Bright spots

I have one cyclamen on my windowsill at the moment. I look past it out the window when we eat meals, or when I work at the dining room table. Often, its one of the few bright things in my field of view, and I'm enjoying it so much. I'm also enjoying the last of the apples, now on the ground and being devoured by a motley flock of birds every day. Most days we have 15 or 20 birds in the garden at any time, gradually making their way through the last of the crop.

Christmas cheer

The sloe gin is bottled. The gift bags have been made. The shortbread has been baked (and eaten!), and tomorrow I think we'll cut the Christmas cake. What a most excellent time of year.

I bulk bought the bags for the wedding - treat bags for our very little guests - and had some left over, so a wee scrap of ribbon and hand printed labels (not by me!) made them a bit more festive. I really love how they came out. The ribbon and labels are from Flash in the Pan - a pop-up shop in Summertown at the moment. Very much worth checking out - lovely lovely stuff in there!
The sloe gin is not destined for gift bags - it is destined for a years eeking out, its such lovely stuff. It is quite a light colour this year, I think my sloe-piercing was less than thorough. But it still tastes divine.