Happy Christmas 2025!

It's that time of year again!

I must admit I haven't been feeling particularly Christmassy this year (the world ain't so great of late is it?), plus it has been raining perpetually up here in Cumbria which always dampens the spirits, so my friend Laura and I decided to rectify that a few days ago. We whacked on the Christmas songs, had a gorgeous 'picky lunch', baked ginger biscuits and sang at the top of our voices (photographic evidence below of the festivities). We had a veritable production line going and even emptied a whole tin of golden syrup, which is practically unheard of! I've even included the biscuit recipe at the end of this e-mail. The great thing about these biscuits is that you can hang them on the tree for two or three weeks and they don't go off or go soft so they make great decorations.

Christmas Markets

Despite the awful weather at Halecat Artisan Market (yup, that perpetual rain again!) lots of people came out to support it. Us Cumbrian folk are hardy souls.

It was my first jewellery market and I'm pleased to say it went incredibly well. I met some lovely customers and got lots of great feedback which always makes me so happy. I even sold two pieces I made recently which I hadn't yet listed on our website at www.archerterrystudios.com.

Thank you so much to Ben McLeod, Lara Clahane and all the other people at Halecat who work hard to make this market possible. If you want to check them out, it's @halecatartsandcrafts on Instagram.

Rosehill Christmas Market also went incredibly well. Myself and Steve shared our stall so we had both pottery and jewellery available. We did well again so we will definitely go back next year. Thank you to Eilidh and all the other staff at @rosehilltheatre.

Celestial moss agate earrings

Christmas Giving

Remember that for every purchase you make from us a small donation goes to animal charities. I count it all up at the end of the year and send it off during December. I'm pleased to say that this year we raised a total of £230 which is incredible! This year I've decided to send larger amounts to a number of smaller charities, as follows:

Eden Animal Rescue - based in Cumbria, Eden Animal Rescue is currently undergoing financial difficulties.

Replacing Animal Research (formerly FRAME) - fighting against animal testing and awarding bursaries for medical students who want to use research non-animal testing methods.

Willows Animal Sanctuary - a sanctuary in Scotland which does great work for farm animals. Famous also for their 'cat hotel' for stray cats which is a great idea.

Dean Farm Trust - a home for life to many rescued farm animals, Dean Farm Trust is currently undergoing financial difficulties, as most animal sanctuaries are.

Help Ad Astra Dogs (formerly Help Pozega Dogs) - rescuing street dogs from the horrific conditions in Romanian kennels. They are on Facebook and Instagram.

No To Dog Meat Foundation - I first heard about the dog and cat meat trade about 30 years ago and unbelievably it's still going on. Luckily charities such as this are working hard abroad but they need more help to end it forever.

Buttercups Sanctuary for Goats - the UK's only goat rescue charity. Goats just crack me up. Plus I learned that the Scandanavian tradition of the Yule Goat ('Jolbuck') may be a precursor for our very own tradition of reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh!

There a rehundreds of other animal charities out there and I urge you to make a donation - however small - to help them. The current financial crisis is hurting everyone.

Ginger Goodness!

Okay, so now it's time for the ultimate ginger cookie recipe! It's ridiculously simple and great to make with kids.

Ingredients:

100g butter of margarine (room temperature)

100g soft light brown sugar

3 tbsp Lyle's golden syrup (please buy the tins not the squeezy bottles - we need to keep the traditional green and gold tins alive!)

2000g plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat your over to 170 C (150 C fan-assisted, Gas Mark 3-4).

Line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper (myself and Laura did not do this - we are very impatient! It worked fine placing them straight onto the baking tin).

Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the golden syrup and combine thoroughly.

Add everything else and knead together to form a dough.

Roll out to about 0.5 - 1 cm thick and choose your cookie cutter weapon of choice.

Place your cookies on the baking sheet and pop them in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Larger, thicker cookies will take longer to bake than smaller, thinner ones.

We got some icing sugar out and added a tiny bit of warm water to decorate. Laura had bought every jar of sprinkle known to man so we had great fun throwing them on. Laura's biscuits were very artistic while mine were definitely 'more is more'! Nom nom.

When you finish baking and your house smells like Christmas you will thank me for it!

Happy Christmas!

For now all that remains is for us to wish you all a Happy Christmas 2025!

Love

Kelly (and Steve) x