A Looo...ooo....ng Weekend Roundup

Well, lucky me - I have had a four day long weekend for Melbourne Cup Day - the horse race that stops a nation!  (I took a day of Annual Leave on the Monday) - what bliss to have four free days!

So, what did I do?

1. I, and my DYS, took my DD (93) and DM (90) shopping for some necessities at a local shopping mall and we had a nice lunch out, too.

2. I visited my DF, Marita, in hospital - she had fallen off her bike and broken her left wrist very badly, poor thing!

3. I won a special giveaway from Myra of Gr8dame's Place - she decided to have a 2nd winner to her giveaway where she is going to make a little gift for someone!  What a lovely surprise - thank you, Myra!

4. I made my Xmas puddings - pic below - so now I am all ready for Xmas (well, not quite!)

Yes, that is right - they are boiled in oven bags!  It is a really cool way to do it!  They are boiled for four hours like a normal pudding and then, once  cooled, they keep in the refrigerator until Christmas.  On the day, each one reheats in the microwave for ten minutes!  Easy Peasy!

5. TraderVic and I went to see the film, "Argo" - if you haven't seen it yet, I can really recommend it.  It is the story of how six Americans are rescued from Iran in 1979/1980 when the American embassy is overrun by Iranians.

6. I did a little bit of shopping for me, too.  I bought some nice navy blue shorts and a blue and white striped sleeveless top with big red flowers all over it.  Do you like it?

7. I went for a swim - did my usual laps - I thought that I better get some exercise in!

8. I did lots of reading.  I finished reading Justin Cronin's "The Twelve", another light romance and "The Hangman's Daughter" by Oliver Potzsch.

9. I was chosen by Parsley of Seasons of my mind to be her Autumn/Fall partner in an exchange for next year - how much fun will that be?  Thank you, Parsley.

10.  I received two lovely parcels from Jeanette of Jeanette's Place as part of our Santa Sack Exchange:

Isn't my Santa Sack looking really full - lots of lovely parcels inside.  Thank you to Cheryll of Gone Stitchin' for organising the swap!

11. TraderVic and I had some of our lovely friends over for a BBQ for Cup Day - I made some homemade bread and homemade hummus:    Yum!

12. ... and, of course, I stitched, but that will have to wait for the next post (this one has got long enough and my laptop is about to run out of battery!)

Hugs to everyone,