A few tips for Christmas - tea lights, candles and where to buy them

We always have the whole family here at Christmas. The house is perfect for this. Lots of bedrooms and bathrooms, a big kitchen, a dining room that seats lots of guests, and our lovely lounge with log fire and baby grand piano.

I don't spend a fortune on buying new decorations each year, but I do have a few suggestions for decorations that look good and don't cost a packet. You'll find some good little home made Christmas tips here.

You'll see tea lights feature a lot. I find the best value and best choice locally for me is at Homebase, Kendal. You can see what Homebase have to offer here.

For a truly great and inspirational set of candle, lights and other Christmas decorations, look at old favourite John Lewis. As I love John Lewis but don't live anywhere near a store, I use the online order service a lot, and it's excellent.

Here's a lovely candle from the John Lewis Christmas range.

Damson chutney made and bottled ready for Christmas

Damsons are one of my favourtie fruits. They grow well in the Lakes, and this year has been a bumper year, so I've made damson chutney.

Here is the mixture at the start of cooking

White Moss House Damson chutney ready to cook

                                             Then a couple of hours later

White Moss chutney ready for bottling.

I used a recipe in one of my favourite old cookery books,

Beatrix Potter's Country Cooking by Sara Paston-Williams, published in 1991.You can still buy this book from amazon, either new or second hand.




The recipes come from the Lake District, and are all really excellent. Damsons and other Lakes local ingredients are used. This could make a great gift for someone who loves the Lakes and loves to cook.

Readers in the USA can buy the book here. The Beatrix Potter Country Cooking Book
I'll post a picture of the finished chutney later. If you don't want to miss it, follow me!