Happy New Year!

We have spent today at home, and I did a fair bit of pottering about and helping Sophie with her mammoth preparations for tonight's dinner. I'm so proud that she wanted to make a three-course meal this evening, and the smells wafting about were heavenly!

Needless to say, the weather was horrible again with no hint of sunshine at all, although it's supposed to be better tomorrow. I can't believe my time off work has gone so quickly! The time has sped by and after today, Sophie and I just have one more day off before it's back to work on the 2nd of January.

In the afternoon I decided to do some research on my family tree, but my DNA results have definitely made me question the supposed Irish side of my family. If I had Irish great-grandparents, as I thought I did, surely there would be more DNA from there?

I went back to my Great-Great Grandfather, who was born in Kingston-upon-Thames, and I think I may have found his birth certificate, with his name spelt slightly differently. It means I need to send off for it, with the possibility it's incorrect, but I may take that chance. This branch of my tree has been infuriatingly difficult to research, and it could have been that they were Catholic, as my Grandmother was raised in this faith when she was a baby.

Towards the evening I gave up and went to have a long soak in the bath. Sophie wanted to kick off the proceedings early, with Moscow Mule cocktails and an early starter so we could pace ourselves. She made delicious drinks with vodka, fiery ginger beer and lime juice which we enjoyed in the living room.

We ate our starter - Samosa chaat - at about 6.30pm and the dish was delicious and very pretty!

The vegetable samosas were served on a bed of spicy chickpeas, and topped with red onion and Indian spicy snacks.

We then had a decent interval before the main course - chicken Tikka Masala served with rice and naan bread.

We used the new rice bowls I'd bought!

All the effort that Sophie had taken with the meal had paid off and it was beautiful. We watched the Christmas episode of Death in Paradise after the meal and finished with the dessert of the Gulab Jaman served with kulfi ice cream and a glass of Falooda.

Our own Falooda!

It was a long slog until midnight but we made it and watched the fireworks in London before wishing each other a Happy New Year! Let's hope 2024 is a good year for us all!

Happy New Year!