Ta-Dah! Tuesday

The 'Not-Really-Sewing' job finally got finished on Thursday or Friday (can't remember - whichever day it was I was complaining about it!) and the curtains then languished on the banister over the weekend as we had more exciting things to do than put up curtains.  This is not a great photo but just to prove that we at last got round to hanging them this evening...

Better photos MAY follow - light and room tidiness permitting!

Since last Tuesday, I also managed to finish two scarves that had been hanging around minus their buttons since before Christmas 2011.  I know a scarf with buttons sounds strange - but this is the pattern to show why... 

...and I have worked on two other of my unfinished projects - nothing new has been started whatsoever.  This constitutes major progress!

It snowed a bit yesterday,

but not enough to give rise to school closures round here, so I found myself back at work! 

The hellebores looked pretty with their fluffy white caps!

It's ages since I've done a full day teaching and 

I was pooped at the end...

Too much singing, I think it was - 'Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' or, rather, 'Tête, épaules, genoux et pieds' more times than I'd like to recall, plus a good number of verses of 'Alouette', all with lots of enthusiatic actions - it quite did me in!

Today was better, even though I probably sang even more.  I think this shows that singing improves fitness!

At the weekend, we had a bit of a party to toast the New Year with friends.  I love making nibbly bits to go with drinks, and as the party was a pretty informal thing, starting at three on Sunday afternoon, there was plenty of time to get organised.  I think it was the first time I have ever been ready for more than one guest with half an hour to spare! (I can just about manage to be ready for coffee with a friend ahead of their planned arrival...)

I tried one new recipe - Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Muffins, which were yummy...

...made up a new filling for filo baskets - Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables and Goats' Cheese - not a 

great-looking creation, but rather scrummy...

...had fun piping tiny plain and chocolate meringues...

...then failed to find time to decorate my Snowflake Cookies nicely, so just threw glace icing and silver balls at them!

Miss U-t-B was pleased to take charge of mixing cocktails, though we only offered a choice of two, this being the first time we'd made use of the shaker I was given for my birthday last year.  There was 'Berry Blush' (vodka + raspberry liqueur + lemonade) or 'Swedish Polar Bear' (vodka + blue curacao + Sprite) - I had wanted to make either 'Antifreeze' or 'Jack Frost' or 'Sub-Zero' but they either required heaps of different drinks we didn't have, or tasted revolting!

Most fun of all was colouring sugar and frosting the rims of the glasses!

WE had a good time, so hope our guests did too!  We'd definitely repeat this format - a Sunday afternoon into evening, in early January, all ages welcome, as it was pretty relaxed, and it wasn't a late night.  In fact by eight o'clock, I COULD have been tucked up in bed with a cup of cocoa - though I wasn't, as I'd already fallen asleep on the sofa...