Ginger Bread House Making

Woke to a light covering of snow and the silence that those snowflakes seemed to encourage. Roads are deserted while wise people stay in their homes. No us, up just after 9 and after scraping the ice and snow off the car we tentatively made our way to the beach for our swim in the snow. Susan wanted to swim in the snow and today she did just that, my swim was a speedy affair, maybe 2 minutes and then a quick dry off and the layers back on, my fingers have a mind of their own, and slowly my body warmed up and feeling sanctimonious, we drove home. 13 days to our Christmas swim, I hope to carry on swimming every day until New Year.

Today's weather: Sea temperature; 10.7deg C, Air temperature; 0.0deg C, Weather; snowing, Wind; 9 mph

Today is Gingerbread house making day, another Christmas tradition in our house and a jolly one at that. Walls will fall over, the odd roof will collapse, some will be covered in snow, and others will be perfect, but that is what it is all about.

Gingerbread house-making lived up to all expectations. Lady Vivienne brought her expertise along with her bubbly personality. Julia and Peter took their task very seriously and I, for one, would be happy to stay in that well-constructed Gingerbread house. They did have some issues with the cement, over-ordered and with the shortage of cement in the UK, the others were left a little short but they did offer the excess to anyone who needed it.

Jessica and Jack did an outstanding job of eating more gingerbread than actually building and the mulled wine went down a treat. Jessica sat back, consumed mulled wine and watched as Jack tried his hand at the build. Well at least they tried and that must amount to something, maybe next year?

I did say walls will collapse, and they did. Gary and Alex’s house was wobbly from the start and just survived the photo session before having a major structural collapse due to poor workmanship and putting too much weight on the roof with their internet cables, pity, but Bruno the Great did give it an outstanding 10 out of 10 for flavour.

Claudia and Pricilla, Queen of the Desert came up trumps with a well-decorated house which was the envy of the whole room. Unique lightweight construction and the recommended amount of cement produced a strong, stable home for any elves who are homeless this Christmas.

Lady Vivienne went for a cottage design in light brick construction. With just the right amount of glue and Christmas decor, this was a good contender for Ginger Bread Maker 2022. Susan was meant to help her but with so many people around she was easily distracted, giving Lady Vivienne free rein and the results did not disappoint.

Michael just had to be different, a Ginger Bread Train, yes train, what a strange idea but he has always loved trains and this one was a true labour of love. I must say it did resemble a Pakistani Taxi once completed. It now sits proudly on our dining room table, no longer wanted as it is covered with icing decorations and two of the tinder box wheels are missing, hence it is on our table, without all its wheels it can go nowhere. Your help in understanding the problem with regard to the wheels is highlighted in the three images I have uploaded. looking carefully you can clearly see there are no wheels on the right-hand side of that train.

Finally, Robert and Lauren built their Ginger Bread house in Nottingham and sent us the photographic evidence just before Robert the Bruce attacked it with a screwdriver. Talk about venting your frustrations, what did that well-built Ginger Bread house ever do to him? Overall a good effort, one word of caution, always have a front door, which makes for easy entry. Hopefully, those two young adults can tear themselves away from wherever they are next year and join us.