gingerbread houses and neviepie

Every year for quite a few now my daughter makes gingerbread houses as part of her business.

Natasha Collins..Neviepiecakes...designer.

I can't bear to eat these amazing pieces of art and so they sit atop my glass cupboard for me to see and love.

Yes they are gingerbread...but the amount of work and art involved makes them so much more than something to eat.

You might be able to see this year's model in Fortnum and Mason in London.....if you are quick!

This Dutch inspired one is my favourite at the moment.

Jeanie's Design

Growing up in Belfast,  we were regularly told about mum's brother and sister who died before antibiotics came into the general arena of health.

Now I'm reading the news just like everyone else, about the dangers of continual use of these medicines and I've never personally been a great one for dosing my children up with them, when they were young.

However...without them my gorgeous oldest grandgirl would not have recovered from the lung infection which has floored her recently and I would still be struggling with that dreaded...blessed ...awful... "lady thing"....cystitis!

Oh ...too much information I hear you say as you switch off!

O.K. however if there had been antibiotics in the early 30s....Jeanie my aunt, would have survived the dose of pleurisy that eventually did for her...

...and we would have had much more of this wonderful embroidery design work for which she was studying ,

 at Belfast Art College.