I forgot to show the Santa 'Russian' dolls...so here they are.
A few days before Christmas (on 21st December) my husband and I celebrated our 20th Wedding Anniversary. I say 'celebrated' a bit tongue in cheek as unfortunately I had to go to the funeral of one of our friends, who was actually at our wedding 20 years ago. Not only that the power went off at 10.30 am and didn't get fixed until almost midnight!
My husband bought me 12 yellow roses as he knows how much I adore yellow roses, and I think he buys these for me most years.
As I had to return the orchids I had been looking after for the last six months to my son who has returned home from sea for a while and is now living in his own house, I asked if I could have some orchids for our anniversary. So my husband bought me three!
This more unusual one.
Plus a lovely pink/purple orchid
and a beautiful white orchid.
I hope these do as well as the Sailor's did in this spot.
Today I just caught up on a few jobs around the house.
Fresh clean bedding
New duvet covers that were bought during the Black Friday Sales.
A quiet evening in with a roast for dinner - I ate too much!
Wishing everyone a safe New Year's Eve, however you choose to celebrate it and all the best for a Happy and Healthy New Year.
We didn't have many decorations out this year and didn't even have a tree. It took me almost until Christmas Eve to get into the Festive frame of mind. Decorating/renovating just before Christmas is not always such a good idea, as you have such a lot of clearing up and sorting to do afterwards!
The decorations started out simple, some fairy lights, poinsettia, an angle and a reindeer.
Ten days before Christmas, Santa was spotted walking up the road, perhaps he was checking who had good?
His Sleigh was out playing music and very prettily lit up.
I thought I better start making a bit more effort so donned some Christmas leggings the Sailor had brought home for me from his travels.
The little unit in the hallway gathered a few more decorations.
This year's new Christmas Tree ornament (without the tree!) We buy a new ornament each year.
My favourite decoration for this year was this little group of houses and church, I just love this and it fits on the little shelf below the fireplace just perfectly.
Some of my dolls eventually got dressed in some Christmas finery Christmas Eve.
Christmas Eve we took the dogs for a walk and admired the colourful array of decorations that people had put up outside. One house in particular had gone to a lot of effort.
On the other side of their driveway were also a colourful selection of candy canes. It looked ever so pretty.
Lastly, my son went all out and his tree is decorated beautifully!
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Since this morning, when I started writing this post, we ventured out and discovered that one of the local garden centres we visit had all Christmas decorations half price, so we bought some candy canes and some more little houses!
Looking out our front door...
A close up of one of our snowmen - I think we bought them last year, or the year before last.
I have a lovely little village now for when I have a proper fireplace mantel!
Christmas Day has been and gone, and a lovely day was had by all, I was up at dawn to enable it all to happen.
A feast fit for kings! Turkey, 'pigs in blankets', stuffing balls, Yorkshire puddings, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, carrots, roast potatoes, sweet potatoes and parsnips, gravy and cranberry sauce.
Trying to get a decent photo proved to be a bit hit and miss!
My yearly pavlova was a success and devoured!
Dessert: Fresh fruit salad, Christmas pudding and of course my Pavlova.
Why is it so impossible to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time?
The days seem to be speeding by, and we are still in a complete muddle, although I guess we are slowly getting there. I haven't felt at all like getting ready for Christmas, and last week especially had quite a Bah Humbug moment when faced with all that needs to be done to clear, sort and tidy the house after the bedroom renovations. Despite loading up the car with stuff for charity shops, there still seems to be a mountain of stuff to sort through and find places for. Does it keep multiplying? It sure feels like it, there still seems to be stuff EVERYWHERE!
Anyway catching up on the last couple of weeks...
The carpet was laid on the 7th December (or was it the 6th?)
Bare floor.
Carpet! Although we have since discovered that the skirting board and radiator pipes were damaged in the putting down of it and we now have a small leak so not very happy with that, and hoping it will 'self seal' as it sometimes does with such hard water as ours.
New quilt cover.
The furniture has since been moved back in, but I haven't taken a photo of it yet.
We are slowly reclaiming our lounge. One end of it is tidy anyway.
A few decorations have gone up, but only a few.
Santa came up our road a couple of nights ago.
Colourful lighted sleigh.
Christmas leggings were put on today to try and get me in the festive mood. My son bought these home for me from Alaska I think it was.
Last Sunday we woke up to thick snow fall.
So of course had to take a few photos!
Stanley loved the snow
He couldn't get enough of it and didn't want to come in.
Percy on the other hand, wasn't so keen.
Two heads are better than one??
He couldn't wait to get back inside.
That's better...he doesn't look very happy about having gone outside!
I started the post below 13 days ago!
Goodness it is already 5th December, where on earth do the days go?
Exercise machine for the month of November : 15/30 = 50%
Physio Exercises: 22/30 = 73%
Clarinet practise: 16/30 = 53%
Both the exercise machine and clarinet practice are down on last month due to me being ill quite a bit this month with various cold/flu type viruses, obviously attacking me on those twice weekly train trips into London. However, although the clarinet practice was down in terms of how often I have played, I am able to play for longer now, so it probably evens out.
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Since the above, I have now finished the acupuncture sessions. I was supposed to have one this Thursday but unfortunately I have a funeral to go to so have had to cancel. Apart from the very first session when I had an easing up of the pain in my right elbow for about 11 hours, I can't really say I have noticed any improvement. The same applies to the physiotherapy. The sessions are hard work and painful as are the exercises I have to do at home. They really don't feel like they are getting any easier. The pain in my body is still pretty intense at times and since last Tuesday when we went out for a Christmas Dinner (lunch) with family I have had stomach - or at least pains in my lower chest and back ever since, and a general feeling of being 'not right' So much so that the pain has kept me awake for the last three nights. So this is 'new'. I wish I could see a bit more improvement, it would at least be encouraging. Last week I just felt so down about it all, but today is the beginning of a new week, and although I had a bad night last night again, and I have been in a lot of pain today, I feel more positive again, which is always a good thing.
I recorded myself playing last night. I have a long way to go before I get back to the standard pre-surgery almost ten years ago, but I am enjoying my practises despite the pain and that is the most important thing. Hopefully I will be able to look back on this and see the progress I have made.
