Christmas Time!

Hurrah, December is here and that means decorations and twinkling fairy lights and mulled wine sipped by the fire! We start our mulled wine pot on the 1st of December and just top it up until the decorations come down. Yum. And on the subject of Christmas, here are a few more presents off the list for family and friends - dreadful photos but I was on a roll and didn't bother grabbing the tripod, etc. First up, a little mistletoe heart small enough to hang on the tree.



I have hand embroidered a serious amount of holly leaves and berries. This is a tea cosy I am making for...oops, can't say just in case. These of course are also available here along with many other gorgeous pipany gifts and decorations to solve your Christmas shopping! Yes, shameless I know, but a girl has to eat.



Next an embroidered hanging for a door or wherever. I had the idea of using the little girl that pops up frequently in my work for the business as a carol singer a while ago and finally got around to making this yesterday.



Next up is another heart this time inspired by the scarlet rosehips which grow just outside our bedroom window and bring all sorts of birds into view as we sit with our coffee pot at weekends.



So the list is shortening (she sort of lied hysterically...arghh!!! So much to do, so little time!). Time for a quick river-view break to bring back some calm before the next bit of crafting I have to show.



Move a bit closer and the beauty of these boats become so apparent doesn't it? this is the river basin right by the bridge over penryn river.



Love the range of textures you find wherever there is water.



Lovely. Now, back to the Christmassy makes and here is something I do every year: slice up some oranges, lemons, limes or whatever you have to hand.



I used up yet more of the windfalls which have still not made it into tarte tatins, but have fed ducks, hens and us in many guises. This year they will also be joining our Christmas decorations as part of the door wreaths and so on.



I threaded them onto skewers and wove these so that they hung under the oven shelves in rows (if that makes sense?). I used to dry them on trays, but this way the warm air moves around them and they dry much faster. obviously those of you with agas are onto a winner here. For the rest, leave on the lowest setting for as long as it takes to almost dry them completely - PIP'S TIP: if your oven if gas like ours, leave the door wedged slightly open as gas is moist heat and will not dry them properly. Great for baking, not so great for drying. Et voila!



Perfect little stained glass windows to hang on your tree or wreaths. Use string, wire or ribbon to hang them and add bay leaves, cinammon sticks, berries or leave plain as I tend to. Most of our decorations consist of masses of foliage from our garden and twinkly lights or candles, so this adds a lovely glow of colour to the whole.



Hmm, Tiger Lily doesn't seem so very impressed does she?



Ah well, back to the river I guess...



Or maybe not.



Well, that's my Christmassy start to December.
Have fun! x

Wet, Wild and Windy.

The wind is howling, buffeting against the house with such force that it occasionally shakes from the onslaught. Rain pelts down turning the duckpond into a giant murky puddle where leaves surface only to be swooshed down once more as yet another heavy cloudful is thrown upon them. How different to yesterday, a day of sunshine and blue skies. Granny-mother and I took the two girls out for an afternoon trip to the beach to see if the breezy day would blow away the last of the poorliness, a need for fresh air after being shut inside for much of the week.



We grabbed some sweet cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices as well as somwe of the apple and sultana buns made earlier in the week from Lucy's very own recipe.



Our little waterbaby did her usual, stripping off tights and shoes to paddle her feet in the icy water. The tremendous winds of late have stripped much of the beach of sand leaving a rocky landscape we barely recognise. No doubt a change in wind direction will see its return some time soon as is usual at this time of year, but for now it is a lunar landscape most unfamiliar to the girls, but to be explored nonetheless.



Lucy sat mermaid-like on a rock to read her book which she is so enjoying that she whips it out at any and every possible moment to lose herself in its pages once more.



And Isabella hoisted the skirts of her ladybird outfit which she had been wearing for the day. Such a sweet sight to see a brightly clad ladybird skittering surefooted over the rocks complete with snug winter coat over the top!



At last the chill began to descend as the afternoon moved on and we headed to Granny-mother's for warm drinks and cake. Home once more, the girls played quietly, exhausted by their windy outing and I retreated to the kitchne to turn some windfall apples and the squash grown on our allotment into spicy chutney. I love chutney making as it takes me back to when I was a child, the smell drifting through the kitchen as my Mum did the same.



Such gorgeous colours



I intend to cosy up by the fire now and complete some Noel Christmas Tea Cosies ready for next week's orders. A lovely thing to be making on such a miserable dday.



Have a lovely weekend xx