Pine and pomegranate

Wishing your holiday's were all you hoped for. Mine were. One more party before I tidy all the decorations away and begin another year, will this one be even better?

Marzipan and mixed fruit

Here I am on christmas eve popping in to tell you that I hope you have a lovely holiday and a fabulous new year. I had high hopes of posting about fruit cake and my first attempt at Stollen but as always the season has carried me away and I have no end results to show yet.

Monday we went to London to collect some last minute gifts, tired, cold, (miraculously still laughing) and caught in a snow storm we found the stations closed, so holed up in a pub and savoured some brandy to thaw us out until we could find a train to get home. Last night I found myself drinking whisky at a punk gig, not very festive I know. Ten years ago this was not unusual, now however I safely sip my drink at the edge of the dance floor and pray I don't get knocked over or that someone or something doesn't get broken! I was there to vote for a friend taking part in a battle of the bands. Vote placed, sober and home in one piece by 10pm and they won hooray.

This afternoon more me like, I've been up to my elbows in mixed fruit, amaretto and cinnamon brownie batter. Need to get back into the kitchen and start dipping strawberries in white and dark chocolate ready to take to a friends mulled wine gathering later, I am beginning to see the seasons alcohol trend come in to full swing.

Beautiful image above by Ed Kluz available at St Judes prints

Seasons greetings and I hope to meet you all back here in 2010.

Extra blankets

I woke up to find a light sprinkling of snow covering my street this morning, so I thought I would share some more lovely wintry pictures from around the UK. I so hope it stays for christmas. I know the whole country seems to grind to a halt and some people get a bit crazy when it snows, but I just see it as an opportunity stay home, pile extra blankets on the couch and make a round of cinnamon dusted churros.


Photos by Alexander Morag and Jan Ford over at The BBC weather gallery. Churos image from Cherry platter.

Ps. thank you so much for all your well wishes on my last post. Still beaming : )

Huge smile

Thinking about this very happy year of posts and meeting lots of wonderful people who have really enriched my life. This Wednesday has been another amazing day. I got home, opened my email and found a message from a sweet friend telling me that Lobster and Swan has been listed as number 18 in the Times Online, 50 of the world's best design blogs

All I can say is thank you. I am gobsmacked.

Happy Saturday

Watching Holiday Inn and eating pistachio nougat. No gym today after all, leaning more (like you) towards the idea of beginning in January after the glazed ham and plum pudding are safely out of eyeshot. Seems like a better, safer plan don't you think?
Can't decide which decoration path to go down? Bright colours and jingle bells or muted antique silvers and silent nights?

Attack of the mince pies

Sharing a few items from my christmas wish list featured by Jessica over at Wayside Violet.

I hope to be back over the weekend with some more christmassy posts, will probably be posting from my bed after the first session of my new boot camp work out provided by my personal gym instructor in training sister Tamzin. Need to start getting in shape before the attack of the mince pies!

Images Wedgewood, Rococo chocolates London and the Constant gatherer at Etsy.

Rituals

Building works may mean we won't have a living room this Christmas. I may have to just pop our tree on the kitchen table, the annual visit to a local farm to choose our tree is a favourite festive ritual. Do you have any seasonal rituals?


Elsewhere the best dressed tree of the day is from Dottie Angel.


All images Dottie Angel

Not lost forever

We need more light! The sparkles from my day are barely glittering at all, where is all that lovely frosted winter sunshine we had last December? My camera is gathering dust and I just hope my will to take a photo doesn't fade altogether?! I have been playing around with layering a few of my favourite pictures trying to add some extra light in other ways.

Thanks for your lovely comments on my last post, I loved reading them and am glad to hear that a good few of us have had the luck of finding long lost jewellery. Nadia's words were particularly heart warming. It is such a nice feeling when you recover something you had thought lost forever.

Wishfully thinking for some Thursday sunshine.

Glimmer

A glimmer of joy in another dark and wintry day was finding my favourite pair of earrings and a long lost necklace within a secret tear in the lining of a bag I rarely use.
It was just like when Carrie finds her "carrie" necklace in the final episode of SATC. I also found all these paper cocktail decorations in one of my kitchen cupboards and think they are just perfect for some kind of garland, maybe a dash of glitter, what do you think?

Any small things happened to make your day?

Fancy hat

Sill pouring, couldn't go ice skating as the rink was like a lake. Avoiding the winter blues by remembering Summer and loving the colours and fun of this photo shoot from Bella Grace Studios.


All images Bella Grace Studios

tottering in heels

Braving the wet streets to totter out in heels, have drinks and meet friends this evening and this picture reminded me of getting ready

As we rarely drink thee days, I am willing myself to have the self control it takes to wake up bright eyed and still enjoy Sunday, wish me luck. I hope you all have a relaxing evening and good day tomorrow.



Image from Paranaiv

Ravishing

An endless grey is still hanging in the sky today. So here is something beautifully bright for you today.

Image by Carly Brook at Sarah Kaye

December things

Best of today

Opening another door of our advent calendar
Photographing and packaging the last few garlands I will make for a while.
Finding time to read magazines.
Unwrapping next years calendar from Kitty Rogers

Happy holiday hostess

Add some prettiness to your home with the wealth of beautiful Danish home decor items and jewellery from Miss Etoile. I discovered them after buying a necklace from a local shop. The catalogue is so pretty it was all I could do to stop at sharing just seven pages! I would love to run a shop selling delicate and graceful products like these. I'd decorate my house from top to bottom with the sugar dusted christmas charms and baubles.

All images Miss Etoile

Enchanted

Packaging garlands this morning, all lights on as it is still dark outside. I hope to return later, until then a little midweek enchantment can be found over here at the little things. I am so happy to meet another local blog writer this chilly morning.

A little more of Sunday

Was spent tidying away collages that I made for Kari's year of colour and then a super muddy walk in the woods followed by delicious plate of sweet roasted vegetables for dinner.

How excited am I that it is now December!!!! I can open the first door of my advent calendar and see what festive image is hidden inside. No chocolate for us, this year I chose a pretty vintage style one. A victorian carousel dusted with glitter was too much to resist.

The first snowflakes

Still getting the most out of the roses from last weeks party and making some delicate snowflake garlands from doilies for a shop update.

How has your weekend been?