Attic24

Floral eye:candy

 

A week before Christmas my lovely mother-in-law was struck down with this horrid virus that seems to be doing the rounds. I bought these flowers from the supermarket to give to her :: I didn't have enough money to buy the big flashy bouquets so I ended up choosing two quite modest bunches, ones of roses and iris, and another of carnations and a purpley flower whos name I don't know.

When I came home from the supermarket, I dumped my bag down on the coffee table and was suddenly struck by the beauty of the flowers nestled in my shopping bag. True eye-candy, it literally stopped me in my tracks.

 

I confess I paid very little for these flowers, and they did look quite carried-home-in-a-supermarket-bag rather than purchased-from-a-lovely-local-florist. So when I got home I took the two bouquets carefully out of their supermarket packaging and re-wrapped them, putting the two bunches together into the cellophane wrapping, but without all the stickers and plant food and sticky tape. I tied the bouquet together with some natural raffia and some pretty ribbon and they instantly looked better. Looked beautifully simple and put together with Love.

Just look at the colours, oh those colours!! They make my heart beat faster, skipety-skip. I find flowers endlessly inspiring, love the way the colours of petal and leaf can be so intense. I couldn't resist a quick snap of the blooms with the hexagons :: you can see exactly where my colour inspiration came from for this blanket, it was most definitely florally inspired.

My friends, I am not well today. This illness has been lurking around me the past few days and I was honestly hoping to beat it off, to drown it in lemon and honey and ibuprofen and positive thinking. But nope, it has me firmly in it's grips. I'm not sure if it's a nasty cold or something virusy, but whatever it is I sincerely hope it will sod off again very soon. Oooo dear me, I am cross aren't I?! I  so   h a t e   being unwell, most especially during holidays. It sucks.

So I am typing this on the laptop on the sofa, in my pyjamas, with a hot water bottle and my ripple round my shoulders. J is back at work and the Little People are doing their best to be good for me and I am doing my best not to mope.

If I don't manage to make it back to Attic24 before December is out, can I now wish you all a very very Happy New Year. I wish for 2009 to bring much Happiness, Hope, Love and Laughter to you all, and I hope that you will find a ray of sunshine in each day and take  pleasure in the Little Things.

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Simply Sunday

I guess there are many reasons why people decide to blog, and once started, why they continue to blog. I know that there are a great many little itty-bitty reasons that compel me to take photographs day after day and sit here and write day after day. I won't waffle on at you today (lucky escape for you) about my reasons for keeping this little bit of colourful cyberspace up and running, but one thing I can say is that I like my blog. I like it a lot. I like thinking about it, I like the creativity it involves and I like reading it. Yes, I often do read back through my own archives, not in a oh-look-how-wonderful-my-own-blog-is kind of a way, but in a daydreamy retrospective kind of a way. Often I will find myself thinking about something or another and my mind will settle on a particular remembered image, or an outing, or a recipe, or a crochet project and I will attempt to search out the blog entry, to find the words and images that accompany the memory.
And for someone with a memory that is as shot to bits as mine, this blogging lark is MARvelOUs! So many things I had forgotten about! So many images, memories, thoughts :: things that would otherwise be quite lost if it wasn't for my documenting them. I find it really wonderful to know that I have created this pocket of memories, and to be able to dip and dive into them whenever the mood takes me.

Take todays photographs for example :: images from yesterday (Sunday) which was a very normal, weekendy, family day in our house. Nothing extraordinary, yet somehow I look back at these photos, now a day old, and I am so happy to see them there! I recall the happiness that was there when I opened my eyes and saw that little jug of flowers beside my bed :: flowers that came from a huge surprise bouquet which J brought back from the supermarket for me, along with a packet of Lemsip and some Ibuprofen (yeah, I am fighting that cold, it has not taken hold of me quite yet). I remember the simple pleasure that accompanied my morning cup of tea in bed at 7:09am, and a bit of new-book browsing (both deeeeliicous). And I think this :: a cup of tea, a jug of flowers, a new book. Such small  pleasures, but how fabulous all the same. How simple life can be at times, how ordinary yet how extraordinary.

A little later on and I sit to do some colouring with the Little People. The picture above, started by Little Man, abandoned by Little Man, picked up by Little Lady, abandoned by Little Lady and consequently taken up by yours truly. The water is my handiwork, as if you couldn't guess, right? This is a new Christmas colouring book (eh-hem, yes, I confess, bought by me for Little Man because I loved it so). Ahh how I love to sit with a  good colouring page in front of me and an array of felt tip pens! Its pleasure overload!

I am ridiculously pleased with my concentrated colouring efforts, and my Sunday Sun is now proudly stuck up on my mirror to shine down on us all.

Ten-thirty and we are miraculously out of our pyjamas and out of the house. We've had a lot of stay-at-homes during this holiday (partly due to illness, either full blown or impending), which has been rather luxurious actually, but the time had come to get out of the house.

J chivvies us into action :: Cummon, lets go, lets go, boots on, jumpers, coats, hats, wrap up warm, lets get out into the Wintry countryside. Follow the path up and up above Bolton Abbey, shall we visit the Money Trees? Yes? No? The Little People excitedly suggest Buffers, so that is where we head off to.

Do you recall our discovery of Buffers in the Summer? We had always meant to go back again but had not made it until yesterday. The Little People are thrilled to be showing their Daddy this place, they rush on ahead and show him where to go, lead him up the creaky wooden stairs to the train gallery. We take in the dusty nostalgia, play with the trains and then head back down to the cosy cafe to eat lunch.

Lunch is as lovely as I remembered it from before, and we do not much want to leave the warmth and cosiness. But eventually, when lunch is done, when coffee and cake is done, when a second play with the trains is done, we set out and head back down from the hills to the river beach.

There is paddling, and tree climbing. It is freezing cold but the Little People don't care. The tree becomes a hotel. The river gives up heart shaped stones and remarkably a pound coin. It's a lot of fun, but oh so freeeeeeezing cold!Take me home, I want to go home, I am whining like a petulant child. Oh honestly, I have to laugh at myself sometimes :: so utterly childish :: fourty going on four.

I do get my way in the end and we come home to a warm house for an afternoon of tea and chocolate biscuits and laziness. I take up position in The Chair and carry on with my current crochet project. The crocheting is complete now and I'm just starting to bring it all together. 

There are twenty five bluey-green granny squares...

...and twenty five pinky-red flowers.

Squares and flowers. I'm calling it "Granny's Flower patch", and I am really liking it. Can't wait to see it all finally come together. Its only a small project, a second cushion cover to go with this one. 

When it's done, I think I'll be ready to embark on my next blanket, although I'm still finalising the plan for the blanket-to-be. I think I almost have it set, I have drawn out a rough plan on paper, and have chosen which type of yarn to use. But I am still stumbling over yarn colours, still debating Random v Planned, still debating Bright/Deep v Bright/Soft, whether to include yellow, whether to include white.

Ahh decisions decisions. Making decisions is so hard for me, even if they are deliciously coloured ones.

Post Christmas pondering

So...we are out the other side, we made it! Haha woohoo!!!
Quietly, to myself, when no one else is listening, I am sighing with relief.
Phew.
It's been at times hectic, chaotic, stressful and downright rushed.
Yet mostly it's been joyful, peaceful, fun, happy and wonderful.

I am coming down with a cold.
I have never known a Christmas tree to shed so many pine needles..
I LOVE my new pyjamas and fluffy socks.
Ditto drinking Bucks Fizz whilst wearing new pyjamas and fluffy socks.
I am looking forward to beginning a New Year.
I am not looking forward to cleaning up pine needles.
I am wearing a beautiful handmade bracelet today.
I am also wearing my favourite baggy linen trousers.
Which damn-and-blast-it are not feeling as baggy as they should.
Actually, they are waaaaaaay too tight.
I shall be commencing a diet shortly.
Soonish.
Mamma Mia (the film) is playing on the TV.
Again.
We've watched it oooo maybe 37.5 times?
Probably more.
I would dearly love to go to Greece again.
When my trousers fit me again.

xxx

Christmas Eve

Awww, can you believe that it is Christmas Eve? Already? How did this day manage to sneak up on me so fast then?! Here at Attic24 we have stumbled very chaotically through the past week or two with very little preparation for Christmas. We are are an exceedingly last-minute sort of a family. So yesterday saw some slightly panicky, mad-dashy, heavy duty present-shopping take place. It was stressful at times, but now thank goodness the presents are all brought and (mostly) wrapped. I am relieved to say the least, it took a lot of effort to remain calm at times yesterday and I am glad that particular part of Christmas is over.

This morning we walked, up a steep grassy hill behind our town, up high to look out over the misty rooftops. Fresh, damp air, it was quite wonderful after the commercial chaos of yesterday.

 

Back towards town through the woods, muddy shoes and rosy cheeks. Pockets stuffed with clementines and golden chocolate coins.

Emerging out of the woodland and into town for some last minute shopping at the market :: Seasonal greenery of one kind...

...and another.

After lunch, a little time to sit and drink tea and browse through my precious collection of Christmas magazines.

I'll be baking in a little while :: some star shaped cookies to decorate with silver balls and edible glitter. They will be wrapped in pretty cellophane bags and tied with ribbon to give to family and friends who visit us in the next few days.

We do not go mad for presents in our house, it's very low key. We buy for the Little People of course, but between J and I we have an agreement not to buy stuff for each other. Instead we tend to buy treats for ourselves, its easier that way, and quite a lot more effective and satsifying. J's gift to himself will be computer-related (his passion) and purchased after Christmas during a special trip to a hugely geeky computer shop. He will go with his Dad and is very excited at the prospect of this buying trip, it is already all planned out. Sweet eh?

And my present to-me-from-me is some soft and cosy pyjamas and snuggly fluffy socks which will be my outfit of choice for this evening and much of tomorrow. Oh, and look, I also bought myself two little books which I am very excited about. I cannot wait to dive in to those pages.

Today I bought us two new morning tea cups for our Christmas brew in bed tomorrow, cannot wait for that either. In fact, it has to be said I am rather excited for tomorrow. ooooooo yes I really am!

 

Our special Christmas plate is all ready set out waiting for the mince pie, glass of wine and carrot which we always leave for Father Christmas and Rudolph. The empty stockings wait to be filled. The Little People are expectant and excitable. Me too.

 

Yes, me too.

Happy Christmas to you all, I wish you all the brightest, happiest day, filled with love and laughter, hugs and kisses. Have fun!

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Winter Solstice

Yesterday was the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and the longest night. It was cold and murky and grey and wet here in North Yorkshire, it really was an awful day weather-wise.

I wanted to celebrate the day in some way, felt that this particular day in the year was important and worth celebrating. I wanted very much to do something light and bright and celebration-ish with my family, to start something that might in future years become a Family Tradition. And I would dearly love to tell you that my family felt the same, but honestly, I would be telling you a big fat fib. And as I am all for honesty, I have to confess that truthfully, they didn't care at all for celebrating Winter Solstice.

So it was me who made the sun decoration above. I did ask for the Little People to help, but they weren't interested in the slightest. I could not even entice them with the promise of a new tube of squeezy gold glitter glue. So I crafted alone.

I had this idea that we could make some jam-jar lanterns :: four of them, so that we could each light a candle. So down to the cellar to my stash of Bonne Mamman jars, and into the Little People's craft cupboard for some Gummed Paper Squares (oh how I love these!). I did not get a lot of enthusiasm here either. Little Lady was pretty happy to help out, but Little Man (who to be fair was not feeling very well)threw a minor tantrum when I asked him to decorate a jar. He stropped, and moaned and groaned and eventually managed to drag himself to the table but with the sourest face you have ever seen. It was not an awful lot of fun round our crafting table, but hey-ho I did my best.

And tantrums and grumpiness aside, between us we did manage to produce four decorated jars.

A bit haphazard, a little rough and ready, but still quite cheerful and colourful.

I went to my local candle shop and spent a delicious time sniffing all the seasonal festive Yankee Candles. So hard to choose! Should I go for Christmas Wreath? Gingerbread? Eggnog? In the end I chose Silver Bells and it's utterly gorgeous, kind of a christmas tree smell "with fresh notes of cypress, spruce, apple, wild berry, clove and white cedar".

As well as candles I also needed some greenery. Now in my mind, I had imagined that we would all go out for a lovely, jolly country walk to collect some bits of evergreen foliage to bring back home. It would be such a lovely thing to do on a Mid Winter's Day!

But it didn't quite work out like that. No. It was wet. And cold. And Little Man really was not feeling great, and J had locked himself in the Attic working all day. What to do? Go out alone, that's what. So out I went with a shopping bag (Cath Kidston of course) in the pouring rain, and proceeded to surreptitiously attack some local hedges down near the canal. Trying to do it quickly and discreetly whilst wearing my very un-subtle green coat with scarlet lining to blend in. I felt really bad doing it. I mean, just look what I did :: I stole someones rosemary!! And I hacked a good few branches off a beautiful ivy!! Naughty, naughty me!!!

But no matter, the Contraband Greenery was essential, because I had read that on Winter Solstice, wreaths have to be made from evergreens to represent the closing of the year, the circle of life etc etc. So an evergreen wreath I had to make. Well I did my best. It was sort of a circle anyway.

And we lit our lovely scented candles, in the haphazardly decorated jars, surrounded by the Contraband Greenery in a rough wreathy-type circle, and it looked and smelt rather beautiful I thought.

I had also read that as well as candles and wreaths, we should be thinking about burning a log. Not just any old log, but a Yule Log. Hmm, I wasn't quite sure what a Yule Log should look like?  And quite frankly I didn't feel like going out on my own to procure a Yule Log from the woods, I already felt really bad about the Greenery situation. So instead I selected a log from the fireside log basket and attempted to make it Yule-ish. I used the bits if evergreen which didn't make it into the wreath, and tied them to the log with some natural raffia. eh Voila! One Yule Log!

Of course, it was not immediately obvious that this was a symbolic and Special Log. A Yule Log no less. I had quite a bit of explaining to do. And my explanations were met with much raising of the eyebrows let me tell you. What with the smelly candles and the Stolen Greenery and the trussed up log, it was all a bit much for J to take. He thinks I'm half way to Loopy-land at the best of times, and this sort of thing just kind of makes me seem even more loop-the-loop than ever I guess. More tree-huggy than he can deal with. But still, he humoured me, bless him, and the fire was lit ready for the Winter Solstice Burning.

So it is early evening, dark outside and we are all in our pyjamas and snuggled in front of the fire. We are warm and cosy. We are home, and we are safe and we are together.

We burn the homespun Yule Log and we each make a wish (yes, even J). It was the sweetest thing to see the Little People with eyes scrunched tight in concentration, formulating their secret wishes. It really melted my heart, such a special moment. I've no idea what they wished for, I would love to know.

And that's the tale of our first ever Winter Solstice celebration. Not quite as I had envisaged it, but as my Mum would say "All's well that ends well".

Yeah, all's well that ends well, I like that saying a lot.

xxx

Cafe Morning

 

Good morning! Yesterday was such a good, happy day for me :: that coat! Yes, that coat, I still can't quite believe it belongs to me. I tell you, I am so NOT a garment person, I just don't usually bother very much with clothes. For example, I can tell you that during this year, the most expensive thing I've bought for myself is a new pair of linen trousers for twenty pound  :: every other item of clothing has come from charity/thrift shops. So spending Fifty pounds on a coat kind of went off the scale for me. Big time. But the result was that the pleasure factor also correspondingly went off the scale too. Crikey, I was fit to burst yesterday!

I pretty much ran/skipped from my house up through the high street to the cafe yesterday morning, bright green coat flapping (with mmmmmmmmm that jazzy red lining, gosh I just love getting a glimpse of that lining) and flower scarf flying. I was late (as usual) for Knit and Natter. Arrived all hot and excitable in my new coat, face beaming.

Knit and Natter, as ever, was pure pleasure. I asked Lovely C if she wouldn't mind me taking some photographs of the cafe to show you, because it's looking absolutely stunningly scrumptious, all decked out for the Season. I find it hugely inspiring to see such beautiful Hand Made Goodness about the place, I really do appreciate the homespun, creative look. And Lovely C's decorations have it in abundance...

...see the gorgeous knitted "paper" chains hung on the peg rail up above there? Well Lovely C made them, and it's wonderful to see them up now after watching them grow on her needles during the summer months. I would love to crochet some for Attic24 in time for next Christmas (just found this), hmm better start around about February for that then.

In fact, Lovely C is a bit of a crafting dynamo. Her fingers have been very busy of late, making the most gorgeous items to decorate the cafe. She has made the most beautiful Christmas hearts from old vintage blankets, hand embroidered with wools. And Angels :: Oh! You have to take a closer look at one of the Cafe Angels....

....Isn't she gorgeous? She's made from vintage fabrics, and is just sooo pretty.

And there are hand made stockings too look, I especially love the red one with the hand embroidery and the vintage buttons. 

Lovely C (Carole), you know already I expect how much I love our weekly meets at the cafe. It's the warmest, friendliest, most inviting,  inspiring and uplifting place to come to and I love it. Thank you for your generous and creative friendship over this past year (xx), so very much appreciated.

Do you know what folks? Seeing all these lovely hand made decorations yesterday really made my heart do that flippety-jumpety excited beaty thing, made me feel creative and inspired and excited to try new things, do you get that too? I LoVe that feeling, that feeling when one gets hit by creative inspiration and overcome by the need to stop what ever one is doing and go like Right Now to create something. Immediately without delay. If I wasn't so damn behind with the business of getting presents together and writing those blasted Christmas cards, I think I would be found hidden away up here in the Attic making little coloured stockings, an angel or two, a crocheted wreath perhaps (I've this GREAT design for a wreath forming in that whirly-gig brain of mine) and some yarny paper chains. Yeah, thats what I would surely love to be doing, but oh poop.....I need to go shop first. Need to get the Little People's presents bought and wrapped. It's weighing on me like a tonne of bricks, can you tell? Why did I not do the bloomin present-buying a month ago????

Anyways...I refuse to get all weighty with my own lack of organisation, sorry about that, I almost had a little self-pitying whine there didn't I? Almost.

Did you notice that amongst all the Christmassy decs in the cafe, there is some beautiful everyday crochet too, did you see? If you look at the above photos, you will spy some old granny blankets about the place, and some of Lovely C's crocheted wool cushions as well. And I love that there is crocheted goodness here in my favourite cafe, love that gradually over the last six months I have helped bring about some hooky inspiration here. Seeing these cushions when I walk in makes me sigh with pleasure, truly.

 

I was busy yesterday at the cafe with my own hooky business too. Busy hooking some small granny squares in shades of greens and blues :: my current project. Colours look quite muted don't they, quite restrained? Not my usual brights? Are you curious about what I might be up to here? weeeeeeellll, you'll just have to be patient and wait till Monday.

This afternoon I'll be putting on my green coat (with red lining to die for) and trotting off to the church for the Little Peoples Christmas Carol Concert, which I'm really looking forward to. Then it's full steam ahead into holiday mode...also very much looking forward to that too. If I can get present-shopping and card-writing outta the way, I'll be up on Festive Cloud Nine. Drinking Champagne. In my Pyjamas. ahhhhh what a wonderful thought!

Have a fabulous weekend one and all :o)

xxx

From Boden :: To Me

Happy Christmas to meeeeeeee......

...........happy Christmas to meeeeeee........

.......happy Chriiiiiiiiistmas, dear Lucy...........

..........happy Chriiiiiistmas to MEEEEEEEEEeeeeEEEeEEee!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh what complete and utter joy in the Attic24 house this morning!!
My beautiful, desirable, glorious new coat arrived from Boden.
Do you recall me lusting after it?
Dreaming of it but thinking it would never be mine because it cost too much?
Well thanks to the lovely Emma, Rowena and Karen (thankyou thankyou thankyou) who took the trouble to notify me of the Boden Sale, my coaty dream came true.

Am I excited??
You would not believe the singing and dancing and leaping about that took place this morning.

And is it as lovely as I thought it would be?
Very much more so.

And does it delight every fibre of my being when I skip down the street wearing it?
Oh, you cannot begin to imagine.

xxx

Down at the Station

The above photo was taken at around 9:40am this morning, although it looks as if it could be much earlier. I find myself very aware of how short our days are right now, how late the sun rises in the sky each morning and how very few hours of full daylight we are getting in each twenty four hours.
On Sunday it'll be the shortest day of the year and Winter Solstice. I'm thinking I would like to celebrate the Solstice this year, although not sure what exactly to do, but I'm thinking something warm and cosy and light-filled. Something sunshiney perhaps, or something evergreen. Do any of you celebrate this day? If you do, if you have any family traditions that you do at this special time, I'd love to hear about it.



So yes, I was waiting for a train this morning. I love my local train station, it's very decorative with some beautifully preserved curly-wurly painted bits, and the metal work is painted in a most desirable shade of turquoise which I adore. Something quite lovely about sitting ones bottom on a turquoise bench, even if said bench is very very cold indeed.



I was actually early for the train which is quite a novelty for me :: usually I'm the one arriving all hot and bothered and panting from running and making it only just in time (or missing the train completely, which happens more frequently than I care to admit). So this morning I found myself strolling leisurely up and down the sunny platform and having a good look around. And I found myself smiling. There was blue sky and sunshine and the station's twiddly bits...



....and the old quirky planters of cheerful polyanthus and clipped box. It was all quite wonderful in a simple and rural kind of way. 



My train journey was a short forty minutes :: I was off to The City to attempt some Christmas shopping. I do really enjoy traveling by train. I enjoy gazing out the window and watching the changing landscapes, enjoy observing the colours and shadows, the hills and fields and rivers and roads and bridges and towns as I whizz past.



And I enjoy a little time to sit and crochet too. I am in full swing with a new project and am so excited by it. There has been this design gradually forming in my whirly-gig mind over recent weeks and I am LOVING bringing it out of that whirly-gig place, through my fingers and into reality. Love the creation process so very much. Sitting and crocheting whilst journeying was hugely enjoyable.



Wish I could say the same about the Christmas Shopping, which was hugely un-enjoyable.
The City Centre was so very City-Centre-ish, so big and crowded and noisy and Shoppy.
Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for Shoppy.
Maybe I should've just stayed home instead.
I wonder if I could crochet all my presents?
In the next week?
For the whole of my family and several good friends?
Hmm possibly not.

Deck the Halls

Hello, good morning! Aw it's great to see you, thanks for stopping by. Yes do come in and make yourself at home, we can have a mince pie and a brew and chat a while....

Did you see the wreath on my front door as you came in? I'm ever so chuffed with my wreath this year, I wasn't intending on getting one so big, as to be honest I normally can't afford them, but this one was only £6 from the supermarket. Yes, I know, quite a bargain. It's been beautifully made and looks fresh and evergreeny just like my tree. The ribbon that was on it wasn't very nice and actually it fell off, so I used some wired gingham ribbon instead.

 

I made the little felt and cotton  decorations about three years ago now I think, when the Little People were small (age 1 and 3) and when looking after them was very much a full time, exhausting job. Time for stitching and crafting was pretty much non existent back then, and once they were in bed for the night I was always so tired I never had the energy to get creative. But I can remember sitting  in my old kitchen after the Little People were in bed, stitching these bit by bit, night after night and really enjoying it too.

We did old fashioned paper chain making on Saturday :: very early before breakfast and still in our pyjamas (we tend to do a lot of things still in our pj's around here), and it was a lot of fun.

I was forced to watch the Little People get licky and sticky with these, was told in the strictest terms that they were not for Mummy to do, even though I desperately love making paper chains and even resorted to begging. Note to self :: buy my own personal private for-mummy-only stash next year ;o)

I am thinking that I may well leave these chains up after Christmas, I love the colours and the frivolous nature of them, makes me smile.

 

Apart from the tree, and the door wreath, and the paper chains, my other Christmassy bits are reserved for the two fireplaces. You can look at this post to see what my fireplaces usually look like. One of my favourite bits of christmas is the whole stocking thing. I just love it.

 

At each end of the mantel above our open fire, we have these cheery snowmen-hooks to do the business of holding the stockings. Did I make the stockings? Well....the stockings themselves were bought very inexpensively from a supermarket, so technically speaking, nope, I did not do any stocking construction. But I did do the embellishing. A closer look? Yes, by all means, do take a closer peek at my handiwork....

 

....appliqued cottons with little buttons and sequins. So much fun to do, every bit stitched with love. This is the fourth year these stockings have been brought out now, and I sincerely hope they have many many more years to come. Don't think you can ever be too old for a stocking.

As well as the fairy lights, I do like to have candles along the mantel. I use jam jars with little tealights and some homespun stitchy prettiness.

Shall we look at the other end of the room now, check out my other fireplace??

My table is looking quite festive, my fireplace too...

...I have these coloured fairy lights on the mantel all year round, but the other bits and pieces have been changed. Crochet hearts, Summer photos, shells, feathers, jugs and flowers all packed up to make way for Christmassy bits.

I do love wreaths, love the whole idea of them. I like the way they make a room/home feel so cosy and welcoming. I've got some ideas in my mind for making some wreaths next year :: it's one of those things that I've been meaning to try out and haven't yet got round to. If you like wreaths as much as I do, you have to check out this Flickr group, and this too, for a huge amount of wreathy loveliness :: it's fabulous :: wreath-tastic!

Aww look at those cute wooden stockings! This is my solution to the how-to-display-christmas-cards dilemma. Our cards get pegged onto these ribbon hangers (cute little wooden christmassy pegs do the job) and there they hang without getting in the way of anything else. I find Christmas cards a mixed blessing to be honest. Both sending and receiving has it's issues. In fact I've still got mine to write, they usually only just make it out in time for Christmas.

It's been lovely having you visit, do you think my home is looking Christmassy enough? I know it's taken me long enough to get with it, but I admit I am finally beginning to feel the excitement now. May even have another mince pie with my lunch, put some Christmas music on. Yeah, think I will, think I'll go and sit by the tree, eat mince pies  and crochet a little this afternoon. Hmmm yes, I'm veeeeeeeeery excited because I've just started on something new. Just a little in-between-blankets crochet project to tide me over the holidays. Can't wait to show you

xxx

Oh Christmas Tree

On Saturday the Attic24 boys went to purchase the Christmas tree. They know what a huge fusspot I can be if I am involved in The Choosing Process so they refused to let me come. I trusted them to choose the bestest, freshest, bushiest, evergreeny tree they could find and they did good. They did indeed come home with one big, huge, bushy, fresh, evergreen tree. It looks and smells extremely Christmassy and I love it.

But as fresh as it was, on it's journey through the front door, through the hall and into the lounge, it did manage to shed a humungous number of it's needles. And I'm not just talking a light sprinkling, nope, I'm talking pretty much full carpet coverage. I'm talking down on my hands and knees with a dustpan and brush sweeping up for a very, very long time and almost filling a carrier bag full of them. In fact, for a supposedly non-needle-drop tree, the amount of needles it shed was mind blowing. But no matter, I am not dwelling on it, it still has plenty of needles left on it's bushy branches.

Setting up Tree took a surprising amount of time, and when all the furniture moving, tree positioning, tree straightening, tree securing and needle-sweeping was done, there was no time left for the business of decorating on Saturday. That became Sunday's activity.

Early Sunday morning, still in our pyjamas and the decorating commences. My jobs come first :: the lights get put on, with only one bulb to replace. The Little People watch eagerly, there is much excitement.

Next I hang the beady garlands around the branches, all twelve metres of them, with only a very small tangly-garlandy hissy fit. So far so good.

Then it's my turn to sit back and let the Little People take over.

 

Brightly coloured baubles are unpacked from the bauble-box.

 

Delicate glass ones wrapped in tissue....

 

...and cheerful sparkly ones tumble from the box. Plenty to go round. One or two squabbles over who gets to hang which colour, but all is well.

Next there are bells...

 

...and cones...

 

...and Christmassy characters from years past.

Candy canes and reindeer, hearts and birds...

...cinnamon sticks...

...wooden toys...

 

...hearts and stars and gingham ribbon bows.

These are all my decorations gathered over the past decade or so and I love them all.  I find Christmas decorations so utterly desirable, so hugely hard to resist, that I cannot help but buy more and more each year. And I have to say, that when we unpacked the boxes this year, even I was a little taken aback at just how many there were. And yet I love them all, couldn't contemplate a tree without it's branches laden with colourful Christmas treasures.

Luckily our Christmas tree has many, many bushy branches, and Little Fingers are kept very busy filling them.

It was a joy to watch my Little People so hard at work, concentrating so hard on the job in hand.

I did not interfere once, left it entirely to them. Some of the branches (on Little Lady's side in particular) did get very busy. There are some crowded spots. But I have left the tree exactly as it is and love the slightly chaotic look that it has. Love the way the upper branches are quite bare and the lower branches are jam packed (I was instructed to hang certain things on very particular high-up branches, but only once or twice).

We have a rusty tin star on top of our tree...

...and the whole thing looks quite homespun, rustic, colourful and surprisingly very *Attic24*, don't you think? It is not co-ordinated or themed, yet it is happy and homely.

The coloured baubles go wonderfully with my crochet blankets this year, the colours are almost identical.

And here is a view of the room, it does look very cosy, if I say so myself.

Tomorrow I thought you might like to see the rest of my Christmas decorating efforts?

Yes, please do stop by the Attic for a mince pie and a cuppa and I'll show you around a bit. See you then xxx