Merry Christmas

One last frantic post before Christmas arrives. Every year I hope to greet the day feeling calm and self-possessed. Maybe next year. Then again, Em and I are always much more organised than we think. All that's left to do is wrapping and few more cards to write. Tuesday night was supposed to be the night I baked. I did bake, in the sense that I made a massive mess in the kitchen. Stupidly I decided not to make my usual batch of Gingerbread cookies and just whip up a very simple butter cookie recipe. I'm still not sure about the details but when I took the first tray out of the oven, something didn't look right. I tasted one. Arhhhh. Hmmm, hot flour cookie is what I got. I think I forgot to double the sugar.
Em thought I was nuts and tried to convince me that all that was needed was a slap of icing sugar...but it was hopeless. Ended up hurling said cookies into the bin. At eleven I was still up to my armpits in sticky mixture, flour, snow-flake cookie cutters, spoons and trays. Sigh. I made my Gingerbread instead...last night and they turned out beautifully. So there's a Christmas miracle for you.


Em and I are off for a couple of weeks, heading to Apollo Bay where we plan to swim, walk in forest, eat crayfish and read.

I hope you all have a bright, peaceful Christmas full of laughter and love. See you in a couple of weeks. x

PS: Christmas lunch was brilliant!

...meanwhile, preparations for our Christmas lunch continue. Here are the place-cards. Kept it simple...that part, anyway. At the risk of sounding corny...Em and I came up with something nice to say about each person in my family...and wrote in on the back of the card.
Em and I both have Friday off work, so up goes the bunting, tables, chairs etc out onto the verandah. Saturday morning we'll start on the final touches: flowers, cloths, napkins, ice and Em will get a chance to fire up our bbq before my lovely brother-in-laws turn up and demand ''burning food'' rights.

Let It Snow - Man!

So here is my Snowman. The idea came from Marth Stewart Living Magazine (December). I don't have it with me...but I think he's meant to look like a vintage, cotton decoration that were popular in the early 1900s. He was a little fiddly. Basically it's a couple of polystyrofoam balls, fuzzy pipe-cleaners, white craft glue mixed with water and tissues cut into thin strips. Martha uses cotton wool...but I didn't have any on hand, hence the tissues.
I've made...whatever the collective noun is for four snowmen...a huddle of snowmen? A frost of snowmen? A drift of snowmen? Anyway, lots of fun.

So glad today is cooler than the last two days of intense heat. Our town was covered in thick smoke, despite the fact that we're about 150ks from any major bush fire. Fires are still burning now - thousands of hectares but luckily, no lives lost.

Em and I caught up with friends on Saturday but Sunday afternoon, I had a bit of time for crafting. No photos yet but it did strike me as slightly odd to be making snowmen while outside, it was the hottest December day on record for 53 years. Even Toby was zapped of all energy.

Also gearing up for our Family Christmas lunch on the 16th...arrrhhh. The dining room has been turned into Command Central where everything from tablecloths, glasses, platters to cake stands are all about to topple over. Still, it's kind of fun to get ready for a big event. Our mantra has been "keep it simple" - but it never turns out that way.

For more cute Snowmen look here Rock Paper Scissors, My Little Mochi

o tanenbaum...

Had a lot of fun making these...Soft Tree pattern kindly posted by Little Birds Handmade. Thank you!