That was closely followed by my oldest granddaughter, Nikki’s engagement to Jordan at the end of October. They decided the party would be Halloween themed so I ended up as a witch and my hubby a vampire. It was hilarious!

Close after that I set off to South Shields to do an event at The Word and the people there made me feel so very welcome, I had a wonderful time. From there we travelled to Rochdale for another event in the town hall. It was an afternoon tea with Rosie Goodwin and once again I had a lovely time. Rochdale town hall is so beautiful!

And then it was back to reality and time to get some work done after all that gallivanting about! I’m happy to tell you that I have just completed book four of my Days of the Week Collection, which as yet is still untitled, but as soon as I know what we’ve decided on you can be sure I’ll let you know. In the meantime, we are close to seeing number three A Mother’s Grace (Tuesday’s child), hit the shelves. I do hope you’ll like it. Once again, the cover is beautiful. I hope you all enjoyed The Little Angel. I love reading the reviews so huge thanks to everyone who has posted one.

And now for me it’s time to put my thinking cap on again. Next on the list is Thursday’s child who ‘has far to go’ and already I have an idea where I might be sending her.

So, all that remains now is for me to tell you all to please continue to get in touch with me on Facebook and Twitter. I often break off from writing to check in and see what you all have to say and what you’re up to and I love hearing from you.

Much love,

Rosie

xxx

Very Rich Fruit Christmas Cake

You will need:

Method:

1. Put the dried fruit (and almond flakes) in a bowl and pour the brandy over them. Leave to soak for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Preheat your oven to 275F/140C/gas mark 1. Prepare either a 10 inch square tin or 9 inch round tin by double lining it with baking parchment.

3. Place all of the dry ingredients – flour, mixed spice, nutmeg, ground almonds – in a bowl and mix well.

4. In another bowl cream the butter and sugar together, using a wooden spoon, until light and fluffy. Slowly beat in the treacle. Add the eggs individually, adding a tbs of the flour mixture with each egg.

5. Fold in the remainder of the flour mixture and the fruits, half at a time. Mix thoroughly but gently to be sure not to break up the fruit too much.

6. Place your mixture in the prepared tin. Leave slight dip in centre of mix.

7. Bake for 3 hours then test with a skewer, it make need more time.

8. When cooked, remove from oven but leave in tin for at least 15 minutes.

9. When cool, turn out on to a wire cooling rack and remove the paper.

10. Poke holes in the cake, using a skewer and spoon over 2 tbsp of brandy.

11. When quite cold double wrap in greaseproof paper and place in air tight tin.

12. Do not eat for at least 3 weeks. During this time unwrap cake regularly and brush with Brandy about 1½ tbs each time. Don’t feed the cake for a week, before icing so that the surface can dry.

13. Ice and decorate. Once iced the cake should be sealed and can be kept for a long time, maturing.