Halfpom

Merry Christmas 2

The wire baobab tree purchased last Christmas is back in service - only problem is that although it looks beautiful in situ, it's not terribly photogenic..

Merry Christmas

The nativity scene is courtesy of Granny - a labour of love (if ever there was one) started in June as a surprise for her grandchildren...

Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas!

more royal icing...

This time on the Christmas cake....Mum made the fruitcake....got to have fruitcake at Christmas & I did the decorations. I marzipanned a cake for the first time ever as well as making the royal icing under Mum's expert tuition....all a bit tricky (& sticky) but I managed. Mum trained to be a housecraft teacher....do they teach housecraft in schools anymore?.....and at one stage used to answer the phone with...'Cooks Helpline' due to the number of phone calls from her daughters with cooking related questions!! 
And the view from the top....the tablecloth is possibly embroidered by either by Grandma (my great-grandmother), Granny or Auntie Vena (my great aunt) but can't make out the initials...the date it was finished though is as clear as anything....1944..... The wooden turntable for used for icing the cake is the one Mum used in college! 

Merry, merry Christmas......

I started the festive ball rolling with a gathering of assorted family at my home last weekend....just gave me a chance to play really because I LOVE Christmas....there was a treasure hunt for the nippers - amazing how excited they get by some bubbles & a packet of jelly tots...long may it last! A champagne cocktail for the adults...slightly potent, this one..and all sorts of nibbles to soak up the cocktail.

This year I decided to get a tree that was local & one that I could use again so I chose a wire baobab tree - my favourite tree in Africa so no contest really. It must have been hilarious to watch Thobela, Innocent, Zacs (the artist who made the tree) & I trying to stuff the 2 metre tree into Mum's Honda Ballade, which is what I happened to be driving at the time of purchase.

Hats off to the guys, the tree made it back home none the worse for wear. I think I need to take them with me on my Travel Africa shopping trip....who knows what we'll come back with!! It's been decorated with antiqued silver & turquoise baubles with white fairy lights wound all the way up the trunk. I also found some lovely little hearts, reindeer and fir trees made from cinnamon bark which I added to the mix.... 
For the flowers, I decided to use what I had in the garden which was hydrangeas, lavender, 'Bright Lights' spinach and some gaura & a jam jar (my fabulous collection of vases still being tucked up in a container in the frozen north & Santa said he wasn't coming my way until the 24th..)....and voila.....Paula Pryke eat your heart out...

The wreath on the front door is asparagus fern that I purposely let grow wild (..a word of warning though it does have some nasty thorns) and a few of the leftover turquoise baubles and some cerise pink ribbon from the ribbon box.....very pleased with it....just shows you don't have to spend an enormous amount of money... 
As the family has Germanic roots, Granny decided to add a gingerbread house to the festive mix and was justly rewarded by her grandson's involuntary words...'So pretty, Granny'...

Privately Granny confided that she had very nearly thrown in the towel at one point when every surface in her house including her cellphone was covered in very sticky royal icing....but actually I think she had fun!! She wasn't that keen on my suggestion that we let the nippers decorate their own houses next year...okay, we'll make three then...

 
Wishing you all a very merry Christmas wherever you may be & travel safely if you are on the roads or in the air.....until next week! 

Starting out

My first picture on my new blog......taken to celebrate Easter! A wonderful weekend spent with my cousin & family - lots of good food, conversation and a bit of wine thrown in to the mix. I was introduced to two lovely shops in Nottingham that Saturday. The first was Le Chien et Moi - what a gorgeous shopping experience - full of lovely goodies that tempt you to part with a serious amount of moolah & the best part was the owner's bassett hound, Mulberry, who personally greets all the customers.

After a serious amount of drooling and some purchases we proceeded to lunch at Edin opposite the Broadway art cinema in Broad Street - very yummy & very continental with an electic menu and music. The sort of place where you can spend the whole day with a newspaper working your way through breakfast, morning coffee, lunch & afternoon tea before they finally throw you out after dinner.....