NO SNOW, QUICK SIP SLOE

As you can see from these photographs it was a very frosty start to the day and very slippery in places. So far today.......and it's 2pm at the moment......I've not turned the heating off....Powergen will LOVE me for that!!!
With Christmas getting closer and closer I thought it about time I got the Sloe Gin strained. I haven't any muslin in the house at the moment so used one of Mick's handkerchiefs - all washed and sterilised I must add - I'm leaving it to have a good long drain while I type this post; I don't want to risk any going to waste!!! Next thing will be to do some tasting before I bottle it up......LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT!!!.......I wonder how much difference it will make to the flavour the sloes not having been frosted before picking?

Manda popped in as usual during her lunch hour. LAST day of term today! She had a little story to tell us about something that had happened at school and I must share it with you;

earlier during the term the children all learnt how to make recycled paper. The local recycling centre was doing a competition and the children had to make something from the paper. Manda's school made Angels. Manda had made a piece of paper herself and she showed the children how to cut and fold the paper to make the Angels and where to put their initials on them so that they would know which one was made by which child. Some of the angels were used in the Christmas displays but the teacher picked out a few of the best to put into the competition. Well today PRIZES turned up at the school - although they had not won the major prize some of the Angels had won 1st, 2nd and 3rd in one of the categories. The only problem was one of the Angels was initialed MW and there was no child with the initials MW in the class......................suddenly the penny dropped!!!!......................THE TEACHER HAD INADVERTENTLY PUT MANDA'S ANGEL IN THE COMPETITION!!!!............so Manda is now the owner of a new pencil case and much relieved that at least her Angel got first prize and she wasn't beaten by a 7 year old!!!!

Well time to get bottling.........Manda will be sure to pop in on her way home.....it's a bit of a tradition with us that she always comes and has a wee dram of something on the last day of term to celebrate. Now I wonder if she'd like to help me out with the Sloe Gin tasting???.......