[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/8122128[/vimeo]

Here I am, holed up in my lofty eyrie, trying to concentrate on writing my book and staying warm — it’s freezing out there; we even had a mini snow storm last night which started just as I was leaving a lovely Xmas party in all my Eskandar finery. Not quite the weather to dress up so smartly.

In any case, as I was looking through my stash of Syrian photographs, deciding on which to choose, when I came across the video above. Watching it brought back memories of warm sunshine and the laughter we shared as we tried to decide which of the gadgets the guy was demonstrating worked. I decided on the courgette/zucchini corer although I haven’t tried it yet. I am not holding out much hope that I will be able to use it as adeptly as the vendor. Still, I wish I had bought a dozen to give away for Xmas .

Sadly, I didn’t but I would still like to wish you all a Happy Xmas, and please don’t forget to bid on the wonderful items that have been donated for Menu for Hope 6. See my contribution in the post below. Also, please go to the various links to bid on more prizes. Stellar offerings from all over.