The Christmas Slideshow

Well I certainly couldn't have done it without the help of my youngest daughter. Any of it really! It's all done and the day went really well. We even managed to find time to walk the dogs after lunch. I hope everyone's day was happy and as restful as it could be.

Happy Christmas Everyone

   That's it what isn't done isn't done. The house has had a last minute tidy up, the dogs have been bathed and the presents wrapped. I'll worry about the food in the morning but for tonight we are opening a bottle of Baileys and enjoying a chat in front of the fire. I'm almost too scared to take the dogs for their evening walk incase they get dirty before the big day.

Bud In His Christmas Neckerchief.

Cassie is her usual cheeky self.!

Poppy Has Seen It All Before.

    As if by a Christmas miracle poor little injured Sammy the cockatiel flew across the room whilst I was cleaning out her cage. When I rescued her and put her back for the first time she started balancing on her perch. She needs to steady herself with her beak but it is such a step forward we're so pleased.

   Happy Christmas to every person who reads this blog and their loved ones. I hope you all have the happiest, safest and most peaceful Christmas ever. Jane xx.

Too Fat To Fly!

   I went to my Mum and Dad's house today and the little robin was never off the new bird feeder all afternoon. My Mum says it starts in the morning and keeps going until dark. If it carries on like this it will be too fat to fly by the New Year I said. As I was looking through the Christmas cupboards this evening I thought to myself I better be careful else I'll end up like the little robin!

    I'm still pressing on with the Christmas slideshow and video but I'm getting a bit worried I won't get it finished by Christmas Day. I'll try and get some music for it tomorrow but I need to take some more Christmassy videos and everyone but my youngest daughter doesn't want to be in it. I bet Steven Spielberg doesn't have these problems.

A Day Of Bargains

  We went to out local charity saleroom today not to buy stock but to try and find a new (secondhand) rug for Christmas. We have varnished floor boards in our rooms but it can be cold particularly on windy days, as draughts blow through the gaps, and if storm Barbara is on the way we want to be prepared. There were lots of modern looking rugs but we found this one we liked, it is ever so big and in lovely condition. It is so big I struggled to take a photo of it in our little room. It only cost us £15 and when we got it home I noticed the label on the back is Laura Ashley. I'm sure it would have been over £100 new. It made my day to find such a bargain.

   When we got back we walked down to out local Co-Op to buy our turkey. We had £31 worth of points on our Co-op card so this turkey was free and we have another £10 to buy some wine for Christmas Day. It's a shame I'm a vegetarian I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more knowing what a bargain it was!

   I took another Christmas photo for the slideshow today. This little fairy has been tied onto our wreath on the front door since the children were little. Every year she blows about in the wind and rain and I always feel a little sorry for her. As I was putting the wreath out this year her string broke and although I tried to tie her back on she wasn't very secure. I didn't want her to blow away when we have had her so long so I said "That's it you can retire inside to the Christmas tree.!" I think she possible looks slightly relieved with the way things have worked out. 

Why I Love The Winter Solstice

    Today, the Winter Solstice is a day I look forward to. I go into Autumn thinking of cosy evenings by the fire, crisp frosty walks with the dogs and of course Christmas. To be honest by this day every year I'm getting a bit sick of it! I'm worrying about heating bills, most of the sunny frosty days just seem to be cold rain and mud in the park and Christmas is all getting a bit stressful. However today is such a positive day. I can start counting down to spring and all the things I love to do. Even though January and February can be cold and miserable I can see every day a few minutes more of light. Today apparently we get just 7 hours and 49 minutes of daylight, but every day there will a couple more minutes added on. Every evening when I walk Bud I think won't be long before we are walking in the light in the evening and every day the hens get put to bed a tiny later. Definitely a cheerful day!
    In our countdown to Christmas things are going quite well. We are still using local shops and tomorrow we will be buying the turkey with points saved on our Co-Op loyalty card. Last minute presents will be bought tomorrow using my eldest daughters Amazon prime for next day delivery. I'm a bit bothered things may be going too smoothly, something has to go wrong! I hope everybody is having a stress free run up to Christmas.  Here is another photo for our Christmas slideshow.

 

No Time For Work

    That's it I'm too busy getting ready for Christmas to work. I wish I could close my ebay shop until after Christmas and put a closed for Christmas sign on my two websites. Unfortunately it's not really an option but it's so hard at this time of year and there is nobody else but me to do the work. Last week I got a Christmas email from a customer who said Happy Christmas to you and all your staff! It made me smile, so that's me and the dogs then sitting in the little scullery at the back of our old house that we have converted into an office for me. My staff! What a laugh!
   I went to my Mum and Dad's house today and was thrilled when my Mum excitedly told me the robin has been on the feeder all day eating the special robin food I bought. She was so pleased. The food must be very nice as I thought it would take a week or two for the birds to get used to it. I think I may buy some for the robin in our garden.
  Here's another of the Christmas photos my youngest daughter has taken for the slideshow. It made me smile as Tom and I were out when she took it and our old beagle who is 14 is happily lounging on Tom's chair when he is not there and Cassie our little Yorkie is sitting at the window waiting for us to come home. What goes on when we are out!

Countdown To Christmas

   My youngest daughter has been taking photos ready for Christmas. We had the idea that we would make a video and add a slideshow of the photos to send to my Mum and Dad as they can't get over to us. I'll have to get it done for Christmas day so we are starting now. Youngest daughter is very artistic and all the photos are being carefully planned and taken. Here is the first photo, I'm not sure that they will be thrilled to see our constantly leaning Christmas fairy but I am bowing to her superior artistic leanings and will include it!

     There has been a lot of talk on the news today about 999 calls to the police that are wasting there time and we were laughing today about an incident that happened to my eldest daughter. She is in CID now so is not affected the same but when she was in uniform she did a night shift on the front desk of the police station. At about 11pm a woman brought in a goldfish in an ice cream tub which was swimming in a very sickly way on it's side. She said she couldn't find a local emergency vet. 

    My eldest daughter who is very kind and an animal lover spent nearly an hour, much to amusement of the other PCs on duty, going through the phone book trying to find an emergency vet. Unfortunately not one would agree to open the surgery at midnight for a goldfish and by this time the fish was floating in a very ominous way. The woman snatched the ice cream tub and as she left said "You have been hopeless. I'm going to write to the local paper about our uncaring police." Sometimes the poor police just can't win!

Holly Folklore At Christmas

  In my living room I have a wall I call my portrait wall. Here I display my old framed photographs and some paintings of people. I have so many I rotate them every few months so we have a change. I can't stop buying these as they are usually so cheap and I feel so sorry for these forgotten people. I always wish I could reunite these photos with family members but it has never happened yet. I decorate them at Christmas and for years used sprigs of holly but for the last few years haven't brought any in. I love reading about folklore and am always quoting the reasons for different old traditions. I was looking up the reasons for bringing sprigs of holly into the house at Christmas and it said it will bring you good luck for the next year. This is what has been wrong I thought I must bring some holly in. I'm really not that superstitious but no harm in trying.

I hung over next doors fence and chose some nice sprigs from their holly bush. I hope for nothing but good luck now. It also said in the item I read there are two types of holly male, the prickly type and female. the smooth type and which you bring in determines who will rule the house in the next year the man or the women. I had brought in the male type and when I told Tom this snippet of information he replied "Fat chance of that!"

Here's To The Happiest Of Christmas's

    I have worked really hard today getting things ready for Christmas. Sometimes I wonder why I do it. Curtains have been washed and ironed, window cleaned and window boxes planted. Everything has been cleaned, except all the brass which still has to be done. This weekend all the decorations will go up. I feel exhausted just thinking about it all and I haven't even started wrapping presents! The thing is it really matters a lot this year. I know it won't be like previous Christmas's because my Mum won't be the centre of it all but she is here and for that we are so grateful.
    I obviously don't remember this photo of my first Christmas but I love looking at it because it seems to link me to those days gone by. I'll take lots of photos on Christmas Day and I hope my four children will enjoy looking back at them one day.

Christmas Reindeer

   It was a lovely mild sunny day today and I think the birds must have been getting confused because of the mild weather as I heard them singing at 4am while I was lying there listening for my youngest daughter to come in after a party. She had told me she wouldn't be back until that time but I still was really wakeful all night listening for her. Once she was in that was it, I slept soundly until 8am which is a real lie in for me.
   We left early for the local garden centre to try and buy my Mum's birthday present, which was really crowded with people buying their Christmas trees. We stopped to look at the reindeer that they have every year. One year two escaped and there was drama in the area as the roads had to be closed off by the police while they were recaptured. The poor garden centre owner ran after one all the way to Croydon which is about 4 miles down the road. He said he never knew how fast a reindeer could run until he was running behind it! Anyway no such dramas today all seemed very calm.

I didn't think they looked very seasonal in the sunshine so there you are that looks better!

All the children really seemed to be enjoying the displays.

  Sadly the bird feeder I was going to get for my Mum was out of stock so I just have to hope it comes in with the new delivery on Thursday. I did buy these pretty pansies for our window boxes though so the front of the house will look nice for Christmas. There is a lot of work ahead.

A Nostalgic Christmas

I always think Christmas is a really nostalgic time of the year. A time to remember people and happy memories.  This was my first Christmas in Liverpool in 1960. I can't remember it but it still looks happy!

I can however. remember this Christmas even though I was only 3 years old.

I keep telling myself that these are the Christmases that we and particularly our children will be feeling nostalgic for in the future, They won't remember the over cooked sprouts (I hope) or the parts of the day that aren't perfect, They will just remember the love, the happiness and the laughter as I do. 

I really hope everyone has a very happy Christmas and makes the most of the good bits and doesn't get too worried about the stressful bits.

Thoughts On Presents And A Christmas Rescue!

I have never been an organised Christmas shopper and often spend more than I should in the few days before Christmas in a panic that I haven't bought enough for people and I will appear mean. I'm trying very hard this year not to fall into that last minute run to the shops for extras.
    I keep reminding myself about my piece of volcanic rock. My eldest daughter is very generous and when she is away she is always buying presents for people, which I keep telling her she needn't do.
     Last year she went to Italy and found it very expensive, spending more money than intended and had none left to buy presents. When she came home she very apologetically gave me a piece of volcanic rock she found lying on the beach that she thought was very pretty. I was genuinely thrilled. I have put it on my bathroom shelf and every time I dust it I think of her walking on the beach in Italy picking it up and bringing it home for me. I couldn't love it more if she had spent £100.
    While I am not naive enough to think every one would be thrilled with a lump of rock at Christmas, I keep telling myself that the people who really matter won't mind if I give them a plant grown from a cutting, a little cross stitch picture or a jig-saw bought at a jumble sale (I counted all the pieces!) as they are all given with love. So no last minute rush to the shops for me this year buying expensive extras with money I don't have but I will make a point of writing a card with each present telling people how grateful I am for all their support and how much I love them.
    I did spend a few spare pounds today though that I just couldn't stop myself from doing. Every day I walk past our local charity shop and admire their Christmas window with a display of penguins in the snow and there is one I just couldn't resist. There is a sign that says penguins are not for sale until 22nd December and I think to myself I will be there at 9.30 on the 22nd for him. Today when I walked by the sign had been removed. Could this mean they weren't for sale any more. I dashed in and asked if they were still for sale on the 22nd. "Oh you can have one today" the assistant said "I'm sick of them." So here he is, ready to be centre of our Christmas mantelpiece. Just £3 spent and he has brightened my whole day. I am so easily pleased!