Wreaths

Aren't they lovely - I'm thinking that now that the Christmas bunting is done for this year I might have to get into a bit of stick art next Christmas.  Surely it can't be that hard!  Maybe a gumleaf version...

Thses beauties can be found here

It's a Book Tree

There are so many creative people out there doing amazing things with ordinary objects - Christmas is a perfect time to get creative.  I love what these people have done with books to create their Christmas trees.

I Like....

Christmas Bunting

One of my so-called friends has been teasing me shamelessly about my intention to make Christmas bunting.  Well little Miss Smarty Pants, not only am I going to... I've already started and VERY SOON you will eat your words!
While I am waiting for that moment, here are some other people's Christmas bunting...

Found here

found on flikr

found here

 found here

 found here

found here

Only a few more days until the tree can go up

Wildflowers Photography

It's That Time

This weekend I've been working on props for my Christmas shop window and as a result have got right into the spirit of the season - a little too early.  These trees have taken my fancy although I don't think the kids would be impressed with their minimalism. 

 from here and here

Nearly Ready

Well it's past midnight so I guess officially it's Christmas Day - Merry Merry Christmas everyone! I'm fluffing around doing last minute chores for tomorrow's festivities and waiting to play Santa Claus. I've been trying to keep the Gingerbread Houses from going stale, and I even cleaned the oven - not sure why exactly. After being very relaxed about the whole thing I've developed an eleventh hour conscience and realised I should do some preparations.

I've even started to set the table - this year our placemats are old Christmas record covers and I even recognise a few from my childhood.


I think I'll try filling the stockings now - have a great day everyone.

It's That Time Again

Christmas

Checking on the Reindeer droppings!

Christmas is over for another year - the tree is down, the wreath is off the door and all the pressies have found homes. The kids had a ball which is really the aim of my day. They ate heaps, unwrapped mountains, played hard and ran amok with their 9 cousins. Surfer Boy and I relaxed and all in all everyone had a ball.

Hope your day was just as much fun.

Large Christmas Icons

Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis will know how much I love the community I live in. Living over here in the West is like living in a country town. The community spirit is fantastic and it never ceases to amaze me. Sometimes it does get a little bizarre but that's part of it's charm.

A perfect example is what happened to us yesterday.

While out and about in Yarraville Village we came across these fabulous fellows - The 3 Wise Men, singing carols and generally entertaining all and sundry. They were gorgeous and how they walked all day in those shoes has me stumped.

Later that day we headed to Le Chien in Seddon and came across this gem -

Not only did Mr Christmas Tree stop and talk to everyone, he played an instrument and sang as well. the kids adored him and had a lovely long visit with him. We went back inside to finish our drinks when these two appeared -

Locals to the area, they entertained us with some wonderful Christmas songs and made our outing just that little bit more special.

This is not the end of our odyssey! On leaving the cafe we bumped in to this guy! -

He also had a song to sing and took requests from the kids. He also spent a long time finding out what they wanted for Christmas and making their faces light up.

I want to thank all these wonderful people for making Christmas Eve such a fun day and for making us all feel very Christmassy (which is of course a word) They made my kids day and I'm sure we weren't the only people who had a smile of their faces after encountering one of these characters.

It's been a long and exciting day so I'm off to scrounge up some left overs and watch a bit of mindless TV. (Guess who got seasons 1 - 6 of Dawson's Creek for Christmas??!!) See you on Boxing Day.

Presents And Sunburn

To those of you who are up late checking your blog rolls before collapsing into bed, I say a huge MERRY CHRISTMAS. I happen to know of a few people who are still up wrapping presents and baking Christmas delicacies, and I am sure there are many more. Have a wonderful, wonderful day tomorrow and I hope every ounce of blood sweat and tears are more than made up for by the joy that comes your way tomorrow.





This may be from the 50's but it is still very much what Australia is all about at Christmas, sun, surf, good friends and great food.

To those of you on the other side of the world, it may seem unlikely but Christmas day for us will be hot, and sunny with a BBQ lunch followed by sitting around under market umbrellas with a tall glass of something cold. Yay!!

Let There Be Light

Why can't my Christmas lights look like this? Maybe it has something to do with the house I live in!

This is my favourite Christmas tree this year.

You can't beat Martha Stewart for a good Christmas barn!

I know these are slightly 'wrong' but I secretly want them grazing in my front yard!

Lou vs. Scrooge

Seven more sleeps until the big, fat man comes to our house (And yours too if you've been nice).

I can't wait. I Love everything about Christmas. Lou over at Totally Innocent was talking about how much she loves this season too and it reminded me of all the Christmas Scrooges I've come across lately. You know, those people who do nothing but complain about the expense, the shopping crowds, the commercialism, etc etc. Why don't these people just change the way they celebrate Christmas so they don't find it so tedious. It's not like they don't know it's coming! They have a whole year to organise themselves so it doesn't give them a nervous breakdown. I have very little sympathy and am quite miffed that the whole Spirit Of Christmas thing has obviously gone right over their heads.

For me Christmas is - finding that perfect gift, even if it is March

- it's seeing my kids run to the window to see if there really is an Elf watching to see if they are behaving themselves

- it's making rumballs with Moondoggie

- it's watching as Gidget arranges the ornaments perfectly on the tree

- it's an extra Christmas Day every year so we get a full day with both sides of the family

- it's listening to 13 cousins sing carols together every year for the grown ups

- it's watching my Dad and Father In Law fall asleep after lunch even when surrounded by chaos

- it's a million things that make me so happy.

So thank you Lou for being full of the Spirit Of Christmas, may yours and everybody's Christmas be merry and bright.

Christmas Gorgeousness

Thank you to various blogs for these yummy shots.

Joy To The World

We're all very happy little campers tonight. A little dazed and confused from so much good fortune and loving family but who would have it any other way. It is 9.30pm and the rest of my gorgeous family are fast asleep, partly as a result of a marvellous day and partly from 'sugar coma'.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas Day and from my family to yours - Merry Christmas.

The Spirit Of Christmas is...

Your husbands wallet being stolen the week before Christmas, all your accounts frozen as the prick tried to access them, and the bank refusing to reinstate as said husbands name is really Alan and the only photo I.D. he has left says his name is James!!!

Why the hell don't we keep cash under the mattress any more?

Spinning Around

I do realise how slack I've been on the posting lately. It is not through lack of things to write about but rather too much to boil down.

The truly depressing thing has been the distressing lack of adult Christmas functions and the overload of parties and events my bloody kids have been invited to. When did they become the cool ones with a packed social calender and we become the taxi service who are only invited as a means of getting Gidget and Moondoggie to events??? At this point I'm being extra nice to them because if they don't let us come with them we're stuffed - Thank god for my brother's wedding.

That was one event we had to be invited to (although I have my suspicions about that too as the kids got way more attention than we did). It was a fantastic night with the rain stopping just in time to make their garden a sparkling wonderland. Everyone had a ball, especially the bridal couple and festivities continued well into the dawn.

Thanks to everyone who wished me well with the reading. You'll be pleased to know I didn't stutter, stammer or fall over, although I did tear up a little in the middle which was not the best of timing. So now I have a sister-in-law on my side of the family which is great and helps swell our family functions to a grand total of 6 (plus the 2 kids).

I can't show you any snaps yet but here is the 'Circle of Love' as it was dubbed. Surfer Boy made it for them and they were married in front of it. I think we'll use it for kicking the footy through in the back yard!

We're off to an Australian/German GLUEHWEIN FEIER on Thursday so I'll let you know how it goes. (Finally a party we've been invited to!)

Good luck with pressie buying.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

I got sick of waiting for Surfer Boy to come home, (he's working offshore in Bass Strait and was supposed to be home Monday!) so I dragged out the biggest ladder I could find and hoisted myself into the roof.

What fascinating places ceiling cavities are. There are no end of interesting things up there that I didn't know about including, thanks to my handy hubby, a light and a platform so I didn't fall straight through to the dining table.

The world is a fascinating place when viewed from a different angle and I spent quite a long time with my legs dangling through the manhole just looking around my dining and living room.

Anyway I digress... I was actually up there to drag down the Christmas Tree as I was not going to waste another day being nude of decorations. (If you read this blog regularly you will have gathered that I love an excuse to decorate).

The problem I soon discovered is that we have a 7 foot tree and a 1 1/2 foot manhole. The tree also weighs a couple of tonne and I was at least 12 foot from the ground!

Never fear, I was not going to let these little issues defeat me and ... Wa la!! .... a little bit of Christmas magic (and some major manoeuvring) and Jen and the tree were both safely on the ground.

This morning at some ungodly hour I could hear the squeals of delight as the kids discovered the new addition to the living room. Worth every near-death experience I had getting the bloody thing down.

This evening we had a lovely time unwrapping all the ornaments and other Christmas goodies. Now I just have to find some room to actually move in here.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Aren't these fabulous!

They are just a few of the family Christmas snaps that may be in CHALK's Christmas windows this week.

I'd love to share them all with you but there are just so many.

By the way - last night was fantastic! Buggered today but a huge thankyou to the gorgeous Wilbur and HAPPY 40th my dear.