Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Reindeer

Current work: French duo book 2 (deadline is today. Crash and burn, baby. New deadline now Friday. Have I mentioned that I love my ed and my agent?)
Listening to: Corelli
Reading: Nicola Slade, Scuba Dancing (enjoyed)

I spent yesterday obsessively checking the weather forecast. Kids, at dinner: ‘Dad, it’s going to snow tomorrow. Are you taking us to school?’ DH: ‘No, your mother is.’ He waited until they looked utterly shocked, then added, ‘It was meant to snow for six hours today. It was sunny all day. The roads are NOT that bad. I salted the road from our house to the junction. She will be fine.’

I might’ve whimpered at that point, because he relented enough to say that if it got any worse, he’d do the afternoon school run. Oh, boy. Going to be Corelli in the car, and absolute silence from the kids while I negotiate the hill.

Daughter spent yesterday morning looking through her recipe books. I bought her the Aussie Women’s Weekly cookbook for kids as an extra Christmas pressie; she’s been a bit grumpy about losing a recipe for gingerbread (from a novel she read last year), so was very pleased to discover a nice gingerbread recipe in her new book. So then she nagged until I agreed to do it with her. We made gingerbread reindeer. (Thought of my ed. When we were, ahem, discussing the reindeer in Temporary Boss, Permanent Mistress, she promised I could have reindeer in my next Christmas med. Guess what I’m due to start writing on Saturday?)

This is the end result. (Baking, I mean. Haven't started writing the Med, yet.)



And I can confirm that the reindeer tastes as nice as it looks. Not beating self up about scoffing forbidden food, though, as the scales yesterday morning said that all the Christmas weight gain has gone. (That’s ‘actual Christmas’ weight gain. The ‘early Christmas’ weight gain has yet to go, but I will be good for the rest of the week. And all the calories in said reindeer are probably being burned off in nervous energy as my fingers fly across the keyboard, checking the weather forecast.)

Not visiting Dad today because (a) I have the sniffles, and it’d be unfair to spread it to elderly people with a low immune system (meaning they’d have a far worse version of it than I have – I can cope with judicious use of lemsips and tissues) and (b) the road to the nursing home is single track and there are no hedgerows, so it’s going to be horribly icy and not worth the risk. Not sure about guitar, either: depends on the weather. Excuse me while I just go and check the BBC and Met Office websites…

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh that gingerbread looks delicious- but well done on loosing the xmas 'pudding pounds.'
weather here at the moment = blue sky sunny - with suspicious looking heavy pink and white low cloud on horizon.
Coming home from school? Um..
Have a good one. :-)

Kate Hardy said...

Roads to school OK (apart from the one round the corner) because I stuck to the main ones rather than the back roads. Longer journey but safe.

Snowing here. Have already had a call from Mr Kate as it's snowing where he is, so I don't have to spend the day fidgeting. I'm wrapped in a blanket, nursing horrible cold. (Hope yours is better.)

Caroline said...

Any chance of winging one of those lovely biscuitss over my way - diet or no diet they look srummy!
Snowed here on Anlgesey today - a rare occurrence as the salt air normally keeps the snow away - so yes 1 inch fell and the whole island ground to a halt! School were shut - we were sent home from the Council. Gawd help us if 2 inches should fall I don't know what will happen. But I know others have had it really bad so hats off to them for dealing with it! Take care. Caroline x

Lacey Devlin said...

*Applause* for your reindeer :D I have no idea how you deal with the snow, I'd whimper too!

Unknown said...

That reindeer looks far too good to eat!

Hope that cold is soon gone and congrats on losing that weight. I haven't dared go near the scales...

Kate Hardy said...

Nina - it was :o)

And we escaped the snow yesterday, to my relief. School run was fine.

Kate Hardy said...

Caroline - they were. There are none left. (I'm innocent, I swear. Innocent!)

Blimey, that is rare to have snow like that on the coast. Stay safe today.

Kate Hardy said...

Lacey - thank you. The reindeer would take a bow, except he was actually the first one scoffed. (By daughter, not me. I ate his brother.)

Snow... I just don't deal with it.

Kate Hardy said...

Shirley - he was very scrummy. I feel no guilt :D

And thank you!