So, what does Christmas mean to you?

In my end of October blog, I told you about the Christmas Pudding recipe that I had tried to get from my grandmother. Well, this is my recipe, taken from many different cooks and chefs who have shared their knowledge online, with my own additions.

Last year we went away for Christmas for the first time, and as we quite enjoy travelling, we thought we would do so again this year.

When I first thought about writing on this subject, I was worried that I would not find enough to say. However, having thought about it I realise that we are constantly referring to things from the past. In fact, as children that is how we learn, recognising an item or a sound that we have learned. As adults it is different, a sight or sound can immediately transport us to a previous place or time.

During our lifetime we all have different roles to play, when we are at home, or at work and in social situations, and in these different circumstances there is an expression, I am sure you have heard before, that we wear a different hat for each.

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when summer ends in Spain. Today, for instance was a beautiful day, with blue sky and sunshine, and a few days ago the temperature reached 30 degrees. However, we do have a winter, despite what some people think, and the longer you live in Spain the more acclimatised you become, and find that you change from shorts to jeans, t-shirts to jumpers, and start to wear a jacket about the same time as the Spanish do, whereas the tourists that come seeking winter sun still wear shorts.

Well, as I write this book two is going to be available as an e-book or a paperback in ten days’ time. Finally!

Well, the holiday is over. All those months of preparation and planning, and now it is all a distant memory, except for the photos, garden wall art and fridge magnets!

We had been looking forward to our summer holiday so much, especially as the previous year’s holiday was cancelled, due to me waiting for a hip replacement operation. Another reason was that we were going to a completely new region, unknown to either of us, Castilla La Mancha, the land of Don Quixote and windmills.

Well, it looks like I am back to talking about plans and planning!

My last blog was about plans and planning, so this time I thought I would talk about how I deal with plans that go awry!

How do you arrange your day-to-day planning? I am an inveterate note taker! On the fridge we have a magnetic whiteboard that can be written on and erased. We use that for jobs that are not urgent but need to be done, sometime. Then we have a weekly piece of paper, always the back of an envelope or other piece of paper we re-use, which has jobs to be done that week.