Wet Weather, Birthdays and Finger Puppetry

It's been a very soggy week up here in the West Highlands, and when it hasn't been wet it has been very chilly.  We haven't had any snow yet but there is plenty up on the hills already.  I have given the hens an extra thick layer of straw to keep them warm in the new hen house that Matt built this summer - so far it is doing a great job of keeping all the water out.  And now that we've had a good dose of frost it is parsnip time - I've lifted our first ones today, and although they were rather small I've told myself that they would be classed as 'baby' versions in the supermarket and therefore be twice the price of the larger ones!  They were boiled, roughly mashed and added to a chicken & parmesan risotto along with the lovely parsnippy water they were cooked in.  Delicious!

So while I've been sheltering from the rain and delegating all the dog-walking duties to my other half, I have been keeping busy making these little finger puppets as a Christmas gift for one of my nephews. 

They were great fun to make, although I must admit the stitching around the sides got a bit fiddly at times and I regretted some of the sticky-out bits as I attempted to blanket-stitch around them!  I have worked on them over the last few evenings and have enjoyed showing Alby a new one each morning.  He hasn't been allowed to get his sticky mitts on them - he has, however, had plenty of other presents this week as today he has celebrated his very first birthday!  Happy birthday Alby!  We're having another (mainly adults) celebration for him when some friends come over on Saturday and we have a rather elaborate idea for a cake.  If we pull it off I will blog it here, so if you don't see it you'll know it went belly-up!

Jen x