Do you put the pics in your album, or in the gallery? That would make a difference on how you put them in a thread. I can tell you how either way- just faster if I know which place you have them.

It will be coming on 29 years this Christmas- hard to believe!

I'm going to see if I get time to put together a slide show of this summer's videos and pics. Give me something to do when the weather's nasty, lol!

Glad you've been able to get a chance to ride, and that your neice can go with you! I miss having someone to ride with, sometimes.

Speaking of pics, we never see many pics of your babies! What's up with that?

Just popped in to say hi and see how you're doing.

Gypsy's fine. Our riding was handicapped by firearms deer season, but we rode in the yard a few times.

I am starting to get acclimated to this weather now. It's going to cool down this coming week, but I'm hoping soon I'll get ambitious enough to get the sadlle back out again. It is a big plus that I don't HAVE to ride with the sadlle, though I have to admit that it's comfy! Hopefully, Gypsy will still be going strong next year, and with the help of the fleece cover, I'll be able to ride with the saddle more often. Half the time in the old days, I was just too lazy!

How have things been going for you?

24 cm = about 10 inches (just short of but a 10" pan will do )

It is an old Margaret Fulton recipe. I like it because it uses lots of eggs.

Of course I can't stick with the recipe and alter it every year to cover what I have or want to have. Macadamias in it go well.

2 1/4 cups raisins, roughly chopped
2 1/3 cups sultanas
1 2/3 cups currants
6 each dried apricots, nectarines and peaches, finely chopped
3/4 cup mixed peel
1/2 cup blanched almonds, chopped
1/2 cup glace cherries, halved
1/3 cup brandy
1/3 cup rum
250 g butter
1 cup brown sugar
5 eggs
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons marmalade
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2-3 tablespoons rum or brandy, extra
500 g ready-made fondant
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 cup icing sugar

Christmas cake means a large, rich fruitcake. This rich, spicy cake made a few weeks or even a month or two before Christmas will age and mature, ripening to a truly festive cake. Top with a pattern of blanched almonds before baking. Some people prefer to top with almond paste and a sprig of holly, while others like the more elaborate and very beautiful iced version.

Toss the dried fruit, mixed peel, almonds, cherries, brandy and rum together in a large bowl, separating the fruit pieces. Cover and set aside to soak overnight.

Preheat the oven to 150C. Grease a 24cm square cake tin. Line the base and sides with 1 layer of brown paper and 2 layers of baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the lemon rind and marmalade.

Sift the flour, mixed spice and baking powder together. Add 2 tablespoons of the sifted mixture to the dried fruits and toss through to prevent the fruit sinking to the bottom of the cake. Mix the remaining flour into the creamed mixture. Fold in the fruit. At this point it is easier to mix using your hands.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Level the top and drop the tin sharply onto the kitchen bench to settle the mixture. If your decoration is to be blanched almonds, arrange in a pattern around the top.

Bake for 2-3 hours, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the tin. Sprinkle the hot cake with extra rum or brandy. Wrap in a clean tea towel and leave on a cake rack until completely cold. Wrap the cake in baking paper and foil and store in a cool dark place until ready to use.

To cover the cake with fondant, trim the top of the cake to ensure it sits flat. Patch any holes on the cake with small pieces of fondant. Knead the fondant on a surface dusted with icing sugar until smooth. Roll to 7 mm thickness, approximately the size and shape of the top of the cake. Brush the cake with the egg white. Lift the fondant onto the cake with a rolling pin. Smooth the fondant with hands dusted with icing sugar. Trim the excess from the edge of the cake. Cut stars from scraps of fondant and decorate the cake with ribbon and stars.

just in case you miss the thread

Seriously, in some ways that isn't a bad thing. Just seems different.

You can't by anything but 3/2 beer in MN on Sundays, and even then, not until noon.

No hunting on Sundays? Why is that?

I got a chance to ride Monday and Tuesday, but I was stuck in the yard, lol! Firearms deer season, and the arena was too mucky! Still lots better than nothing, which is what it had been until now. I just jumped up on her bareback with the halter. I'm already waiting for spring, to see if I'll be able to ride Gypsy more often with the saddle with that girth cover. I was so bummed it took so long for her to heal, and then all it did was rain!

I wonder if we're all going to have a warmer winter than usual? I still have Gypsy's water tank out, at least 2 weeks longer than normal. Haven't started bucketing yet!

Glad to hear you've been getting some nice weather!

Sounds good to me.

Yes - I am going to take the 6 month free lease one in Columbia.