Up at the crack of dawn ... and day 2 of the great Christmas House Tour of 08

There we were, David and I, up at some ungodly hour - for a Sunday - so that we could be in town for a quick choir rehearsal before braving the crowds intent on snagging the best bargains at the last Midland Market before Christmas.
not to shop
to sing
I think everyone was pretty well resigned to the possibility that the majority of our "audience" might keep on shopping / ignore our vocal offerings, and some did ... but an equal or greater number stopped, and propped, to listen to some or all of our set.
Of course there were the odd, ill mannered few who decided to barge through where we were standing [ on one of the walkways leading from the historic Castlemaine Market Building ] rather than go a few feet further around ... and I suspect one or two of them were totally oblivious of the fact that they were pushing through a choir. Some knew perfectly well what they were doing and chose to do it anyway. Such is the single mindedness of the pre-Christmas shopping frenzy!
Anyway we did 10 songs, none of which were what you could call traditional Christmas music, although there was a definite thread running through the choices - peace, justice and the joy of vocalising ... in 3 part harmony.

Two were indigenous pieces:
a Torres Strait Island 'Allelujia'
and the anthem,'Yil Lul' [ which means we sing ]
We also did Cat Stevens' classic 'Peace Train', a happy little piece called 'Sing,Sing' and Kavisha Mazzella's wonderful 'All God's Beggars', as well as repeating all of the repertoire from the Peace Concert.

so that's that

and moving on to day 2 of the house tour, we are now in my workspace:

which the architect mistakenly thought was the living room
Silly beggar... my house so I get to decide how the spaces are used
This has to remain a functioning studio space so the decorating is done with that constraint in mind.
This is the first time in decades that I haven't put all that blue china, up the top there, away ... mmm ... I think next year I'll go back to stashing it, but at this stage of the game they can probably stay there for this year.so, ignoring that flash of blue, a collection of vintage Christmas postcards keeping my sheep tape measures company
rustic santas and a beautiful Heartwood Creek angel given to me by my friend Raelene
nativity sets
Marc made several of the rustic stables from old fence palings.
My mum and Dad bought this little printed card nativity their first Christmas together as a married couple, and I happen to know that this was all they could afford. It has picked up the odd crease along the way but don't you think it's holding up remarkably well considering that it's been used every single solitary Christmas since 1950 ? I just love it, and while I'd appreciate the style and graphics if I found it at at some antique fair, it's the history that makes this special. Nadie take note !!
The other one is an Italian one I found a few years ago, and any librarians amongst you should have no trouble identifying the picture bookLong shot down the room: You can see next year's Christmas quilt on the board... it may well be the year after that's as well. I think I started sewing those strips together about 2003 and unearthed it again a couple of weeks ago.
If you look over near the window you can see that the ironing board still hasn't been moved - and probably won't - and while the table remains bare of the sewing machines that got relocated for the luncheon last Tuesday, as I have absolutely no intention of doing without them for a month, they'll be back on the table tomorrow. Or tonight.