5th December

I just don't get anywhere near my craft projects...no time or am I just lazy? A bit lazy I guess. I woke up at 7.30 am this morning to let the dog out. It was pouring cats and dogs, I am really tired of all this rain. How much water do we actually get this autumn??? Anyway, I just went in my dressing gown outside to stand in the rain and wait till Felix found the right place to lift up his pow. Because not every tree or pole is suitable for lifting his pow at, you know my dears. And then after comming back to my cosy warm bedroom I made a huge mistake and decided to lay down for just a couple of minutes. Right, you get the idea...next time I opened my eyes it was already 10 am...and still raining. So half of the day has passed.

The only decent thing you can do when it's raining outside is ... COOK! At my local supermarket you can find great dels on Saturdays. So what I often do is go there on Saturday and get as much as I canin promotion. They have vegetables sliced and packed on a very interesting price. My problem is that if you have to buy all the ingredients let's say for a soup, it's too much for one person. But when I buy it pre-packed it's just enough for 2-3 meals for me. So today I got some soup mixes - one for marrow soup and the other one for parsley soup. As they were in promotion, it means they had to be cooked the same day. So I have made 2 pots of soup and I am going to freeze one of them. This is also great for using in the week, when I have less time for cooking.

Marrow soup:

700 ml water

2 small green marrows

celery leaves

1 onion

1 handful of spinache

5-6 leaves of fresh mint

2 cloves of garlic

salt, pepper and spices

Just let the water boil, add all the vegetables and cook approx 20 minutes. Add salt and spices, blend it all and serve!

Суп с кабачком:

700 мл воды

2 маленьких цуккини

листва сельдерея

1 луковица

горсть свежих листьев шпината (или 1 кубик замороженного шпината)

5-6 листочков свежей мяты

2 дольки чеснока

соль, перец, специи по-вкусу

Овощи порезать кубиками, шпинат добавлить цельными листьями. Дать воде закипеть, добавить овощи и варить до готовности примерно 20 мин. Добавить соль и специи. Все перемешать в блендере и подавать горячим.

Parsley soup:

600 ml water

1 leek

1 onion

1 turnip

celery leaves

parsley 100 gr

Just let the water boil, add all the vegetables except for parsley, cook for about 20 minutes, add parsley at the very end, some salt and spices and blend it. It's ready!!!

Суп с петрушкой:

600 мл воды

1 лук-порей

1 луковица

1 репа

листва сельдерея

100 гр петрушки

Овощи порезать, дать закипеть воде.В соленую воду положить все овощи кроме петрушки, поварить примерно 20 мин. Под конец добавить порезанную петрушку и специи. Все смешать в блендере, подавать горячим.

I have also put the red bans into cold water to let them soak over the night as toorrow I am going to make quite an old-fashioned bean soup with pig's tails and hoof for my friend. He is not an Orthodox so he doesn't have Lent at the moment. It is heavy stuff but very tasty and quite healthy btw...

Last but not least as promised a couple of pictures of my Christmas preparations:

My birdies again as you can see... The very first Christmas card this year fron my mom... A bit too early but nowadays you never know how long will it take till something you post gets to its destination.

Birdies again, some napkins and chair cushions from Ikea. You remember, I am going red and white this Christmas.

This wounderfull emroidery I got from my friend. Her mother made this emroidery for a Christmas card. I've liked it so much that I have decided to cut it out fom the card and put it into a frame so I can use it during the Christmas season.

Crocheted stars ad flowers to use as decoration for a Christmas tree or to give as a little present...

And the rest is for tomorrow my dears. Have a very nice and cosy evening!!!