poppy

Sitting In A Dream ~ Deep Purple

pipe

damsels (nothing wrong with that ....peace )

battlements (I've just realised how you get your name lopeanha )

castle

A belated very warm welcome Cayleb You talking about Arthur Ransome has reminded me that I've always meant to read some of his books after hearing of them in Joyce Fussey's books - her boys loved them.

Cell phones calls are very expensive here (89 cents per minute) so I only use it for texting and the land line for talking.

My husband saw this on the The Hairy Bikers TV programme and asked me to make it for him. It is very yummy and would go down very well in the depths of winter. It is quite sweet. Sticky date cake Ingredients 110g/4oz raisins 225g/8oz chopped dates 175g/6¼oz sultanas 110g/4oz dried currants 275g/10oz butter 275ml/10fl oz water 1 x 400g/14oz can condensed milk 150g/5oz wholemeal flour 150g/5oz plain flour pinch salt 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 heaped tbsp chunky marmalade Preparation method 1. Preheat the oven to 170C/340F/Gas 3. Grease and line a 20cm/8in square cake tin. 2. Place the raisins, dates, sultanas and currants into a pan together with the butter, water and condensed milk. Slowly bring the mixture to the boil, stirring frequently to prevent the mixture from burning. Reduce the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes. 3. Transfer the mixture to a heatproof bowl and set aside to cool. 4. Meanwhile, mix together the wholemeal flour, plain flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda in a separate bowl. 5. When the fruit mixture has cooled, fold it into the flour along with the marmalade until smooth and well combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin. 6. Cover the tin with a double layer of baking parchment, then bake the cake in the oven for 1¾ hours, or until the cake is springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. 7. To serve, allow the cake to cool for ten minutes in the tin before turning it out onto a cooling rack. Serve warm, or set aside to cool completely before serving.

Thanks Janet, I've always loved little Woodstock I love your reindeer too .....he's got a sort of patient, resigned look on his face, like 'Well, if they must hang flashing baubles all over my antlers, I 'spose I'll just have to put up with it!'

Cold As Christmas In the Middle of the Year ~ Elton John

Weave's funny little furry guy

Silent Night ~ Christmas Carol

Let's Spend the Night Together ~ David Bowie

New Zealand is in mourning for the loss of 29 men's lives lost in a coal mine explosion at the Pike River Mine in Greymouth, South Island. It is six days since the first explosion and it still isn't deemed safe enough for rescuers to enter the mine and now there has been another explosion, bigger than the first and they're saying there is now no chance of anyone surviving. The youngest was a boy of 17 and it was his first day at work. Amongst the men were twenty-four from NZ, two from Australia, two from Britain and one from South Africa. The flags flew at half-mast today

You're right Pixie, he didn't have a name. Sam I Am was the one tempting him to eat green eggs and ham But that was the book I was thinking of ....your turn

Won't eat odd coloured processed pork and accompaniments no matter where it's served.

stone

Tigger from Winnie the Pooh?

Pixie, you better take a look at this ......22 pages http://www.bookclubforum.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/6011-the-eclipse-film-thread/

Popple

Haven't read them either but after watching New Moon, if I had the choice between reading the books and lying on a bed of nails, having water torture and getting my toenails yanked out slowly I'd probably choose the latter. I rolled my eyes so much during the movie that I'm lucky the wind didn't change.

A non-fiction book I really enjoyed was Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson. It starts off in Hammerfest, Norway in winter with the author waiting to see the Northern Lights. He goes on to travel all through Europe. Bryson is a very funny writer and it's something I can imagine hunkering down with, to read in winter

Another John Irving one is Widow For One Year. A few others I can think of .... The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller The Colour Purple by Alice Walker

Tell Me Why I Don't Like Mondays ~ Boomtown Rats

I haven't read this but by all accounts Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane sounds up your street. The recently released film was based on the book. Here's a link to a review http://www.curledup.com/shutter.htm