Holiday's - Day One!

Look what I made a couple of weeks ago when I was knee deep in sewing projects. OK before my jam making took over my life! It's a Christmas Garland and it was easy peasie. I didn't even finish off the edges of the triangle points, such a cheat. Well I'm thinking it will still last for ages as no one will be touching it way up there.

I just rummaged through my ribbons and laces and found some suitable ones. The lace square was that crochet table mat I found in the op shop a while back. See that precious red ric rac? Dearest Michela sent it all the way from Venice for me. Isn't she sweet?

All done in one evening and a lot of fun as well. I also sewed some buttons on the ribbons randomly - again from Michela with some old finds too. I'm very pleased with how it has come out and it livens the dining room up immensely.

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My favourite part of it is the section with the white pompoms. Unfortunately I can't show you a close up of that, as there are too many cobwebs in the photo!!! I really must find that duster. I just know there is one somewhere - the last people to live here left it behind. Imagine leaving your old duster behind!!

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Oooo, I got my butt whipped today! I took the big girls to ten pin bowling while No.3 was at kindy and No.4 left at Great Gran's. Well it all started off well. My first bowl was a strike!!! I am still in shock over that one. But it seems I peaked too early on in the game and it was all down hill from there and I actually came last by quite a bit. So embarrassing, as a huge group of holiday programme kids were watching and all I could show them were gutter balls! Oh the shame of it.

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Gosh I'm really hoping my middle girls calm down for the holidays real soon as they are both being really naughty and driving their poor mother to despair. (And they are home for six weeks!!!) Honestly you'd think they would be trying to impress Santa at this late date, but sadly no. Clearly they don't want many presents. I'm on here trying to escape!

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Oh well I guess some housework wouldn't go amiss would it? We are having fish'n'chips at the beach tonight. It's such a lovely week of sunshine over here. Don't you wish you could live in both sides of the world, six months in each?

White Chocolate and Cranberry Cookies

Here is the recipe for these delicious cookies as requested by Stephanie, at Make It... a Wonderful Life.

Originally it was given to my friend, beautifully layered in a large jar. Instructions were attached to turn it into a couple of trays of delicious cookies. What a lovely Christmas present for someone special.

Anyway, throw all these ingredients into a large bowl and mix well:

1 cup chopped white chocolate

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup cranberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup flour

Melt 125 grams of butter and stir into dry ingredients. Mix well. Add 1 egg and mix again thoroughly.

Place biggish spoonfuls onto a baking tray (lined with greaseproof paper) with allowance for spreading.

Bake at 180 degrees C for about 10 mins or until light brown in colour. Makes about 20. I made a double batch and needed to transfer the mixture into the crock pot, as I ran out of room!

P.S.

I made another batch of strawberry jam yesterday and I've just bought another lot of apricots for more jam. I think I need help!!! I just can't stop making it, I love it so much. It's a shame you all live so far away or I'd give you a jar of it for Christmas. Maybe I should just can the smell for you instead - it's just as wonderful.

A Pause In Advent Part 3

Here we are, late as usual, but feeling suddenly much better about things which is always nice to hear, is it not? So it's the 3rd week in Advent which means Christmas is just around the corner now. Sorry for reminding you, please don't throw that at me.

This week, my topic is to remember that Christmas is also the season for giving. Being on The Challenge I have been rather challenged in this area. I have to admit to buying some items as there is only so much of me to go around and time is of the essence these days. Please forgive me, but golly I have tried.

And speaking of lacking in time, just in the nick of time, guess who arrived on my doorstep on Friday????

Yee Ha!! Yes those wonderful creatures, Santa's elves! And boy have they whipped up a storm around here. I hardly recognise the place. The window frames and the blinds have all been cleaned in every room (actually the dear husband did that!), the floors vacuumed (well some of them), the bathrooms are sparkling (OK the guest one is and now the girls are forbidden to enter it), the entrance way is mopped (because someone peed all over it), and we are trying to keep the place a little tidier (and failing miserably as No.4 is quite against tidiness).

But anyway, look what those dear little elves have baked... Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies. The smell was truly divine.

Strawberries have been chopped in preparation for Strawberry Jam...

Apricots, bananas, pineapple, passion fruit were prepared for Fruit Salad Jam and apricots for Apricot Jam...

And just look at how nicely they are displayed! Those elves really now how to set the scene for blogging don't they? Bless their little green slippers.

Baskets have been filled with treats for giving to teachers, friends and family... for this is the season for giving. (The school teachers were very grateful for their homemade treats today too! I forgot to take the kindy presents, left them on the table can you believe it??? Yes you probably can actually.)

Sweet little bags with red gingham bows adorn the cookies and Christmas tarts...

And just look at this glorious sight! A fruit cake made and given to us by my Mother, brimming with nuts, (that cost an absolute fortune which nearly caused my mother to faint at the counter!!) whole fruits and all gluten free.

Look what we were gifted from last week's kindy activity. Our third little pasta, button, matchstick, tinsel wreath spray painted in silver made by our clever little No.3. These are my absolute favourite all time decorations. Here they all are, just one more to come in a year or two.

And along with quite a few other bloggers, we put up our Christmas tree in the weekend. The girls did it all themselves and had, well, a grumpy time. No.4 was sent to her room just after this photo was taken because she really was loosing the plot!). It does look rather lovely with the twinkling lights at night. Unfortunately as it doesn't get dark until after 9pm the girls really don't get to enjoy it as much. They do each have a mini tree by their beds which is so festive and special for them.

So yesterday and today we have been wizzing around the country side leaving little parcels on doorsteps. No Christmas cards have been written around here, but presents have been delivered instead. Well you can't do everything can you?

Now I really must be off and cook some dinner. Senior Prize Giving tonight and husband is taking No.1 to sing in the choir, and who knows about the prizes.

My wish for you this week is for your Christmas shopping, card writing and present wrapping
to be finished and you are sitting back relaxing with a mince pie and a glass of wine.

Cookie Exchange

A very lovely English friend of mine invited a bunch of us girls to a Cookie Exchange on Tuesday evening. It's the second year she has put this special event on, but my first time going.

I really didn't know what to expect as I'd never heard of one before. Well, what a treat it was!

We were instructed to make up twelve bags with five cookies in each bag. Well that all seemed OK until you do the calculations and discover just how many trays of cookies this is!! Luckily my dear husband had bought me a new non-stick baking tray for my birthday and Gran had given me one a few weeks before.

It was like a small factory in my kitchen that morning. Little No.4 was most interested and very helpful with a few of the smarties (lollies). She was very accurate and did just as I instructed, the little poppet. I have to say bundling the gingerbread angels up into cellophane was a bit tricky and they looked a little on the small side too.

And this is what I found on my arrival at G's house...

Massive cranberry and white chocolate cookies bagged up with the most beautiful bows and nicely set in a basket!! Don't mine look dinky now?!! Not to worry, they weren't all this fancy and next time (hope I'm invited back!!) I'll outdo myself.

So at the end of the evening, after nibbling sample cookies and mulled wine (Mmmm scrummy) we each went around and collected a bag of each cookie. Well you can imagine how happy we were leaving with so many lovely little gifts in our containers. They did look so lovely and Christmassy too.

The girls were mighty pleased with the cookie selection the next morning. They each chose one cookie for their lunchboxes and went off to school/kindy with smiles on their faces. It's not often that good around here as far as good food goes!

Now see these soft little delights? Well I can happily tell you that they are now squashed into seven jars and feeling a bit jammy. Yes I have made jam! And I am very proud of my efforts too! I'm now very eager to make some strawberry jam and fruit salad jam before Christmas. On top of various other kitchen delights too. Hope the time doesn't run out on me!

How are your preparations going? It's difficult to fit in all the shopping with all the other commitments to isn't it? We have end of year assemblies, parties, zoo outings, and all those jolly take-a-plate things which are really starting to do my head in! Oh it will be so nice when the relaxing on the floor with a jigsaw, a mince tart and cup of tea days arrive.

By the way the weather this week has been middle of summer kind of stuff. It was about 29 degrees here this afternoon. The ground is boiling hot and the feeling summer brings is just so exciting. You know what is really getting me going? Hmmm, bet you can't guess? It's hanging the washing on the line and not having to miss every second line because you know it will all be dry in about an hour. Oh it's all about the little things in life!

Pause In Advent 2

Well if Lorraine has only just posted her second Advent post today, maybe it's not too late for me to do the same. It's just been such a very busy week for me and I haven't had time to do much around the house at all. You can only imagine how it's looking!! It's all so lovely having so many Christmas events at this time of year, but my goodness they do get in the way of everyday life.

I have so many things I could tell you about but I just don't have the time. Still, I'm sure you all have beautiful photos just itching to get on here as well.

So, Week 2 of Advent. This week we are talking about traditions in our family. I love building traditions for our girls to look forward to. There are quite a few now and some of them I have put on notes in the Advent Calendar. I think it's these traditions that really make Christmas what it is - special.

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We all look forward to a few things in particular. There's the annual Santa Parade which really sparks things off for us. This year's was the day before my birthday, and actually it wasn't too bad for a change.

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We usually put the tree up at the beginning of December, but this year we will putting it up later. We let the girls do all the decorating except the lights. Because they are all so opinionated and bossy this gets done fairly well. Just the odd adjustment here and there for asthetics and that's it.

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We take the girls out late one night closer to Christmas Day to see 'the lights'.

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The girls and I make and write Christmas cards for our friends.

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The letter to Santa gets a special session - today.

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And on Christmas Eve we all go to the Children's Service at church.

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Oh and another naughty tradition that started a couple of years ago, is to open any one present each under the tree that night. That's actually so much fun and probably the one present that gets more attention than all the others, although we do open all the presents on Christmas Day very slowly throughout the day, so they are enjoyed. (We had a nasty experience with ungrateful children a number of years ago and some presents were then hidden away!!)

And speaking of presents, look what Pomona gave me for my birthday...

Five pieces of vintage fabrics just perfect for patchwork, and these absolutely beautiful postcards with silver glitter accents. Aren't they just amazing?

This just might be my favourite one! I'll never be able to part with them I'm quite sure. Although it would be nicer for me to share their beauty wouldn't it? We'll see.

They did arrive in time but I've just been to busy to photograph them and post them. What a kind thought from a lovely friend. Thank you very much!

Well now I must go and start proceedings for the Letters to Santa. One must supervise such an important event!! Hope you are all enjoying the nice bits and not getting too frazzled too often!

Dear Santa...

I've been very good this year, well except the time I bought a red pot for my new tree.

I've cooked dinner at least five or six nights each week.

I haven't run out of milk or bread in absolutely ages.

I've cut back on housework.

I've baked instead of bought on numerous occasions.

I managed to keep four children alive, well one broke a bit, but she's going to be just fine.

My husband still comes home every night so the house can't look that bad.

I've done most of my Christmas shopping with anything from one to four children in tow.

So can I please have two or three of your little elves for Christmas? I promise I'll be good all next year if you send them. I'll let them have Friday nights off and they can have as much spinach as they can eat. (No one else will eat it and it coming out our ears!)

Love from Sarah xxx

P.S. We'll put out extra mince pies and L&P if it's a deal.

(Beautiful card pictured was given to me by father for my birthday. It is so colourful you'd think there were flowers in it, but it's all berries. Amazing!)

A Pause In Advent

Dear Floss has started up "A Pause in Advent" for us to share our thoughts, memories, traditions or whatever we like in the lead up to Christmas. It's a moment to think about what's important in life. You must visit her blog and read what she has written. She writes so well.

So anyway I'm probably the last one to contribute as I've been a bit busy sorry. I know you all have too, but you'll understand what I mean in a minute. Anyway I thought that I would put together an Advent wreath of sorts yesterday, (yes late again!) and this is what we ended up with. Not bad really.

I asked No. 3 to bring me in some special shells from the garden and instead No.4 brought me a large pile of broken shell bits. Well they would be a good base product so all was good. Eventually I received a few nice shells that we placed around the neck of one of the candles.

No. 4 brought me six nice pieces of white rock which I thought perfect to represent our family. Nice going lovey! Later on after school No.2 thought some small twigs would look nice in the third container. We'll see what No.1 picks today. She must have been busy (or in trouble!) yesterday.

So this week we will be thinking about our family. As I have said in the past I feel very fortunate to have four daughters and such a loving husband. I also have wonderful parents who are always there for their granddaughters and us and live only minutes away. Very handy when someone breaks an arm or some such!

The girls have been lucky enough to know one set of their great grandparents as well, although there's only Gran now. They see her most weeks and they love her. It's good for children to have older people in their lives. The can teach them about history and other important
things.

So this month I have decided to spend less time on the computer and more time doing fun things with my family. We have some exciting activities planned in the Advent calendar which will require time in planning and doing. All good fun. I will probably only post weekly for a while and probably not be able to visit as many blogs as usual. Please don't be offended if I don't leave my usual comment, I do care what you are up to, I just don't have as much time right now.

The lovely Michela has sent me a Christmas parcel. Just look at the card! What a laugh. She calls me Mrs Red Gingham and uses every opportunity to use the fabric.

And what a fitting doll. Isn't she the cutest?!!! She's made from an overlocking thread cardboard cone. Isn't that a great idea? Of course I love her apron.

Have you ever seen such amazing buttons before?!! They are cut from shell and the red ones must be dyed I think. I have decided to use some of them on my Christmas Garland when we finally get around to making one. They will be perfect.

And if that wasn't enough, there were also these wonderful sweets. I had to try one just to see if I liked them of course. And yes indeed I did! That's the only one gone, which is quite impressive, is it not? The others are on display on the buffet, and fingers off!!

I was wearing the perfect coloured tee-shirt for my flash new necklace too. What a generous present. Thank you so very much Michela! I love all of it. I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas too. Gosh, aren't friends wonderful?

Remember my birthday? Here's the pavlova cake my dear mother made for me. See, only six candles! Actually most of you were fairly on the button with my age. I am 38 now. Anything with a three at the front is quite acceptable for me.

And that dear husband of mine bought me this lovely winter wonderland house. I've taken the photo at night but the flash keeps going off so you miss the whole night light thing. I'll have to work on that one. It's like a pop-up book with little stars on the book that change colour. The snow icicles light up as well, as does the stream and the inside of the house. It's absolutely beautiful, so twinkly and pretty.

Goodness you should have seen the girls with their armloads of presents on Sunday! There were 11!!! craft magazines, several novels, the new CK Sew book, cutting mat, quilting ruler, fat quarters, chocolates and a few other goodies too. That man of mine is just the best when it comes to birthdays. He puts me to shame when it comes to his, and it's less than a month from now as well. Time to panic!

Well I think that's it for me today. Hope you all have a good week with less rain and more fun.

Love Sarah xxx