AND SO IT ENDS....

...another year that is; and like all years it has had its ups and downs...this year has had  its share of downs for us, but - as always- look hard enough and we have had many blessings too.

If you read my last post you will know that Christmas was not going at all as planned (and thank you for your good wishes for mum)...but we survived it. It was a very different Christmas Morning for mum and I...just the two of us and mum had to have her presents opened for her...we had a laugh though, as most of the things I had bought for her require that you have, if not two hands, then at least your writing hand! 

I went out for dinner with friends as planned and mum stayed home with a yogurt(!)...though I did bring some turkey back for a sandwich later in the evening.

Boxing Day saw Kirsty and her Craig arrive back....complete with all the presents I'd wrapped and left for them when I was over in November, so we had another Christmas morning

Now that's more like it!

My brother arrived on the 29th and travelled home with mum yesterday....when I spoke to her ;last night I could hear the relief in her voice just to be home...her Church friends have a rota in place to help her out and I am sure she will start to heal more quickly now.

All that's left is for me to wish you all a Happy New Year when it comes...I am looking forward to refurbishing my Craft Room (I've been to Ikea today!!) and trying to get back to scrapbooking on a regular basis.

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

AND SO IT WAS CHRISTMAS.....

.....and as with every year nowadays, it seemed to be over in the blink of an eye!

Santa had obviously heard that my camera had gone AWOL and brought me a new one....here a selection of photographs I took  throughout the day.

He's been!

Pink fizz, as the in-laws arrive to exchange gifts

Our two girls!

The temperature on the terrace at 1pm!

Out for lunch

Kirsty came home from lunch and cooked a turkey crown, so that there were 'leftovers' for turkey sandwiches at night!!

It was very quiet with just the three of us, but we enjoyed just doing our own thing without worrying about suiting anyone else!

I do hope your own Christmas day was just as enjoyable

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

Alison xx

MY CHRISTMAS Q&A

I  first saw this list of questions and answers over at KATHRYN'S blog LIFE TODAY, and have since come across it on many of the blogs I visit regularly.....I have been meaning to post my own answers for a few days now,,,so here they are- better late than never!

 Christmas Questions

1. How will you celebrate the holidays this year? There will just be the three of us at home this year...mum and dad have stayed in Scotland with the rest of the family. If we are not wakened by Kirsty at 6am, it will be another Christmas miracle. We are going out for dinner to a local restaurant in the afternoon...the first time we have actually gone out for Christmas Dinner for quite a few years.

2.What’s the weather currently like where you live? We've had a beautiful week, with the temperatures in the high teens/low twenties  (C) during the day

3. Do you decorate your home for the holidays? If so, share a picture please! If you have read my previous posts then you know that I most certainly decorate for Christmas and have posted lots of pics of my decor!

4. What is your favorite Christmas movie? I think it has to be 'MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET' (the Richard Attenborough version), closely followed by 'HOME ALONE' (1 AND 2)

5. What is your favorite Christmas song?   I love 'O HOLY NIGHT'  and have many versions of it, but there are very few Christmas songs I won't sing along with!

6. Do you have an advent calendar? We have had this beautiful wooden tree for about ten years now...we have never had chocolate ones

7. Do you prefer color lights or white lights? Definately white!

8. What is your favorite food to eat over the holidays? I have to confess to using the holidays as an excuse to eat lots of chocolate and sweet things!!

9. Do you display a live tree, or do you prefer fake trees? I don't think we've ever had a real tree....we've had a variety of artificial ones...at the moment we have two pre-lit ones which I love- no tangled lights every year!

10. What would you need to make your holiday perfect this year? To be honest, just having the three of us together in the same place for a few days will be enough for me!

Hope all your preparations are going well and that you are taking time to feel the 'specialness' of the season!

Thanks for dropping by! 

Take care of you

Alison xx

ANOTHER Bloghop.....

.....this time over at  SCRAPBOOK CHALLENGES. It was their 'Seasons of Change' Bloghop, introducing the new DT and saying farewell to the outgoing DT.


The sketch created for the Bloghop was this:

and this is my take on it

These are my favourite pics of Christmas Morning..the look on DD's face was priceless...and between dad and I we managed to get from the 'Is this REALLY hungry Hippos?' to starting to play with it!!

Hope you're having a great weekend...I have just seen DH off at the airport and returned to my house of invalids. Mum was very sick last night and still doesn't feel too good...and poor dad caught his finger in the car door two nights ago, and is still in pain from that. Fortunately, Mum's friend Barbara (who used to be a nurse) arrived at the beginning of the week, and she has been able to dress dad's finger...I DO mean fortunately, because mum and I would have been hopeless on our own!! We are neither good at dealing with blood, nor being terribly gentle!

Thanks for dropping by!

Take care of you

 Alison xx

Christmas Day

We had a lovely Christmas Day .....Santa came, DD was up at 6.30am insisting we all get up, as he  HAD been, we opened our presents (I got a new mobile phone-YAY!),

we all had an hour back in bed...and by 10 o'clock the Military Operation which is our Christmas Dinner prep was underway!  Although I do the shopping and much of the preparation, the actual cooking is done by DH and DD....I just set the table and make sure the house looks good.

 DH makes a timetable which is followed to the minute and, although we laugh at the precision of it all, it makes for a fab dinner. This year, due to ongoing gas boiler problems which DH has been attempting to resolve in his every spare minute, DD virtually cooked the meal on her own...and made a  great job of it! She even had time to paint her nails before serving it!

Mum always makes pavlova for dessert even though she hates it herself, so I made a fruit salad for her!

To end the day off, my dad likes to get a photograph of everyone who was here for dinner, so we all dutifully gathered on (or around) the settee and smiled!

.....and it was over...DH took his father and stepmum home and we all changed into our 'comfy' clothes and did the tidying up, before collapsing in a heap to watch 'The Santa Claus' on DVD.

...and that, my friends, is a little glimpse into Christmas Day at the McInnes'.

Hope you all had the kind of Christmas day you enjoy...we certainly did!

Thanks for dropping by!

take care

Alison xx