Its Christmas time......

 Christmas is arriving bit by bit here this year, this display went out on 1st, I love this nativity set, from Spain and many years old. I now always put my collection of trees with them. I have a few displays around the sitting room and hall, all high enough, away from George and Molly. 

I rather like the tree with just lights, I put it up on yesterday and added the lights, it's a bit shorter than other years, the bottom  branches were scruffy, so hubby took the ring they fix into off the trunk and shortened it. I don't think it notices, the lower branches are now higher off the floor, which I like. It will last a few more years. I intend to finish dressing the tree today, I like to do it on my own, with Christmas music playing, the angel on top never stays straight, I don't like her, but hubby loves her, so she stays.

I got the 2 plants for this display, a white hellebore and red cyclamen,  I went to get both white, but loved the bright red. My sister paid for the cyclamen,  she was hoping I would see something she could get to finish my Christmas present. I am pleased with this spot, last year I used a basket given to me by my sister, this year I purchased the white kitchen container. My Amaryllis is starting to bloom, a bit early, but I may have purchased another, so the display will last longer. This display is the only real plants, everything else around the house is silk and years old, I love I can reuse most if my decorations, 

I love having loads of little lights around our home, I use battery operated lights instead of tea lights, these days I have sets which turn on at about 4pm, stay on for 6 hours and then turn themselves off, the next day they come back on at 4pm, it saves me having to turn things off before bed. I use rechargeable batteries,  we have enough for every set, the rest of the year they sit in a drawer. The tree lights have always been on a timer, this year we have a Tapo socket, which is controlled by Alexa, I can sit in my chair and turn them on, but more importantly the sockets are in the corner at the back, safely away from the children. 

I'm not sure what is going wrong, but Blogger would not let me comment using my phone whilst away, I am signed into Blogger, as I can post whilst away, it's a pain, but we don't have any more trips away booked until next spring, it won't be a problem for now.

Nothing much happening here, my back is aching,  too many car journeys over the weekend  and a busy few days back at home, sorting decorations.  I can rest most evenings  and I am sleeping well. I have finished all the Christmas gifts, I would say we, but hubby does not get involved, often when someone thanks us for their gift, hubby will ask, what did we get you. I do show him everything before wrapping, but he is not interested at all, his Christmas list just has my name on. We only need the fresh food for Christmas,  which we will get in the village, so I do feel happy everything was sorted before the madness started.

Daughter has just been informed there is a case of Strep A in the junior school, next to Will's infant school, it's a bit scary, she is watching her three, it would not be good if George catches it. There are so many horrible bugs, and so many families have children in both schools. There is also Scarlet fever going around, I'm keeping everything crossed they stay healthy. The junior school shut for a day for a deep clean, which is great, but it's the kids who have the bugs, and many are sent to school, when they should be home, but working parents don't have the choice of taking time off work. 

It's arrived

Christmas has arrived, this huge tree is decorated, I'm not sure I will have such a big tree again, I found it very tiring up and down steps to get to the top at 7foot.

 Silk flowers are everywhere, I can't keep the leaves on a real poinsettia, this does look good. 

I leave a couple of the bottom branches off my tree, it allows the tree to fit in the corner, I have used 1 branch and some silk, holly, ivy and poinsettia flowers, fills this other corner. 

I've only had these 2 decorations a couple of years, they look good on the table, it's dark in this corner, so once the lights come up, it's pretty. 

These shelves in the hall is my small santa display, my bigger Santa's I've had for years. 

This is my nativity shelf with loads of trees, the 3 figures were from Spain many years ago, just a simple display. 

This stitching is almost 40 years old, it comes out every year and hangs in the hall, I love it. 

I am pleased to have the decorations out again, I have very few new items, loads of them have a memory or story, so it's like seeing old friends. 

I had a bag of items we put on Facebook and gave away, nothing wrong with them, except I had too much stuff. With George now standing at my lower coffee table and the TV stand, I have not put out so many items, I am happy to have less. 

I have decided this will be the last year of using our tree at 7 foot, we can use a smaller lower tree trunk, which means I don't use the lower 2 levels, so the tree sits at 5 foot, and not as wide, much easier for me, the lower branches have had a battering from the grandchildren.

With battery operated lights everywhere, the dark evenings are now bright and cheerful, I do love the glow and glitter. I don't use tinsel, I've never liked it, I prefer strings of beads. 

Much the same

My back fence beside my greenhouse is now looking good, the winter Jasmine is full of tiny yellow flowers, my big tub, which I redid last month is looking healthy. The top small photo is a pot I made years ago, it sits by the greenhouse door, just Ivy and a black grass, I love Ivy but will only ever keep it in pots.

Loads of spring shoots in my pots, all new bulbs this year, I'm not worried as this happens most years. The ground photo is my Peony, I've never seen new shoots at this time of the year. The plants are confused, we have a few really cold days and then a few mild days, this has been our normal November weather for the past few years, 

I still have Begonias in flower, this plant is the best looking, they are beginning to fade, I won't remove the corns over winter, they survive in my garden in these raise chimneys. It is good to look out and see flowers in the garden. 

I slept really badly on Thursday night, so Friday was a slow lazy day, I knew stitching was out for the day, so I choose this book, it's not a style I normally read, it took time to get into the book, it's a good read, 466 pages. 

I am stitching on this most days, I have done all the tree trunk, there is a banner at the bottom which I am going to stitch with the French Christmas greeting. There is a much bigger bird on the banner which I am looking forward to stitching. 

I have loads of bigger branches to do and some more birds, no more baskets, can you see I'm half way through a bird house, this design just keeps giving.

It's been a nothing to do few days, the weekend is wet and windy, so even if we are allowed to go out, it's staying in weather. I have pulled out my card making things, I have loads in my stash, and should be able to make what I need without any extra cost. 

Even with my crafting boredom is creeping in, I'm not crawling up the walls yet, I am counting down the days, wishing the next 2 weeks fly by. 

Hubby made a marmalade cake on Friday, so we are having one slice each every morning with our coffee,  Friday night we had chunky fishfingers and chips for tea, it was bliss. Saturday he made pizza bases, so pizza for tea, we ensure we have the toppings in, keeping packs of meats in the freezer. Today we are having a roast lunch, being home so much means we get more roast than other years.

Nothing much else to say, Daughter, SIL and boys are all well, no signs of any Covid19 symptoms, which is pleasing, another Grandson had his birthday, 6 years old, how quickly they grow, how much we are missing. 

Eat,shoots and leaves.

Yesterday was a perfect day, we spent our time in the garden, firstly we moved this table and chairs down to our decking area, it captures the first of the sunshine. 

 The empty space outside my greenhouse, I filled quickly, I have moved the blackcurrant bush here and have a huge pot for our outside tomato plant, plus a few smaller pots. 

 Our wooden table and chairs are often in the shade through out the day

 Even the cats came out to play

 These are grown from seeds and cutting, on the left is a kiwi, on the right a passion fruit. In the middle I'm not sure, I think it could be a pomegranate, I will have to wait until the leaves to form. 

 Right photo, is my new Clematis, Lovely yellow flowers, middle sweet peas, right is the grass plant, I decided to put it in front off the hedgehog pot,  once it grows it will give cover to the space, this pot was used last year by our local hedgehog. 

Hubby cleaned his motorbike (loads of chrome to polish) and then our car, I just pottered, it was so lovely and warm, I am loving the extra space outside my greenhouse, I will miss having the table to use, but I have a tall stool in the shed I can use. My shed is tidy, and looking good. I have planted out a few stronger plants, the bedding plants won't be ready until next month.
My walnut twig has new shoots and is out side the greenhouse, but both my citrus plants look sad, I am going to keep both in the greenhouse for a bit longer, my olive bush is also still inside the greenhouse.
The area along the front of the greenhouse now has more space, we pushed the huge pot with the rhubarb in the corner by the raised cut flower bed, we had the blackcurrant bush here, but I was worried about harvesting the fruit in such a small space, it won't be a problem with the rhubarb.
We had a late lunch early dinner at 4pm we had our first BBQ of the year, we sat outside until almost 6pm, it's a perfect prelude to summer, and like so many other I can't wait for it to come.
Last night I watched Monty for an whole hour, I love this format, we also watched a Viking York, shown on BBC2, last week it was Roman Chester, these are very interesting to watch, we have visited both cities and could relate to where they were filming.
This morning, we are dull, loads of mist, which should burn off in time the the fore caste rain!

Spoilt

Front and back of a tree ornament from Will

Perfect 1st Christmas gift.

 All our boys on one ornament

 Irish Merry Christmas

 The best drinking chocolate, ever!

We are back home after 6 days away, We drove to Somerset, to stay with my brother for one night and a final catch up with my family before Christmas. The next morning it was off to Bristol airport and a flight to Dublin, hubbies oldest son lives on the edge of the city.
We had 5 days in Dublin, it was bitterly cold, but dry, none of the expected snow, Richard took Friday  and Monday off work and had planned some wonderful trips, photo's will be in the next post.
I love to get tree ornaments on our travels, I have said before our tree is our family history, it is very popular to get the decorations on which names can be added, so we got a large family one with all our grand sons on. Plus I thought it would be nice to have the Irish Christmas greeting on our tree.
The top ornament was unexpected, daughter Su had 4 made for grandparents and their tree, a perfect item for Will's first Christmas. We all have had them early so we can get a few extra days viewing before we pack Christmas away.
In Dublin, on almost every corner there is a Butlers cafe, they make the most wonderful hot chocolate drinks, we had one each day as a special treat, and I brought some home for next week as visitors arrive.
We have no snow here, we almost always miss the snow falls, but as with everywhere else it is very cold, I have to pop out this afternoon, but before that I have Will for a couple of hours.

It's Christmas time...

These have been part of our Christmas for years

 Putting some of my Santa's together

 My huge Christmas tree

                                   New this year                                      

Pagan displays

I managed to get all the decorations up, it took much longer than normal, but I enjoyed sorting what I have and placing things differently this year. It is nice to have the time, I found a couple of Christmas albums and sang along merrily. I have two new tree decorations hubby chose from Spain, and the white pot above, in which I put one of my artificial candles which lights the whole pot.

Each year I forget just how wide the tree is, but we do not use this entrance to the garden in the cooler months, so it sits well in this spot.
I am very pagan with my decorations, I love to see holly, Ivy, Berries and loads of Christmas flowers around the room, all are silk, which again I have owned for ages, plus loads of candles. This year I have put silk holly around my three big picture frames in the sitting room. I just have to find somewhere for my home made bunting.
I will leave you with our favorite display, he comes out each year, can't wait for Will to see him.

Restful weekend

Christmas on my desk

I love the tiny real conifer, without glitter, just a simple set of red lights.

 To cheer me up, hubby got me a plant

how do the growers make money on plants selling at just £2.50

We did nothing over the weekend, loads of time reading and we found a couple of good films which we both enjoyed, I can't say which was best both are worth watching.

We did not go to town shopping over the weekend, but our local hospital was requesting gifts for elderly patients, who would still be in hospital on Christmas day, so we walked to our local Superdrug and got two gifts and sent them to the hospital,  just a simple thing to do.
Hubby went to Tesco today for some shopping, and hence he got me my plant, it is good to have him do the running around midweek, leaving peaceful weekends.
I'm feeling a bit brighter today, had a couple of nice things happen in work, it feels good to smile. Our Christmas opening times were confirmed and I have extra time off, and our final week will be dress down every day instead of just the Friday.
I'm off to finish reading Little Black Lies, it has me gripped, and I so enjoy turning the TV off and reading, lucky hubby loves to read as well.

Christmas

It's arrived at our house

 I love to see all our old favourites out again

Plus a few new items 

A tree full of memories 

I love this time of year where you have little pools of light around the room, very festive, I don't use many real candles, I love the little set's of lights which are battery powered, and popped into nice tealight figures, it feels so safe.

I have done my 12 days of Christmas, where I give to charity 12 items,

This year it was from my over large Christmas stash.

Candle holders x 3

wooden hearts x 3

Material stockings x 3

Stocking hanger

Santa bell

Candle glass holder

Paper trees x 2

ceiling hangers x 4

NOEL sign

Huge hanging gold star

Cross stitch heart

Bauble and tree dec's x 1 bag full

loads more than 12 when added together. 

I have done very little in the past week, I read Tell it to the Skies, by Erica James, work is very busy, so I don't plan to do much in the evenings. 

Yesterday hairdressers, picking up leaves in the garden, youngest daughter popped in, looking beautiful with her perfect baby bump,  and out for a meal with friends. 

This morning Rod and Maureen popped in, it's nice to catch up with friends, Maureen's memory is much worse, which is sad to see. This afternoon friends popped by with Jack 1 and Maddie 5, lovely to see their faces looking at our decorations. Home made mince pies (hubby) coffee and chatter, perfect way to spend the 1st Sunday in December. 

Now I am off to catch up on blog reading. 

We are looking for a new vacuum cleaner, our Dyson blew up yesterday, it was over 7 years old, so we are not unhappy, we are looking at expensive modern Dyson V8, but I do like a clean house and with a couple of cats we require a powerful model. 

Later a quiet evening in together, maybe a film to watch, all cosy and warm, I love weekends like this. 

Books and nature

The wedding book I created has come

we are really pleased with it

its a nice size and full of lovely family photo's.

 Just finished reading another book

it was a bit different for me, not sure it was a thriller

 My Christmas tree has loads of new growth

it's loving it's pot life.

 Don't you love Sweet Williams

hubby brought these back from the shops

This week has been a bit of a nothing week, I have been feeling tired and a bit run down, not ill, just yuck. I have mouth ulcers which does not help, so I have spent the week reading. I did sew a few hexagons, nothing on my cross stitching.
Tomorrow I have an early hair cut booked after that we hope to put the green house together, it will take a couple of days, but I am excited and itching to have it built. I do so need to grow things.
Thank you for your comments regarding MCW, the police have issued notices requesting she does not speak to us or visitors to our house, she stops all accusations again us. She phoned the police 28 times in the last 6 weeks and if she makes more calls they will do her for wasting police time. I don't think this will be the end of it all, but it would be nice to have a quiet period.
Have a good weekend, hopefully next time I will bore you with greenhouse photo's.

All things green

I am working on another branch, the basket is stitched, just a bit of back stitching around the edge. I can do that once I have stitched the green around it. 

 The different stages of our yellow rose

this is so beautiful.

I grow them to remind me of my mum's love of yellow roses. 

 Last flower on my peony, I'm a bit worried 

this beautiful plant is not so good as previous years.  

The other green thing is my green house which arrived today, we have checked all the packaging is not damaged, now it waits to be put together. We did not expect it to arrive so soon and have no plans to build it. This weekend we are away with family, so hopefully early June will see us putting it together. It means my growing season is starting later, but using the greenhouse the hope is it will catch up quickly.
Last night hubby and I spent hours in Win's front garden, we have weeded and planted most of her bedding plants in boarders and pots. Win is expected home soon, and I want her to be happy with her garden. We have the back to do, but not tonight, hubby is just finishing off the security cameras in the back of our house, he has moved one and added another. Mad cat woman next door is acting very strangely and with the history between us, we just don't trust her. Win is still very poorly and is being let home to spend her final days, no one knows how long that will be, but we all want them to be happy times for her.

Wish I had happier news, but life is not all smiles and roses. 

A start

Just a little start

but it's lovely already

Torchon O Christmas Tree, lesbrodeusesparisiennes.com 

It did come with fabric, but the count is to big for me

 Stitching on DMC, Toile a broader, 28ct

with one strand of DMC stranded thread, 

I was two colours short in my stash, but I have matched them

 Monday afternoon in the garden

hubby loves marigolds

 I have terrible trouble growing herbs in our heavy clay

so I have dig 5 holes for these pot tops (hubby cut off the bottoms)

I do need more slate for in between but it will look much better once finished 

The BBQ on Sunday was fun, but oh so cold, daughter had her fire pit burning the whole of the time we were there. I was fun, but we were home by 9.30, just too cold to stay outside.
Monday started wet and stayed dull all day, I did sort most of the herb bed in the afternoon. I have Sage, Lemon Thyme and Parsely in the 3 planted rings using compost rather than our heavy clay. I last did this garden in May 2013 The problem I have here is I purchase loads of herbs, and they never last long, but I want a herb garden, it's a waste each year as I spend to make it look good. I have Basil seeds in the yellow bucket, Chives around the big pot, my Rosemary and Bay are both planted at the back and doing well. So more spend on my garden, but hopefully this time the herbs will last. I just have to decide what two other herbs to grow.
Youngest daughter and SIL coming for tea tonight, we have an issue with our Wifi and David will fix it whilst we cook tea.
Hubby has finished painting the spare bedroom, photo's next time and we have decided not to put a book case in the room, it looks nicer without one.
So normal week this week, just hoping the weather gets warmer as promised and we can start our summer.