Today is that day of the year which has left me baffled and somewhat irritated for years. For some reason or other over the years I have not received flowers, nor chocolates, nor jewellery which is what the adverts tell me I must want which is a relief as I am not sure how comfortable I would feel to receive such gifts. As it seemed the day should be marked in some way I have developed a tradition of my own and bought a new chick flick on dvd, cooked a steak dinner then curled up on the sofa on my own in my pjs with a whole tub of Ben & Jerry's. Why? Why not? It seems that for Valentine's Day you must either revel in romance or pretend that you are horribly sad to be single but I could never get the hang of either of those options so I enjoyed every last minute of it even mixing it up some years by adding a soak in a bubble bath. Oh, yeah. One of my long standing pet peeves is the common practice of girls to disappear from their friends' social radar as soon as they get a boyfriend and they reappear only long enough around this time to show how well coupled they are by flaunting their romance before disappearing again as many do.
This year, I am engaged to a wonderful man so things are changing, not only that but my munchkins are old enough to think that some fuss should be made so I have company in the kitchen. According to all of the adverts it feels like I am supposed to be extra romantic because I am engaged. Um, yeah. Please do not think for one minute that my usual crafty ways will be abandoned in favour of this whirlwind of romance as I have a pair of knitted socks to finish (one down, one to go) and I am determined that today is the day; anything to delay blocking the two Christening shawls.The pattern for my socks came from Revelry (or can be found here: http://winwickmum.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/basic-sock-pattern-and-tutorial.html ) and the yarn is Regia Opal bought from a fabulous little craft shop on the A9 on the way home from a visit to the nearly in-laws. My resolution not to buy any yarn until I finished the Christening shawls and the shawl for my wedding has been tough at times this week but I have been able to stick to it this week although I am not sure if my OH could possibly be more surprised than me about this. It seems that even the yarn companies have decided that Valentine's day is another chance for them to sell yarn to us. It is all pervasive and I am surprised the pharmacies are not touting antacids to combat our upset tummies or paracetamol considering all of the adverts assuming we will all be eating and drinking our way through this romantic day.
This year my lovely OH came back from a night shift, we exchanged cards and gifts then he went off to bed. As a nod to today the munchkins and I baked chocolate muffins and made a fresh pot of coffee for his breakfast at half past one. It was a small but sweet gesture and as I type this he is watching the Rugby.
So, you see, there is a reason I will put my best friend and soul mate before any date on the calendar and not just because the calendar or the adverts tell me; every day is a day for love, romance and friends and I will not go over the top, nor will I scream non-conformity from the roof tops by refusing to mark this date (nb: those who buy the flowers but give them on a separate day, such as the day before or after, as a sign of non-conformity are perhaps not fully grasping the concept) because I am conforming to expressing my warm smooshy feelings for my lovely OH but it is one day among many.
Happy Valentine's Day to you all.
Hugs from Haggis Land
Jx
p.s. Chocolate muffins
6oz butter creamed with 6oz vanilla sugar (caster sugar with vanilla pods in it),
add 3 beaten eggs and 6oz of self raising flour. Mix until smooth.
Stir in 100g white chocolate chunks and 1 packet of dark chocolate chips.
This makes 12 muffins when baked at 180 degrees celsius for 20-25 minutes until cooked (test with a skewer).
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