The Pink Princess is bounding about the place, reminding all who will listen that her birthday is approaching. She was due to arrive on Christmas Eve, but with her usual impatience decided that she'd hung around for quite long enough and was born two weeks early by emergency C-section. Since her arrival I feel that its not really Christmas until after her birthday...but there are things I need to get done in order to be ready in time. The problem I have is gathering the energy and impetus to start my Christmas preparations. I have a touch of the 'Bah humbug!'s this year. The in-laws are due to visit soon. They combine their pre-Christmas visit with their Pink Princess' birthday visit and so arrive a fortnight before Christmas and stay for the weekend. This means that I have to have their gifts ready, as well as those for other members of the family that live at their end of the country...each year I am found wrapping stuff frantically while they are tapping their toes, ready to depart.
This year will be different (each year I promise myself the same thing!)....I am almost done with gift shopping and I have completed a large part of my gift knitting. Just some size 12 socks for BIL (and my husband's sweater) left to do. Oh, and all the washing and blocking of the things I have managed to complete. It's do-able. Honest!
However, I have started the mincemeat for the mince pies. I make a no-added sugar version as my beautiful Pink Princess is an insulin dependant diabetic. This mincemeat is as good as any I've tasted, with the natural sweetness of the dried fruit and a hint of brandy. It doesn't keep for long but can be frozen and I've made enough for MIL and a friend whose newly diagnosed son is encountering his first festive season as a diabetic. Its not easy when they are surrounded by seasonal advertising and displays of huge tins of chocolates and sweeties. Sometimes life sucks!
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