Socks and mince pies

Have reached the heel of the second sock and stitches are now distributed amongst the 3 needles for the heel and the rest on a holder to await the dreaded turn of the heel but I cannot seem to get round to finishing. Instead I have been knitting mini Christmas stockings, a whale toy for a cat ( I can hardly believe that I did that) and making mince pies.
 I have not made mince pies for years. My godmother made extremely pale mince pies with the shortest pastry and the booziest mince meat. I remember my first taste of sloe gin went with her mince pies many years ago. My mother always made far too many mince pies and would never have considered a pack of bought ones. Looking at the back of the fridge I found a jar of mincemeat from last year which had been opened for a spoonful and then abandoned. Discarding this one I went out to buy a new jar with a mission in mind - I would make just a few. I decided to experiment with my pastry - adding an egg and a little sugar and to use my baking tray for mini morsels as well as the more conventional size. It then occurred to me to cater for the vegetarians so I made a small batch of my own mincemeat with the last of the garden bramleys with some dried fruits and spices. The results were a surprising success - quite crisp pastry - smaller lids and full of mincemeat. We have been nibbling away at them almost constantly.

Mini Christmas stockings above the fire, mince pies in the kitchen, Christmas tree in the hallway - beginning to feel like Christmas.