Christmas is coming...and there's a shortage of goose fat!

One of the celebrity chefs (Nigella, I think) talked on their cooking show about goose fat and how it makes the best roast potatoes in the world! Now, there's a shortage in the supermarkets. Alas! I suppose I'll have to use duck fat instead or return to the olive oil of my past. Do you have a favorite method for making roast potatoes or any other part of the Christmas feast?

We're spending Christmas in Swansea with Naomi, James and Emma. We've decided that all presents will be kept to a £20-30 maximum and they must be bought on sale, at a charity shop or be made by the giver. It is less of a challenge than I thought and, with the exception of Cliff I seems to have finished.

Today, I sent off some presents to my sister's children in Cyprus and bought stamps for some of my cards. This is the area I want to work on nest year. I don't send many cards, and only to people I don't see often. However, there seem to be a lot nonetheless. I was wondering if it might be better to make contact with people throughout the year instead of only at Christmas. Would this be better? Would we develop a better relationship? Then again, there is the question as to whether or not people I don't see all that often care to keep in touch with me.

I have friends from my past who I try to keep in touch with. I write, I phone on occasion and they always seem happy to hear from me but never make contact themselves. What does this tell me? They're lazy? They don't really care? Keeping in contact is not such a big deal for them.