Friday 8 January 2016

LIFE: Grab a Cuppa Tea, Lets Have a Catch Up

So before I jump into the deep end of back to somewhat normal blogging, I thought we'd just have an easy chit-chat about everything that happened since the last time I properly shared a post back at the start of December. Truth be told, nothing much, but enough to ramble on about for a short while so here goes.

Detroit

Christmas was quiet which is just how we like it. We hacked the ham to pieces to fit it into the slow cooker (and used this yummy recipe) and had enough leftovers to feed a small army. In fact I still think there's some bourbon vanilla cranberry sauce kicking around in the far flung corners of the fridge. I did manage to sneak a quick pep at Detroit's Christmas tree down in Campus Martius, one day I'll wrap up enough to get up close and person with it. Although I didn't manage to grab a photograph of the tree this year, Detroit was looking all sparkly and festive.

Merry Christmas

Speaking of Christmas, the last stitching finish of 2015 - and the last piece of stitching I've done was a pretty "Have Yourself a Merry Christmas" from the 2013 (I think ...) edition of Cross Stitcher Magazine. I'm actually on a self imposed ban when it comes to cross stitching until I get my new glasses which is kinda hard.

Coloring

So no stitching has led to lots of reading and lots of coloring in - mainly because they don't cause too much eye strain at least. In fact most of Christmas Day was spent coloring in. It's true what they say about coloring in being a great stress reliever, it's certainly helping me a lot. And when I haven't been coloring in, I've been reading - working my way through an endless library of Marvel comics and some great graphic novels I've come across or received for Christmas gifts.

I'm thinking of talking more about books on the old blog, particularly graphic novels, but honorable mentions for great reads since my last Small Things post go out to;  The Shocking Story of Helmuth Schmidt by Tobin GT. Buhk, Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, El Deafo by Cece Bell, Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson, The Marvels by Brian Selznick, Smile by Raina Telgemeier, Saga v1 & 2 (that's all my library has at the moment boo) by Brian K. Vaughan.

Yeah I've read a few very good books lately - if you have any book recommendations leave them in the comments!

Michigan Radio

We became sustaining Michigan Radio members during the winter pledge week. To give a bit of background for non American's National Public Radio (NPR) stations predominately run on listener donations. Plus here it's so it's hard to find news sources in America that tend to not have political bias, and Michigan Radio does the job for me. So we became members, set up our monthly donations (which I urge you to support your own local NPR stations) and ended up with a huge bistro mug that holds enough coffee to bathe in.

Burger

December also saw us eating out at some new places to me at least (Social House - West Bloomfield and The Library in Novi) and a return to my favorite burger joint, well one of my favorite places in all of Detroit - the Mercury Bar down in Corktown. Because December seems to be all about eating and then eating some more. I also had a great cup of Mexican hot chocolate from Cafe Con Leche for a Christmas Eve treat down in Mexicantown, damn that stuff was tasty!

So that was my December for the most part. January is kicking itself off in it's chilly Michigan way and I'm excited to get back into blogging. 

Rachael

5 comments:

  1. The cross stitch has made me weep for Christmas past. Or it would have, if I'd been a more emotional sort, it's lovely! Looking forward to whatever you stitch up this year (once your specs are sorted) as long as it's ANYTHING from the Benedict Cumberstitch book!
    M x

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  2. I LOVE the cross stitch - that's my favourite festive song. I got a cross stitch pattern plus some Aida and thread for Christmas so am going to have a go at that this weekend. Wish me luck, I haven't done cross stitch for years!

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  3. Sounds like a lovely month! Your cross stitch is so pretty <3

    Jess xo
    http://www.theindigohours.co.uk

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  4. I love the new look of the blog and the new name Racheal! Sounds like you've had a lovely Christmas and I love the shot of the Christmas tree. The cross stitch is so pretty and the fact you're supporting your local radio station is so cool. The final foodie shot looks so yummy too! - Tasha

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  5. It's so nice to see you back on my feed! You sound really refreshed in your writing. I like the sound of your December, nice and simple, I'm glad you had a great holiday season!


    I'm not very good at book recommendations, I am currently reading whatever looks interesting in the long list of free kindle books :) And working my way through the Series of Unfortunate Events because I've always wanted to read them.

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