Christmas eve

 I want to share this lovely photo, it's family and shows how Christmas should be, all three enjoyed their visit with Santa, they played in the outside play area, had warm chocolate drinks. Simple gifts from Santa, perfect way to spend a Sunday, they had a time slot, so no over excited children waiting for the visit. 

We will be with them tomorrow for the day, so loads of fun, new books and toys to play with and a huge family lunch, later we will come home to our tidy home. Boxing day is home together, maybe a walk around the village if it's not raining. 

I hope your Christmas is as you want, with the people you love.

Finishes

 The cakes are done, the snowflakes did not dry hard, which was a disappointment, I could not finish the cakes as I wanted, these still look good, and hopefully will taste great, I have not changed anything in the recipe. Daughter has take hers and brother will take his home with him, we won't cut ours until next week. 

I have finished my green cardigan, it took longer, I did not want to touch it whilst I was not feeling well, I don't like sewing up so I need to be on the ball when doing it. It fits perfectly and I love the shorter length, my long ones keep me warm, but sometimes they are too long. I have buttons to get, but I'm not in a hurry to get them.

I have also finished my needle felted robins, adding eyes and beak, I have not made them into baubles, I think I'm not going to use them on the tree. I have not done any more to the snowman, he remains hat and arm less, not that he needs either. I have 1 red bauble left, no idea how to decorate it. 

Our only granddaughter Molly sat beside our tree, in her missmass dress, our little angel. More like our little hurricane, as she dashes about like one, and bosses both her older brothers and her Grancha (hubby). 

Having been unwell it gave me time to think and I lined up some task to finish, I hang my head in shame, I have just sewn the buttons on my long brown cardigan I finished knitting back in May. I have sewn in all the ends on my 3ply socks I finished back in mid November. So all the almost done projects have been cleared. I did not do any more to my Christmas blanket, in a previous life I would be panicking, today I happy to finish it in January. I am thinking about starting another  pair of socks in 3ply, just to have a little project to keep my hands busy. I also have a couple books to read. 

On Tuesday we took George and Molly to a local show, full of trolls, George loved it, he was unsure of the other children calling out, just like at a panto, Molly fell fast asleep after 15 minutes, hubby and I enjoyed the show, nice way to spend a wet afternoon. Daughter was able to relax at home with Will, which pleased both of us, it's a stressful time when you have young children.

Wednesday the garden was finished, I  walked around, there are bulbs sprouting everywhere, my new rhubarb has growth, the broad beans are looking strong. I am itching to put things back, but I will be good and wait. We walked to the village in the morning, it was market day, so we did not stay long. I spent the afternoon crafting. Hubby made sausage rolls, so the house smelt divine, he has mince pies to make. 

Today I am at daughters for an hour, she has a task to do, so playtime with her 3, then we are having a coffee together, hubby and brother has gone to get our veg, sadly our normal guy and his wife are both ill, so we are going to their son's market stall to get what we need. Rest of the day is free.

I did not get hubby's last bit of his present, the shop had sold out, I have now found what I required, so all the gifts have been sorted. My brother arrived on Tuesday evening, so we are all together and now in Christmas spirit, hubby cleaned the outside windows and doors, they were covered in dust, I sorted the slate under the Acer tree, it's now level with the paving, I will need a couple more bags of slate to make the garden area level with the new area. 

Garden

 I hope throughout this post you will be able to feel my happiness on the finished results in the garden, these photo's show the area with nothing back in place, we are waiting for a while before replacing the pots and furniture, some will stay where they are until next spring. 

The whole area is flat, which was our 1st request, having said that, there is a small rise by the garage to the back path, but it's so gentle, you can't see it. We decided to keep the step by the back door, it made sense, and we have got used to it being there. 

We are both excited and can't wait for next spring to be out using all our space, the changes made other than decking area is the same space, but from the kitchen door to the garage is huge, so much workable space. It was expensive, the most we spent in years  but worth every penny.

From the back looking towards the house, every angle is just perfection, I pulled out my plan and other than one change, which we asked for he has given us everything. I am very happy with the oblong lawn all the weird angles have gone, less places for the grandchildren to trip.

Such neat lines

I am so pleased, it did take longer than we expected, but we had a few rainy days and our landscaper took two days to recover from a nasty cold. Hubby has been on our local social media pages singing his praises, as well as doing as we asked, he kept us informed, and was very polite and a tidy worker, I'm sure the tea and bacon sarnies helped him. Here you can see how it looked before the works. 

It's not finished, in the new year, our metal table and chairs and the metal gates need repainting green to match the garage door, we were going to change colour on table and chairs, but we have changed our minds and saved money and work. The half wall behind the side bed needs painting white and the walls around the extension need rendering. It's never finished, but it's looking bloody marvellous, we are both happy, rearranging the seating area last summer, helped us to plan our perfect outside space. 

Outside - Inside

I did say to hubby I was not going to make a plant display outside this year, mainly because the table is in our garage. When we were at the garden centre, he wandered off and came back with plants, which he paid for. The 'pot' I had in the garage, I put them together, a very different display from what I would choose, which I love. I've not added to my stash as I did not pay for them. There are hyacinth and tete-a-tete bulbs in here as well.

I dug up my first potato plant as they have all died back, I was not expecting much, so I'm pleased I had enough small potatoes for our Sunday roast. I think I might get enough for Christmas lunch, there are 5 adults. Not the perfect start to my veg beds, still not a disaster. I do love tiny potatoes. 

I spent some time in the garden on Saturday, less than an hour, Purdy came out, but was not sure about the new look, she followed me around, she does not like change, we are keeping an eye on her, Grace stayed asleep.

I love this plant, Albuca sprialis frizzle sizzle, its a bulb from the onion family, its the third time it has regrown, this year with two separate growth areas. As you can see for the second year I'm going to get a bloom, which when opened, does smell of vanilla. 

I am feeling much better, I still can't eat too much, which is typical for me after what we are sure was an allergic reaction. It's nice to be going out again, life is boring when forced to stay inside, I do get so tired, so early nights.

Saturday we met Shelia, who host the sign group, I wanted to ensure she had their Christmas gifts, I also gave her a thank you gift, I can never repay her time and effort to passing on British sign language, I got her a beautiful sewing box, which as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect for her. Strictly was brilliant, loved Ellie winning, she is a brave fearless dancer, both the guys deserved to be there, definitely a good year.

Sunday was a cleaning morning, the dust from the garden refit was everywhere, the floors filthy,  so I'm pleased it all clean again, I will clean again on Wednesday when the garden is finished, we can then do the windows and frames on the outside as well. It was a busy day, we popped to Lidl for the last shop other than fresh items, later hubby made mince pies as I finished the Christmas cakes.

Today we are popping to town, we can get our fruit and veg and hand over our Christmas order which will be delivered over the weekend, later I'm sneaking out to get the last bit of hubby's gift, I've finally found a local shop which sells it. I've also got my new glasses, I now need bifocal lenses as I find more things are blurred.