finished objects and a gratuitous cat photo [ edited to add a few things I forgot ]

I've been mentally tallying up the FOs for the year and the news is all good.




On the quilt front I finished 10 things that I can remember, over half of which were previously UFOs and I didn't actually start anything at all for the year that I didn't finish [ well, except for the one that I'm currently in the middle of ] so the UFO pile has a deficit of 6.


I think that this is probably the only year in the last 24 that has happened.


This probably is more proof for my theory that the world is about to end.



I'll post photos of the finished quilts over the next few days [maybe]



the UFOs are the ones marked *



*cropped pinwheel "luminescence"


Anjii's angles QS wedding quilt "ginko"


*deconstructed log cabin QS " licorice allsorts"


*japanese crane wallhanging"tsuru"


*japanese personal banner


japanese quilt for beryl's 60th "friendship"


matching japanese quilt for myself "peace"


challenge quilt "Oakley's dream"


*naive christmas wallhanging


*redwork santa wallhanging



and I substantially contributed to my quilt group's QS raffle quilt. [ co-designed it, pieced it, bound it!]



on the knitting / crochet front:



well there's only one UFO there ... Nadie is still waiting for a mate for AL[paca] the stripey sock



I can't even begin to make a guess at how many things I started and finished this year but I'll try.


Baby hats : about 3 dozen, maybe 4 dozen
crochet christmas snowflakes: 14
adult hats : about a dozen
bootees: dozens, lost count
baby cardis: probably about 10
facewasher / dishcloth: 8
headbands: 8
capelet/ scarf : 3
wrist warmers: 3 pairs
singlets: 2 finished , one more about to be sewn up as soon as I get off this thing
socks: 2 pairs plus Nadie's mateless Al
scarves: 2
baby mittens: 2 pairs
crochet halter top:1
crochet skirt:1
crochet/felted cat basket: 1
toy [ gunea pig ]: 1
crochet fish shaped catmat: 1
slippers: 1 pair
hooded baby poncho: 1
christening robe: 1
crochet hip scarf for bellydancing: 1
crochet foot ornaments for bellydancing: 1 pair
jacket / scarf combo for a snowman : 1 !!!


...and a partridge in a peartree :]



okay I just checked the depths of the knitting basket and there IS one hat in there not sewn up yet ... and as it's months yet to hat-wearing season, it is just likely to stay that way for a while.


and yeah, okay, the on-going never-ending baby shawl.


now getting back to the singlet that I've just finished knitting.



The yarn is a superfine boucle from Sirdar that I discovered in the depths of a basket at a strange little YS in Kangaroo Flat. It was marked 50c a ball and from the look of the ball band had been languishing there for decades. I picked up 2 balls of this shade, 3 of baby blue and 1 of white. Total investment $3.



I managed to get all bar the second sleeve band of the singlet [ 18" chest ] out of the first ball.



and now I have a confesssion to make.



Insert appropriate portentous doom laden sound here.



I avoid patterns that need stitches to be picked up along a band. I'm never confident that I'll be able to do it evenly enough but this little top with the overlapped sailor neck struck me as something that would be really practical with Riley's big noggin. I had to do FOUR lots of picking up stitches for this pattern.So there ya go. All it takes to make me break the habit of a lifetime is the arrival of #1 grandson...



and just for the record



I think it turned out pretty well.

and this?



this is a box of day-after-Boxing-Day santa purchases... some of these guys will join the santa gang , some will be pressies, and some were bought on behalf of Nadie's co-workers. The guy in the shop wasn't at all surprised when I walked in 10 minutes after he reopened, I'd bought so many from him pre-christmas.


I DID leave 3 behind for other people, so I wasn't totally selfish.

It's the end of the world as we know it ... and I feel fine.

Welcome to my 100th post!

First up, as promised yesterday, a pic of the finished halter top for Nadie. Well, okay, not 'finished' finished ... it still needs ribbon through the area under the bust and buttons on the back but the crochet part is done. The colour in the first photo is a bit dull, the second is about right. I'm still not sure why Nadie chose this colour. Yeah, it looks great with her colouring but this is the girl who hates all things pink and has done ever since she could talk. I don't wear pink either. Ever. So what am I going to do with 3 more balls of the stuff? If I make myself something pink the world may just come to an end.

Of course even if the world is finito, for most people today is devoted to the Boxing Day sales. There aren't a lot of opportunities for post-christmas shopping frenzy up here, unless one travels to Bendigo, so basically Dave and I just food shopped and picked up a couple of smallish christmas bits and pieces. I think that's all next years' Kris Kringles taken care of. Actually, the fact that I had to food shop at all is the unbelievable part. Ma in law usually sends everyone home with about 3 days worth of food but not this year. A bowl of soup for Dave's lunch and some roast pork was about it. No lasagne. No zuccini fritters.

This is almost as earth shattering as Nadie wearing pink.

That's it.

The world must be ending.

Nothing else will explain this departure from normality.

Today has been dreary and overcast, last night was cold enough that I had to get out the winter jammies and bed sox, and appropos of nothing at all, I'll leave you with a photo of the santa I made a couple of weeks ago and for the family: a nice pic of dave.

Hope you all had a wonderful christmas.

merry christmas and assorted unconnected other stuff

the only disappointment this Christmas was that we didn't get to see / hold our little man. Due to jaundice and feeding problems , he and Christina spent a couple of days back at the hospital ... best place for them to be obviously and I'm sure that I'll get an opportunity to drive down again sometime soon. [ amended to add: just spoke to Stephen and he says that the little guy is getting better. Probably not how Stephen expected to spend this Christmas but he assures me he's coping ok. Not that he'd tell me if he wasn't but he DID look a lot better yesterday than he did on thursday. ]

Oh, and in answer to the questions: apparently he stepped off a low ledge at work and didn't see a can of tuna on the floor. His foot rolled over causing the broken bone or bones in the side of his foot slightly in front of the heel.

Christmas dinner was at ma-in-law's last night with only enough food to feed a battalion rather than the whole army. Nadie's sweety [ aka The Boy] passed his first major engagement with the semi-massed ranks with flying colours and hasn't run screaming for the hills ... this alone shows that he is a man possessing nerves of steel and great strength of character and seemingly endless reserves of tact.

The rest of the presents were passed out and opened at Nadie's this morning ... late this morning actually ... and it was MUCH nicer than being up here on our own.

In addition to all the pressies which I'm not going to list here, I got to collect the new camera that The Boy negotiated purchase of.

I now have 6+ megapixels to play with so the quality of the photos should improve comensurately :] ... and it means I won't have to borrow a camera everytime I need a publishing-quality image.

and I can't think up a clever way to segue into the other stuff so here it is:

Just finished reading: Knitting Under the Influence by Claire LaZebnik [ brilliant chic-lit but squirmingly uncomfortable reading for anyone who is the parent or sib of a person with a disability]

About to start: something by Kathy Reichs ... haven't decided which one .

On the needles: nothing really ... just finished a little slubby cotton singlet for Riley that I forgot to photograph before I gave it to Stephen yesterday.

On the hook: a hot pink halter-neck for Nadie. She originally asked for Blissful from The Happy Hooker but it wasn't going to work in the fine cotton yarn she chose [ Lipstick from Bendigo Woollen Mills in 4-ply/ fingering ] so I started with the same basic garment shape but finer yarn and hook and a different stitch pattern. The original is done from the bottom up but I needed to go about it a bit differently given that I could only try it on her about once a fortnight. I started under the bust and worked up and then once the bodice and straps were complete she tried it on and I restarted working down for the body piece. That way it was easier to make changes if I needed to, and I didn't have to guess at the length. The basic shape is pretty much the same as the garment that she liked originally.

I actually feel pretty good about the solution that I came up with.

Anyway that's nearly finished so I'll wait until tomorrow to take a picture.

Quilting wise - haven't touched anything this week ... too busy ... but I'll get back to the one I'm working on soon... really...I have to... because I promised myself I would finish it [ well the top at least ] before I started bubby's jungle quilt.

Garden wise - less said the better. It rained and hailed fairly constantly down in Melbourne last evening and today up until we left. In fact we froze. Nadie had to put the heater on this morning. It rained all the way to Mt Macedon . Up here? Zilch. Zip. Zero. Nada. Niente. Not a bloody drop.

Livestock report - I was greeted at the car by 2 goats who told me in no uncertain terms that they had been very unfairly treated and were starving. I received a similar story from Sophie and Oakley. The only one not complaining was the tortoise found wandering down the middle of the highway by Rob's hubby. He/she/it was covered in baked-on mud so we assume his previous watering hole had dried up forcing him to look for another abode. He is now in possession of what remains of my dam and looks to be an excellent tenant. The frogs approve but I can't speak for all the bugs. What do tortoises eat I wonder? Is he going to spell death to all those wriggling insect lavae?

cat ornament count 6

Ta Da!! Here he is

I'd love to be able to craft together a brilliantly witty post but nah ... sorry ... being a new nannie has turned my brain to mush. That and the 5 hours plus in the car ... and the 35C heat when I was out of the car

so you'll just have to make do with some photos of young master Riley David at 19 hours or so:

vital stats : 8lb 12 oz and 38cm round the head [ bloody huge Iacuone noggin ] and mind you he was a few days early.

Apart from his top lip, the amount of hair, and the size of his head, he seems pretty much to take after Christina. He's a bit jaundiced so we'll have to wait to see how fair he is.

We're pretty much all convinced that hair is going to turn out auburn later.

He seems a very placid young man ... and may he stay that way.

Mind you that could be residual effects of the drugs they had to pump into his mum when he got wedged and had to be vacuum extracted. I won't go into further detail other than to say I don't think that her labour was managed particularly well by the midwives. This is a view that Granny Janis also shares.

Anyway he's feeding well and all the concomitant bodily functions seem to be working fine.

Riley gets to know his auntie Nadie

and his Nannie ...

Chris was feeding him when we arrived and after I got to prove that I can still burp a baby, he stayed pretty much wide awake the whole time we were there.

btw: One of the things I brought down with me was the pair of boottees that his daddy wore home from hospital in 1975. Chris is going to put them on him for the trip home tomorrow.

Just in case, I also had the pair [ knitted in the same pattern ] that I wore home in 1953 but as I was only 5lb odd they were a wee bit small.

I just love that generational link.

and the person with the broken foot is his very tired but happy father

I know there should be a photo with Chris but she was feeling a bit battered and bruised and camera-shy so maybe in a few days.

look out world !

[ drum roll please maestro ]
in-tro-ducing:

Riley David Iacuone
born this afternoon at 5.10 pm
no other details yet except that, despite a fairly horrid time, all are well.

Too late to drive down tonight so I'll be racing down to Melbourne tomorrow ... more details as they come to hand :]

Nannie Susan

SCORE!!! and other important late breaking news

Just back from the run to the Post Office and amongst all the cards and bills was a package from the fabulous felicity with some glorious red japanese cat fabric and [ different but equally special ] charcoal caligraphy japanese cats. This was SUPPOSED to be our order from Hancock's ie: I was SUPPOSED to pay for my share but instead it came with a birthday card attached. Sneaky little beggar ain't she?
Can't show you a photo until I get my new camera of which The Boy is negotiating the purchase on my behalf.
The reason for said camera purchase is that the one I got 3 years ago for the big birthday is cactus. Stuffed. Deceased. It has rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. It is an EX camera.

I was going to answer the questions for the 'six weird things about me' meme but the much more important late breaking news is that daughter-in-law's waters have broken.
Yes I realise that bubby could still be days away but nonetheless stay tuned folks.
I'm just glad he didn't arrive on my b'day ... now let's see if he can get a move on and make it before xmas day.

stuff

The last couple of days are a bit of a blur but I'll do my best to catch you up.
Okay, backing up, when I left you on Wednesday, I was awaiting the arrival of Nadie, The Boy and the Boy's-parents-from-Townsville and his sister jenny.
It was a beautiful bright sunny day without being a scorcher, and Nadie, The Boy and the cats arrived around noon. Sophie reacted with her usual grace and aplomb and bolted straight under my bed after hissing and growling at everyone in sight. Oakley just gave his usual resigned shrug and went off to the relative safety of his basket.
Given Chris's mum's cat allergy, we all met in town for a relaxed lunch at Saff's followed by some retail therapy and then I left to pick up Dave while Nadie and Chris took Sheila and co to view the facade of the old Imperial Hotel where the external shots for one of her favourite shows "Blue Heelers" was shot until last year. Once her pilgrimage was complete, they came back to view the decorations etc. I think she also went to see where 'Neighbours ' externals are shot whilr they were in Melbourne during the week. The lady obviously likes her aussie "drama"
We had to limit Sheila's cat exposure and even though I'd vacuumed, there was no way in hell I'd managed to defluff the whole house so we all ended up having afternoon tea on the verandah. Chris is slightly miffed because Nadie and I both contend that he's got his father's sense of humour. We see this as a compliment of sorts. He does not.
After they left, there was a brief period of regrouping and then the tribe from David's social group arrived for the BBQ breakup party.
Frantic is not quite the word but it'll do until I think of another one. Instead of sitting outside, they all trouped into my kitchen and rumpus room and pretty much all of them stayed there.
This is not a small house. I have a reasonable sized kitchen ... BUT... any kitchen will look crowded with about 20 people in it... 2o people high on Christmas cheer who are making a hell of a lot of noise...
Still once things calmed down a wee bit, it was a hectic but fun evening.
The boys were put in charge of the BBQ and evidence suggests that everything was cooked on high. Did I say cooked? Cremated is more like it! Still the burnt offerings appeared to be enjoyed by all and the gelati went down a treat.
At about 9pm they all hopped back in the buses, sang me a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday to You and drove off into the gathering darkness to view the christmas lights.
A moderate amount of cleaning up later saw me collapsed in front of the teev with a cuppa and yet another crochet facecloth.
Okay, Friday :
well, I didn't expect Chris and Nadie to surface until late morning so after I dropped D in town I went Line Dancing until noon. [ from Nadie: Hey we actually made it up and were out the front eating brekkie in the sun at 10.30 without setting the alarm, which given that I'm no morning person and Chris doesn't know what a morning is, is no small effort. ]
Later Chris and Nadie went out for lunch and to see the new James Bond movie and I pottered around.
Later still, we all went to the pub for dinner and Open Mike Night. Some of David's friends from the night before were there having yet another breakup party and my bellydance teacher was also there with rellies down from the Northern Territory so it felt like we knew a lot of people. Not that David exactly socialises, but people were speaking to HIM.
Even later, Susan and I did a couple of dances to thunderous applause [ having come armed with the appropriate music and jingly janglies just in case :] and I didn't really notice if the barflys from the front bar pried themselves away from the pooltable but Nadie says the audience numbers increased while we were on, with people drifting in from outside. I'll take her word for it cos I couldn't really see much.

I also did a solo dance for the first time and managed not to stuff up which is always good!

which brings us to today which is my birthday

and I have to explain something to you.

Seven years ago today, Marc, my husband of 25 years died after a one year battle with cancer.
My birthday is probably always going to be a bit of an emotional rollercoaster so I'm not going to write about it just now. Maybe tomorrow.

I've had some lovely birthday wishes, been spoiled with presents, most of my family is here, we are having a nice day ... BUT ...

and maybe now you will understand one of the reasons why I go nuts with the seasonal stuff. I always DID to a certain extent, but after Marc passed away it became one of my coping mechanisms.

Happy dance

A couple of months ago I remember vaguely alluding to a meeting I'd attended at Central Goldfields Gallery, Maryborough in regards to a mysterious future project. I didn't want to mozz myself by saying anything too early.

Well, I've just received an email confirming funding, so now I can finally tell you about it.

A group of Maryborough Health professionals and the Art Gallery applied jointly for VicHealth funding for an Arts Access Program. They needed to attach a local Arts practitioner to the proposal as the paid 'professional' and I'm it. The fact that I had a teaching background was seen as a plus.

We'll be working with women living in isolated farming communities of the Shire and teaching them some of the 'fast-and-dirty' techniques - fusing, paintsticks, that sort of thing - with a view to producing something that could be exhibited at the Gallery. The working title is Connecting Through Threads. I think just Connecting Threads would be better.

The time frame is ridiculously short but I've had worse. [ Nola, you would remember the Rowville project ]

The Gallery person wanted them all to work on a large quilt [ and thought 3 or 4 months would be a realistic time frame to teach them the skills, get the work done and THEN finish the quilt ....yeah ... right! ] She'd seen the community quilt at the Library here and thought something like that. Once I picked myself up of the floor, stopped choking and my face had gone back to a colour other than puce, I explained to her that the Library Quilt took the better part of 2 years!
With a view to retaining some sort of slender grip on sanity, my suggestion was to have each woman work on a small piece that could be quilted and bound then be fastened together with ties or snaps or buttons to form a larger piece for the exhibition but that would allow them all retain to ownership of their individual pieces .
This project is supposed to boost their self esteem and give them some new skills.
Should be interesting.

current cat / ornament count : 4

busy bee

I'm just as busy as everybody else at this frantic time of the year.
No matter how many plans get laid during the year I'm just as prone to run out of time in December as the next girl.
Yesterday was my last quilt class in Bendigo so we went out for lunch afterwards... always a nice way to finish off for the year. The only fly in the ointment was that the gorgeous Nicki couldn't leave the shop to come with us :[
Next year I'll be teaching that class from home so it would've been nice to be able to thank her properly... but she DID like the santa I gave her. Anyway, we all swapped Kris Kringles and I scored a nice chunky ethnic looking bead bracelet in wood and some sort of pearly shell.
Last night was spent entertaining the ladies of the local View Club [ voice, interest, and education of women ] to some appalachian clogging ... down-home very fast very loud very energetic tap. When I walked in I realised that I knew quite a few of the girls there from quilting /garden club / carer support group and line dancing. Being the shy little violet that I am [ NOT ] I don't usually get nervous about performing in public. Anyway they are certainly seeing me in a whole new light after last night.
At one point everyone with a december birthday was given a rose bud by my friend Alison , so I got a rose too.
SCORE!
Spent the rest of the evening vacuuming and crocheting a face cloth in blue 8-ply [ DK] weight cotton and watching Crossing Jordan repeats.
Today was the final bellydance class for the year and then they all rocked back here for an afternoon of eating, drinking copious amounts of tea, chatting and some more dancing!
After they went, I did some more dance practice until it was time to go get David. Since then we've been for a walk , I've spent half an hour or so lugging water buckets to the garden and I've crocheted another face cloth ... variagated yellows this time.
Tomorrow Nadie and The Boy and The Boy's-parents-visiting-from-Townsville should arrive about lunchtime. The parents won't be staying here because she's highly allergic to cats [ must remember to brush down my clothes extra carefully before I go meet them for lunch ] and Nadie / Chris / the cats are staying here till Saturday for my birthday.
...oh and I'm hosting a BBQ tomorrow night for a group of about 20 disabled young people.
see
busy busy busy.
Still haven't written my chrissie cards but about half the presents were wrapped already so that's one less job I have to do.

Actually I should share that hint with you... I buy for Christmas pretty much all year and take advantage of stores that offer to gift wrap. Then when I get them home I hang a little swing tag with the contents and intended recipient if that's already decided. I also have a list of everyone I need to buy/ make for on the inside of the cupboard door. It has 3 columns for ... bought... wrapped ... and finally ...given.
Now if I was truly organised I'd write the cards out at the same time but no. I don't ever want to be THAT organised. What's Christmas without a bit of seasonal last minute panic?

The current count of ornaments that the cats have knocked off the trees : only 2
but of course that's set to change dramatically once Suki and Sumi get up here. Those two make Whelan the Wrecker look like an amateur.

Watch out! It's spreading

No, I'm not referring to my waist [ although that too is getting wider ] ... I was referring actually to my evil influence and specifically my insidious plan to take over the world one christmas decoration at a time. Mwahaha [ evil laugh ]
Nadie has fallen under my sway and is now blogging about both her decorating efforts and the contribution to same made by her moggies. She also posted what is probably the best cat/christmas photo of the year. So being a totally shameless individual, I've swiped it:














This is Suki intent on beating the tinsel monster into submission.


Anyway, moving on ... today was spent with my buddy, Jeanette, finishing santas we started a fortnight ago, that I forgot to tell you about and then showing a small group from the local Embroiderer's Guild through the Christmas stuff. Silly them. They thought it would take about half an hour [ ho ho ho ] but they were here for 90 minutes and only left cos I had to go get David. I felt a bit guilty ... Jeanette kinda got the raw end of the deal when she got left to her own devices but she is a sweety and was very understanding ... plus she knew most of the ladies anyway.
Tonight I did a phone interview with Spotlight's Get Creative mag [ wouldn't have thought I was their cup of tea but hey, I'll happily talk to anyone if it's about quilts ] and now I'm going to sit down with the endless baby shawl as a way of actively avoiding writing Christmas cards.

and THIS is this week's desktop photo:

Well, really!

I'm surprised at you!
Disappointed even.
I posted that photo of Sophie impeding my crochet progress and not ONE of you asked what the heck it was that she was sitting on.
Come on people.
After weeks of christmas photos, I show you yarn and no one reacts.
Anyway... this was it ... mis-dyed cotton 'seconds' from the special room out the back at Bendigo Woollen Mills. It was meant to be plain pale bluey mauve but had obviously come out patchy. It sat there looking unwanted and unloved for weekes while I pondered how much to buy and for what. I had hopes that it would work up as a very subtle variagated and it did... all of which makes me a very happy Catsmum because I have a kilo of the stuff. [ 2.2 lbs ]
The pattern I decided on was from a library book, the name of which escapes me,[ okay Rose Red has just reminded me : Hooked on Crochet by Candi Jensen ] but it's the Chic Hippy Skirt. Being a Catsmum of considerable girth, I made it 2 sizes larger and longer with more flare at the bottom which is just as well because I inadvertantly changed hook sizes DOWN a size for the last 8" or so.
I'd used a 4mm hook for the skirt and then a 3.75 for the waistband and placket, THEN decided that it needed to be longer. You guessed it. Genius forgot to go back to the 4mm hook!
Chris, Maz and I drove down to Footscray on Thursday [ to collect a 10' square tin woodshed, but that's a whole other story ] and given that I rarely get to not drive, I took advantage of the 3hrs in the car and crocheted madly all the way down and back... and that, oh gentle reader, was when I discovered the whole wrong-sized-hook situation. Yep. Once we got back and I found the 4mm hook in the middle of the kitchen table.

No I'm not frogging it ... it fits fine

Don't you just love these little flower buttons? I got a tube of about 30 of them for $2.50.

Now, still on the subject of the skirt pattern...there was something weird about the yardage ...even though I made it bigger /longer, it only took about half what the pattern called for weight-wise so the mileage on this stuff must be radically different from what the pattern used, because the thread thickness and gauge were perfect.
Nadie, if you want something made in pale variagated mauvy blue cotton, just let me know, okay. I've still got over half a kilo.


and in a total change of subject: these may well be the last of the christmas decorating photos:

yes folks ... more christmas photos

Sophie in the spare bearoom ...umm... bedroom
This cranberried heart is the current extent of the loo decorating
and here are SOME of the bear figurines in the main bathroom


SOME of the redworks ... the santa was from an applique pattern I bought in 96 ... I've done 2 other santas based on applique designs by the same lady... the other was a pre printed panel by Christine Book .
You can probably make out a few of my antique christmas postcard collection as well.
These are vintage copies of Dickens' Christmas Carol and Pickwick's Christmas [ the christmas chapters from Pickwick Papers.] I also have a small collection [5] of cat themed Christmas books stacked on the coffee table. Surprising how many there are out there,
The next photo needs no explanation really. Christmas bleatings from my menagerie to yours! [ That's Rosie by the way ]



.

proper post later but for now:

Just who's in charge around here?

Look Mum, I don't know what you think you're sitting on the couch for, but I'm here to tell you that I really don't give a damn. You are going to provide a nice comfy place for me to sit and

that's it. Comprende?

Righto.

Glad we got that settled.

...and you thought I was FINISHED with the christmas decorating?

Not so, not so!
Now before I show you today's photos, I have to say one thing ,so listen up people ... I enjoy having my house look like this ... but it isn't some kind of competition. I know that not everyone has the time, space or the inclination... and you know what? That's okay. It's better than okay.
Enjoy. Maybe be a little inspired to buy or make one more thing each year for your collection... but please remember that this didn't happen overnight. It has taken literally decades to make and acquire this much STUFF and to start off with it didn't look all that impressive.

and now for the daily photo fix.
My bedroom ... one small tree decorated in silver and crystal... a few vintage pairs of silver scissors because I'm a quilter... one victorian angel ... [ the bird cage actually has earrings hanging off it but I removed them for this photo ] ...and a few bows. I don't change the quilt ... it's basically green anyway although not at all christmassy.

random chrissie decorating thoughts

• If in doubt - group! A dozen santas scattered around the house will look pretty sparse but group the dozen in one place and they will look fabulous. I have santas and reindeer / moose in the rumpus room, snowmen in the kitchen, bears in the main bathroom, and so on.
• don't just buy one! If I see cheap [ish] ornaments that I like, I will ALWAYS buy multiples ... odd numbers ... 3 or 5 usually. [ I have 11 of these little guys ] This is an extension of the first rule about grouping.
• If your christmas resources are limited don't spread over the whole house. Just do one room to the max. This is another extension of rule #1.
• Find a nice, cheery Christmas photo for your PCs desktop. This week I'm using this one of Oakley, the decorated cat:
• While you're looking at Oakley, please notice the white salad bowl. Do you remember what I said yesterday about white china [ Okay I just checked. It was on Friday ] Anyway, normally the fruit bowl is a blue spatterware one but the plain white works better at Christmas. Repeat after me ... I don't need to go out and buy seasonal china.
• If you need to put things away to make room for the Christmas display, store them for the duration in the same boxes that the decorations came out of. I have even taken this one step further: Once things are inside the big christmas tree box, I have been known to cover it with several metres of christmas plaid and sit part of the christmas bear collection on top ... saves having to move the box back out to the shed and gets the teds off the floor and further away from the animal population.

chrissie photos installment no 678

You probably can't see from the photo [ try clicking ] but all the ornaments on this swag ... apart from 2 santas ... are cats. Took me YEARS to find that many cat related decos that I liked.


Yay, I have a victim [ err, I mean volunteer ] to put up the rest of the lights!
Robyn dobbed in her beloved Martin and they are due to arrive at any time. He doesn't yet know what he's in for ...mwahhahah!!!
I've nearly finished the rest of the catsmum abode.
The trees in the kitchen and rumpus room are done, and so is the swag hanging between them.

Suki and Sumi are visiting again with Nadie and given that neither Oakley nor Sophie are on polite speaking terms with them, had absolutely no idea of what was in store for them. Cue another evil laugh!
They were innocently doing their morning devotions before the altar to the gods of food and I pounced.
They have now been initiated into the most secret rites of Iacuone catdom. I didn't put bells or curly ribbon on them ... must initiate them slowly into the secret and sacred rites after all ... but they're both sporting pretty red and green bows. Not impressed.

Added later:
Many hands made light work!
Chrissie lights are up, banksia rose has been cut back from spouting so that said lights are visible. Leisurely sunday lunch of pumpkin and sweet potato risotto has been consumed and I am currently fighting off the resultant post-prandial stupour.
Must have coffee. Must have coffee. Must have coffee.

more chrissy photos

This is an old photo but the quilt hasn't changed :]


Part of my santa collection ... I made the darker red one in the middle of the top row - he's actually an empty water bottle - and the bottom left one [ Lesley Coleman pattern ]
we won't look at the layer of dust on that copper kettle, will we?