This was what was waiting for me when I came downstairs this morning to make the breakfast!
I was so surprised, I didn't believe they were for me! It's not my birthday quite yet!
Then when I was reassured that they really were, I was so happy and excited! My sweet Papa Bear has bought me four more Gooseberry Patch books - Christmas ones, this time! Let me share the titles with you ...
The Christmas Table, available from Amazon.co.uk here.
The Christmas Kitchen, available here.
Christmas In The Country, available here.
And Homemade Christmas, available here.
Papa Bear also got me the basket to keep them in - and I think they look so pretty in it too! I really can't recommend the Gooseberry Patch cook books highly enough. Already I have cooked several recipes out of the ones that he bought me previously and they have all been a great success (and will be getting copied onto recipe cards, along with many others, to go into my menu planning box). They are very similar, I have found, to the recipes that you get in the Taste Of Home magazine series - straightforward, not using too many ingredients, not fancy, but good, hearty homespun dishes that really seem to appeal to my family.
Papa Bear especially likes them because they suit his tastes and appetite - and that's a really good thing, because it means I get lovely surprises like this one! Aren't I a lucky Mama Bear! I was so excited to see these beautiful gifts this morning. And I've been busy looking through my lovely new books and marking out lots of recipes to try as the nights draw in and it gets colder and more wintry. It's been very chilly indeed here the last few days - in parts of the country, cold enough for frost! I love the gorgeous autumn scenery that we see in the mornings when I walk with Papa Bear through the park. Through the seasons we see the trees that line the paths change from bare dark limbs to fuzzy green buds, to bright shiny dancing leaves and then to gold, yellow, orange, before their foliage starts to fall and they become bare again. Today there were lots of leaves on the ground - and other signs of autumn too! Squirrels, toadstools, berries, rosehips. The grass all dewy, and the sky misty with the cold. It is wonderful to see how God's perfect creation means nature takes care of itself all year round, constantly renewing and growing and resting. I find it an inspiration - a message to us to do the same, and take care of ourselves too. I plan to do that in the best way that I can - by making sure my precious family are well fed all through the winter - and thanks to Papa Bear, we can certainly be sure of that!
