Christmas is almost here. And we are looking forward to having Mia, Nicholas, Jack and Angus here for several days, all arriving on Yuletide eve and staying for 2-3 days.

My specialty is doing a baked leg of ham, and I have been doing this for the past 30 years or so....so I have been examining hams wherever I can to get the best buy. We are having, apart from my baked ham, a cold Christmas lunch of seafood.

But before that, and for brekky, we will devour Christmas Eggs....and here is the recipe for this brilliant dish...Although why they are called Christmas Eggs escapes me because I could gobble them up greedily every day of the week.

Ingredients

1 egg per person.

Slices of ham.

1 slice of bread per person.

Seeded mustard.

Parmesan cheese.

Method

Heat oven to around 180C.

Seperate the eggs, keeping the yokes separate but whipping all the whites in a bowl.

Toast the bread.

Grate the cheese.

Spread the toast lightly with butter and mustard.

Place ham on the buttered and mustarded toast, and then mound the toast with the whipped whites, creating a hollow in the top. Drop a yoke into each hollow, and then sprinkle the egg and yoke with grated cheese. Place all the serves on an oven tray in a moderate oven and bake until the peaks of egg white are turning a golden yellow.

Remove and serve. YUM!

Apart from looking forward to Christmas, life has been quiet. Had a good meeting at the Kyneton Men's Shed yesterday and organised a committee to oversee the construction of the new shed, and sorted out our Christmas luncheon. I am going to try crowd funding via the Internet to get our final $20,000 dollars to add to our existing $100,000. Going to offer a personalised Honorary Membership certificate to everyone who gives $25, together with an invitation to attend 4 sausage sizzles a year. I reckon this could have novelty appeal to people all over the world, and is worth a try.

Meanwhile, Jules has been clipping our box plants, of which there are around 200! Now, about 150 are forming hedges, so only the rest are individuals. She has been hankering for Japanse topiary shears costing around $130, and has been making do with el cheapo versions coating about $25....but little does she realise than I have a set of the Japanese ones hidden in my wardrobe and I'll present them to her Christmas Day. Just a pity that she has to use the old clippers to topiary the boxes before Christmas!

So....after Christmas here at Hedgerow Cottage, we will all head for South Australia for a couple of weeks for a beach holiday.....although our's might also involve several days at Port Fairy.

My health remains so so. It is all very well to say "use it or lose it". But I am finding that even if I use it regularly that I am losing it. I exercise by walking each day for 30 minutes, help to the best of my ability with gardening (fetching and carrying) and do my share of the household chores (vacuuming, sweeping, cooking etc). Yet nothing really seems to work? Suggestions, anyone?

I apologise in advance for any predictive text errors..... :-)