12 Days 'til Xmas

Today we got a special delivery. The lovely Lee from Killiecrankie Farm dropped off our beautiful Xmas Tree. (We thought about picking it up - but it meant making room in the car by losing a couple of our offspring ... after a very small pause we decided it was best that it was delivered). Sustainably farmed and cut fresh this morning, the tree is a vision of the festive season and has already filled our house with the most beautiful pine aroma ... feels like we are taking a stroll through a forest and we are only traversing from the kitchen to the lounge room. If you have yet to get a Xmas tree - get in touch with Lee - They have 4 sizes and they are so incredibly beautiful!

We hauled out the 'Christmas Box' and began our annual ritual of dressing the tree. Our decorations have been lovingly collected from our travels over the past few years as well as saved from special friends and times that seem so far away now. The collection of an ornament from each place we have visited started late (we pilfered the idea from my sister and bro-in-law) but we have still managed a few. Each year, as they are placed on the tree we get to reminisce a little ... I love this time! And now that Edie is a little older she too is keen to hear the stories as each piece is placed on the tree. I have many favourites ... these are but a few ...
This guy, St Nicholas is from Prague. We were there a couple of days after Xmas in the snow, drinking gluhwein. Each time I see him I think of white Christmases!
This one is up there as my number one ... cheesy, kitsch and hopelessly tacky it commemorates our halcion days of living in Edinburgh ... where pipers (good, bad and just plain ugly) adorn street corners, playing for a few coins from tourists. You press it and it plays Scotland the Brave. I will truly be gutted when the little battery gives up. We still miss Edinburgh (Hi Sharkey xxx). We know we will live there once more!

This one is actually from Loz. She got it in Russia when she embarked on her Trans Siberian Railway adventure which she undertook for her 60th birthday. She had been booked to go in 1968, but got married instead. I grew up hearing how much Mum regretted not going, despite getting married. This wee ornament reminds me that you never have to give up your dreams. I love Xmas.

Flannelette Beauty and the Sleepover

Not too many words tonight. Just a snap shot of a gift for each of the wee lads of two most beautiful flannelette quilts made by this wonderful friend. Overwhelmingly gorgeous. Thank you Suse xxx.

and ... Dunc and I are at a loose end tonight with no bedtime routine to carry out for this small - she is off on her first ever sleepover ... at Grandma Loz's ... unplanned - they just decided on a whim when they were out for the day together - who am I to stand in the way of a delicious pyjama fuelled adventure? PJs and Dinny rabbit packed. You never know - we might get withdrawals and find ourselves taking turns to read each other books and tuck each other in after singing a tune or two.

Let me introduce you to my logo and swing tag image. This photo was taken around 1960. My mother (affectionately called Loz) and my Grandmother (Dinny) are modelling out the front of their house the shift dresses my Mum has just sewn. The little girl in the background is my Mum's first cousin with the family dog, Flip. Mum is about 15. She laughs at her do. Plenty of hair roller action there ladies and gentlemen!

I will be pedalling my wares this Sunday at the Evandale Market only 15mins from Launceston, Tasmania. Drop by. Bring chocolate.

Could the real Loz please stand up!

Loz came to visit this week - she goes back to Melbourne tomorrow. Edie has had lots of fun hanging out with Grandma Loz - they cooked the bolognaise sauce together. Loz couldn't believe that a 15 month old would stand on a chair concentrating for an hour. I have loved having my Mum down. We don't stop talking... and she pins ruffles onto my dresses - one of my least favourite jobs. She's like that, Loz.
See if you can see Duncan and I in the next shot - he is the one doing the move from Staying Alive to get Edie to look at the camera and not at the food - a tough call! Loz 'acquired' the blossom in the green bottle on the table on her walk with Edie - see it's not my fault that I gather flowers on my walks - it's genetic.