Christmas Baking...

A week ago I did some Christmas baking for our work Christmas Lunch.  I made Mini Plum Puddings and Reindeer Biscuits.

The reindeer biscuits turned out ok, as I have never made them before, so when I make them again next week they will hopefully turn out better.

Enjoy your day!

xx

Summer Where Are You....

Well I have no idea where Summer is......the temperature outside is 17 degrees. Normally it would be  about 25 to 30 degrees.  I have put the heater away and got it back out about 3 times now and I won't be taking the electric blanket off any time soon either....I know I'm a grannie but I hate being cold!!!

Last Sunday we had a storm with hail and I thought for sure we were going to have a White Christmas!

Look at all of that hail, it looks like snow...

My poor hydrangas had all their leaves shredded and they were just putting on a great show.

All the plants got a battering with the leave shredded, lucky it was only small hail.

Looks like I will be getting the Seasol out to give all the plants a boost!

Enjoy your day!

xx

Blog Award...

I received this blog award from Maa...very kind of you. Thank You.

Now I have to pass this award on to 5 other blogs that have less than 200 followers.  I have chosen:

Chris at Gathering My Thoughts - she is a collector of primitives and old wares and a great crafter.

Narelle at Prim Essence - a primitive and country collector.  If she can't find what she wants or is too expensive she makes it!

Rina at Our Slice of Heaven - living sustainably on a farm and doing it very well.

Jeanetteann at Vintage Treasures - crafty lady who loves op shops, china tea sets and a keen gardener.

Mandy at The Old Diary - follow her journey of life with her family and renovating her lovely home.

Congrats girls!!

Pop on over and tell them I sent you.

Enjoy your day!
xx

Christmas Decorating...

I thought I would share some of my Christmas decorating photos with you all.

I am not very good at decorating but I will give it a go!

First is the big tree in the sitting room, this has all my lovely country/prim decorations which I have bought over the last year, some of which have been handmade...no not by me.

To the right of the tree you can see my old santa sack (pillow case), which was what I received my presents in from Santa when I was little. I put it up every year but unfortunately it never gets filled...I must write to Santa with my change of address...lol.

Some of the decorations on the tree.

Next photo is of my new tree that I purchase a couple of weeks ago. I think it looks good in the old wagon.

Tree on the kitchen bench.

Tree near dining room table.

Decorations on hallway table.

This is a santa suit that I bought from Spotlight and Santa socks from a bargain store in the city (wish I had of bought more...love them), I stained them to make them look old. I love it hanging near the front door.

Santa's nightgown in my bedroom...no he doesn't sleep with me, it's only if he feels like a nap to keep him going for the night delivering all the presents...lol.

Some of my tomatoes that I picked the other day, one is a bit deformed.

I also picked my garlic, this is the first time that I have planted garlic. I only planted 4 and this is what I picked. Only small but not bad for my first go.

I thought I would share some of my holdiay photos...only of Bailey. This is the first time he has come away with me and he had a ball. He had never been to the beach and he wasn't too sure at first but then he loved it. Mind you, he didn't go into the water, he only got wet when the water got him.

I'm just check that the water doesn't get me! In the water is my friends dog Storm. He loves swimming in the water.

They both had a great time together. We will definately be going back.

These are some of my treasures from my holiday. We visited Milton, very nice little village, and this is what I bought there....you didn't think that I would go somewhere nice like that and not buy anything!

I just love it, it is an old hay fork made out of wood. I am going to hang it on the wall where I have my other fork.

I also bought from the Antique shop at Milton these Faulding Olive Oil bottles and Murlex Dry Cleaning bottle in original box.

The smelling salts and cough lozenges I bought from Tilba Tilba. This is a lovely little village too, very lush green countryside. I forgot to take photos of the countryside but next time I go I will.

Enjoy your day!

xx

Treasures from a Day Out...

Last Saturday I was able to spend a great day out with my good friend Chris.  We were heading to Rick Rutherford's Country Store at Lawson for his annual Christmas Collection day.  We had a great time at Rick's...as we always do.  I was very good this year and didn't spend as much as I have in the past.

I bought this lovely wreath.  Rick decorates the wreath himself but I added the rusty xmas trees.

I don't have a wreath and thought this was very country.

'

I also bought these cutie's below....I love the decorations that are from the USA.

We then headed up to Wentworth Falls to visit another Christmas shop....Winter Hill Emporium.  This is a lovely little shop too.  It specialises in Christmas decorations.  I picked up this lovely christmas tree that I had put on lay-by the last time we were there.

I also purchased this little tree, which I didn't see before....it's so cute!

I will be on holidays for 2 weeks, the first week I will be down the coast at a friends house which could be dangerous as we will be doing the antiquing rounds down there.  There are 2 favourite places that I like visiting which have some lovely shops and they are Milton and Tilba. Hopefully there will be some garage sales on while I am there as my friend says some of them are quite good.  The other week I will be at home doing things around the house, so I think I might be putting up my christmas decorations, yippy, I love decorating for Christmas...I think I had better do the dusting first!!

I will catch up on all your lovely blogs on my return in a couple of weeks.

Enjoy your day!

xx

Gone But Not Forgotten...

Three years ago today you were taken from us.

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal,

love leaves a memory no one can steal.

I miss your smile, your laugh, our talks, your advice, your voice, your hugs.

I miss you every day.

I Love You Mum

All that I am or ever hope to be,

I owe to my angel Mother.
~Abraham Lincoln

This N That...

My gardens have been bursting with colour.  The roses have been the best since I planted them a couple of years ago.

I love this Pierre de Ronsard Rose (above & below). It is hidden a bit by the Hollyhock growing, I didn't realise they got that big, and I wish it would flower it has a lot of buds on it.

 

This rose on the fence has flowered lots already and still has heaps of buds to open.

The Iris' are starting to open up.

The Hydrangea's have lots of buds on them.

The rose over the arch at the front gate is just full of roses....I love it!

I can't believe how big this foxglove has grown...I will definitely be planting more next year.

  I found this big bird nest a couple of weeks ago, purched up high on my downpipe, and it is made of mainly my grandpa's whiskers plant....I was wondering why it was disappearing!

I haven't seen any birds come and go from it, I will have to get the big ladder out and have a look.

I decided to hang some fairy lights under the pergola and I had a couple of cream lanterns so I hung them up too, I have put tealights in them. They look good lit up at night.

Now to inside....I decided to move my china cabinet as my friends thought it would look better on the other side of the room.  This way you can see it as you come in down the hall and it gets more sunlight on it (thanks Pat & Chris...you were right).

 I was given some money for my birthday so I bought a new lamp for the hallway table.

I think it looks good on the table!

I picked some of my roses to put inside.

I have finally made some homemade Laundry Powder.

I found the receipe from Rhonda's blog at down---to---earth.blogspot.com.  I haven't tried it yet as I still have my bought powder to finish. It is supposed to be very good and a lot cheaper than the bought ones.  It was easy to make too!

Enjoy your day!

xx