At the weekend I...

• Went to a Christmas party and fit in my dress. Admitedly, there was no space for the padded strapless bra but thanks to my modest frontage, fellow party goers were none the wiser and I was a whole lot more comfortable. I could actually breathe and eat. Bonus.

• Watched snowflakes the size of a child's hand fall on the ground. Winter is truly here. Let's just hope the snow remains sporadic and doesn't mess up our Christmas plans. We've suffered enough in the last couple of years!!

• Pealed chestnuts in preparation for a Christmas day chestnut puree. French traditions all the way.

• Did some shawl knitting. I've given myself tomorrow night as a deadline for blocking. Nan should be arriving on Christmas eve (fingers crossed) and I hope to have the shawl blocked and dried by then so that the surprise isn't ruined.

• Wore a new golden glittery top with pride at a famous jazz club in London Town. Totally blended in and felt very festive. The martini cocktail may have helped.

• Pealed some more chestnuts.

• Did some more knitting.

• Made cranberry sauce and plonked it in the freezer. One less thing to do this week. (Ok, so not French all the way. The English have got a few things right and cranberry sauce is one of those!)

• Thought about marzipaning my Christmas cake but just didn't get round to it. Was too busy pealing chestnuts and knitting a shawl.

• Had a little internal weep over the state of my fingers. Handling boiling hot chestnuts all weekend and pealing approximately 1.5kg takes its toll. That puree better be good!