jumper when I bought it, but as soon as I put it on I fell in love. It's what I class as a 'granny jumper', complete with little 3d bobbles!

 And this is a cardigan I bought in Matlock...I adore it's spanglyness (is that a real word?),and it's very Christmassy. Which is good, because have I mentioned that it's CHRISTMAS EVE?!!!

 A spangles close up!

As I was editing the afore-seen photos I accidentally did this, and thought it looked quite rad and gritty! might be just me, but I'm putting it out there. Have an extremely merry Christmas, flower faeries, and a happy new year!

Sophie

Xxx

Tis the season to be jolly!

Hello! I'm feeling super festive at the moment - tis very much the season. The advent calendar is up, the tree is very much up, and (cheese factor one trillion) good cheer is all around! I love Christmas because of all the wonderful things that come with it - the smell of pine needles and cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, the wreaths and ribbons, the mince pies and mistletoe, gah just EVERYTHING.

I love all the traditions about Christmas - for example, our friends in Czecho always send us some of these pretty pop-up angels to decorate the house with. I especially like these ones because of how gorgy and collagey they are! (Look at the little lace flowers!!)

We had our last day of school today, which was lovely because we just watched films and ate Pringles. We all exchanged presents, and felt very lovey-dovey towards one another! I know some people go away for Christmas, but I wouldn't rather be anywhere but right here, at home. I think Derbyshire in winter is lovely (if a little cold) - the bare tree skeletons are like black lace against the pearly sky...gone a little bit poetic! I hope you all have a holly jolly Christmas, and I'll leave you with the best Christmas song ever. Merry Christmas!

Sophie

Xxx

Mince pie DIY!

Hello! School has been like a massive angry Hoover of Hate sucking up all my free-time, and turning me into a sleep deprived zombie  a bit tricky lately, so I haven't had much time to boogie post recently, also I have just discovered how to do this, so you can expect quite a few silly rad crossed out words. Rightie, so, mince pies are stupendously easy, and they are also fast, fun and festive! I am desperately trying to persuade all my friends that Christmas time HAS ARRIVED, and I think they'll believe me more with a pie inside them. To make these perfect pies, you will need:

PART ONE - PASTRY!

• 225g (8oz) flour
• 1.25 ml (1/4 tsp) salt
• 100g (40z) butter
• Cold water - about a jug

1. Sift le flour and salt into a bowl.
2. Cut the butter into rough, fairly small chunks, and chuck into the bowl.

3. Then, using your fingertips, rub the butter in, until it all looks like fine breadcrumbs.
4. Add the water gradually to the mixture, and gently draw it all together, using your hands/a flut blunt knife/a spoon/all three!
5. When it's all together, turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead quickly until smooth and pliable - here's one I made earlier:

BACK TO THE MAIN RECIPE!

1. Roll out the pastry to your 'desired thickness', and once you've done that, grease a mince pie tin.

2. Use a little pastry cutter-out-erer to cut out your circles of joy! (I have a designated pastry cutter-out-erer, but if you don't use a selltape roll or a wine glass or something). For each pie, you should have a slightly bigger circle and a slightly smaller circle.

 3. Push the bigger circles into the lined tin thingies, so they fit snugly.

4. Spoon as much mincemeat as you want into each one.

5. Take the smaller circles and put it over the mincemeat as a little lid! Pinch the edges together, and make two pricks with a fork or sharp knife to allow the steam to escape.



6. Bake in the oven at 220 degrees (425F) mark 7 for 20 - 25 minutes until you decide they look so darn good you want stuff them all into your mouth in a big happy celebration of festive fun and deliciousness they're done, and then you can take them out and they should look like so:

Enjoy!