This Week

I have been...

• Amused by this Christmas decoration in Home Sense. It is indeed "exactly what you weren't looking for". 
• Won a book! Apparently wins come in twos :) I've won Kathryn of Yesilikethat's DIY Fashionista giveaway - the book is by the lady who writes A Pair & A Spare, which I've had in my Google Reader quite a while. It's a blog with a refreshing attitude - see something you like & make it. It's a fashion blog that's not about "buying into" looks. Hurrah for that, I say.
• Spending a lot of time nursing cups of tea and coffee while battling with Java and the Android API. Sometimes I can find the answer I'm looking for instantly, sometimes it takes an hour of re-formulating the question and repeated Googling.

•  Drinking tea! I've decided that I *do* like tea, but it's best hot and accompanied by cake of some sort. Having a pot and a small cup means it doesn't have time to get cold in the cup. The other afternoon my sister gave me a fondant fancy too :)
• Missing the Boy. All this work and freezing cold weather doesn't make me feel the best, on top of being far away. It'll be over soon and I've made a big list of little steps to get me there.
• Being visited. Yesterday I was in town while my sister was working; Boy was at a loose end and made the spontaneous decision to hop on a train down and join me. It was a nice afternoon of coffees and sofas and doing not much. Definitely made me feel better.

• Crocheting: I was wondering what to make for a friend (won't say who in case she's reading) and found this pattern for crochet cats in my "Making Things" bookmarks folder. I pulled out some soft green yarn from my stash & made this little chap. His nose is a shank button and his eyes and whiskers are leftover wool from another project. He doesn't stand up very well because his body is stuffed with old popcorn - I think it's ok though, he's just a lazy cat :) He was really very easy to make, I recommend the pattern. It's written in UK notation and requires nothing more complicated than dc2tog.
• Cooking: I made lemony chicken tagliatelle one night and a curry of assorted vegetables another, both of which I've done many times before. To go with the curry I made my first attempt at naans using this recipe but with dried coriander and black onion seeds (nigella) which I added to the dough, instead of  the chilli and fresh coriander. They turned out considerably flatter and more tortilla-y than the recipe photos but they did rest for too long and I may have under-done the baking powder.

Right, back to work! I hope everyone's staying warm & has most of their Christmas shopping out of the way :)