The countdown to Christmas has begun

For NaBloPoMo November 2014 my challenge is to upload a post every day thoughout the month. That's 30 days and 30 posts. The more page views I get per day the more money I will donate to the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT). Help support my challenge by logging on daily and donating directly www.chect.org.uk. 

Yesterday's total views: 117

I can't believe it's only 6 weeks till Christmas. And I'm finally starting to feel a bit festive. For starters I've spent the evening watching a really bad Christmas movie on a special channel that magically graces our TV for the holiday period. Christmas 24 and Christmas 24+. I've never heard of them before and I've never heard of a single movie that's on there but it's strangely addictive. As a child my sister and I used to force our dad to buy a glossy TV magazine guide every Christmas, even though he wanted us to use the one that came free with the newspaper. We would then sit there and circle all the films and special programs that we wanted to record, and if there was a clash we had to work out which one to tape and which in to watch. And invariably someone would program the video incorrectly and something wouldn't record properly and then the dramas would really start! I'm sure that's a memory that rings true with most people growing up in our generation but I suspect it's different now. With sky plus you don't need a TV guide. You just scroll through and click record or series record and it's done. It's a lot easier but it really doesn't have the same magic. This year I will make sure I look through an actual paper TV guide, granted it will probably be a free one with the newspaper, but nevertheless I will use it to look out for my favourite movies and then use it to program the sky plus box! 

But even more important than TV is Christmas food and drink. For me the first sign Christmas is coming is my first latte in a Starbucks red cup. That really gets me in the mood. I also had my first mince pie the other day and I've already got my eyes peeled on which advent calendar I want this year. I'm thinking a Maltesers one could be fun. N's also found his first taster of Christmas. All week he has been talking about an amazing cross between a mince pie and a Bakewell tart he found in the cafe Apostrophe. He was thoughtful enough to bring one home (or half a dozen) so I could try it (sadly we don't have things like Apostrophe in Whitechapel where I work). I have to say he wasn't exaggerating. Light shortcrust pastry, sweet and fruity mincemeat laced with the flavour of almond frangipane.  Delicious! I. MUST. FIND. OUT. HOW. TO. MAKE. IT! That is my next mission. Anyone got any ideas???