This year, for many reasons I was not going to bother with an Advent Calendar.

One reason being , I thought the Boys were now far too old for one.

But then I decided your never too old for an Advent Calendar !

So when they come home from work tonight they are in for a surprise and  I have included Laura too 🙂

How do you count the days down to Christmas ??

I like our Avon Santa Christmas countdown, everyday you remove a peg and Santa slips further down the chimney.

I have one of these for Geoff’s Granddaughter….  but sadly she wont get it till Saturday 🙁

I am not usually a biscuit baker, I much prefer to bake cakes, but its always nice to try something new, especially when you come across a recipe that takes your fancy.

I have been discovering some great new foodie web sites through twitter and have tried a couple of recipes from Best Recipes UK.

First I tried the Feta and Herb falafel, it was quick and easy to make and tasted very good, I choose not to fry mine,so oven baked them instead, they did dry out a little but next time I will spray them with oil before baking.

Next I came across a recipe for Orange Gingernut Biscuits, that I thought I must try as Geoff  loves ginger.

These were also quick and easy to make, with great results,but next time I will use crystallized Ginger instead of the orange.

Home made biscuits are quite special and I don’t think these will be around too long,so I may be trying more biscuit baking in the future

You can follow Best Recipes UK on twitter too.

I have been looking for some affordable Manuka honey for many months now and this week I noticed Aldi had started to stock it, at a very reasonable price of £3.99

So I now have my Manuka honey to take with Cider Vinegar in warm water as a drink,its meant to be very good for your digestion, circulation and  joints.

BUT its an acquired taste !

When your walking day after day it certainly gives you time to think 🙂

So while in Turkey I achieved quite a bit of thinking as we walked our 260 miles.

Two things became very clear to me…..

Firstly ,I had become totally obsessed about the food I eat and worried constantly about putting on weight, then I felt stressed and spent much of my time comfort eating

Secondly, I was feeling more and more guilty about not doing so much exercise which also stressed me out causing me to comfort eat.

Exercise used to fill a huge gap in my life, and kept me from going mad in hard and difficult times.

Now I have no Gaps in my life , in fact I wish there were more hours in a day !

When I took on extra massage work I tried to keep my exercise routine up but that just totally wore me out and left me feeling exhausted all of the time 🙁

So something had to change !

I now except that for the first time in my life I love my Home and don’t feel the need to be out amongst people all the time, I am content at home on my own, of course when I am with people I love, its quality time which I totally enjoy .

I also realize that I just do not have the time to do all the exercise that I used to do and I should not beat myself up about that either, I should just do what I enjoy when I can.

Its obvious that I don’t have time to run, go to the gym, go to yoga, swim and walk

So for now I shall eat what I want and exercise when I can, concentrating on running, walking and swimming…   if I have the courage I may even cancel my gym membership

If your wondering what A Secluded Tea Party is…

Its the first and original Pop-up Tea Party Company in Cambridgeshire, offering modern & traditional Afternoon Tea Parties Hosted by Miss Sue Flay…

Tomorrow is the first ever  Secluded Tea Party’s Blogfest, and I was lucky enough to snap up the last ticket for this event.

It all sounds like great fun,with 4 very special guests to talk to us about blogging and tell us all their stories, ideas, tips and thoughts on the world of blogging and social net.

Its an all girl Blogfest and I am sure I will meet some very interesting ladies and learn some thing new along the way too…….. as well as drink tea and eat cake 🙂