Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Further decorations in Castle Life.


Being very interested in... or nosey about... other people and their lives and their houses and their things, I thought I'd complete the tour of Castle Life's Christmas decorations. (Except for the one that Blogger refuses to upload. It's of a very nice stained-glass wreath of holly that Daughter 1 gave me a couple of years ago. It hangs on the glass door into the dining room. You'll just have to imagine it. Or come back next year, maybe.)
Above, you find some balls that I hung from the light fitting in the sitting room. Mr Life, who's a tall chap, occasionally bumps his head on the yellow ones, which are glass and HEAVY. But it's better to be tall on the whole, I feel (from my 5'3 at most height). I usually have some genuine mistletoe hanging from it, but couldn't find any this year. So there's some fake stuff. Hope this doesn't encourage fake kisses.

My mother-in-law made these birds and I hang them on the sitting room handle in her memory. Don't know why the photo is so blurred. I need to adjust the birds a bit to make them more even. I've been thinking this for some years now.


She also made this, in cross stitch. She died in 1992 at the age of 70, from breast cancer. She lived with us for the last six months of her life because she was too weak to look after herself. My father-in-law had died in 1984 at the age of 64. I often think how thrilled they would be to see our children, their only grandchildren, now.


Now come things that I would like to claim I'd made, but I didn't. I can't even remember where I got this mat - a sale of work somewhere, I expect.


This one was made by Daughter 2's German exchange partner's mother. It's pretty, isn't it?


Our sitting room tv, with stained glass box on top and stained glass ornament leaning against it at the bottom.

A wreath. Again, I didn't actually make it. Oh the shame. A sale of work buy - I think Angela Stewart in our church made it.


And back to the dining room - shelf unit with a glass ball and some crystal snowflakes hanging from the handles.
Again in the dining room, a crystal holly leaf.

Now, as a reward for ploughing your way this far, a couple of gems from my marking of students' essays:

"Teenagers should be prone to take contraception." Can't argue with that one.

"She was in a comma for two years." Shouldn't laugh really - sad story.


I have a huge mountain of ironing to do so I'm off to do it. Happy Boxing Day, all.



















13 comments:

  1. Having Christmas decorations which remind you of people and events must be a great thing. I especially liked the cross-stitch one. Such an item would be very special, I imagine.

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  2. Yesterday I noticed that I'd used commas a bit too liberally, and wondered what was wrong with me. I'm pleased to learn that there's a name for this condition: I'm in a comma.

    Lovely ornaments and remembrances of loved ones.

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  3. so many decorations all around your house... all reminding you of different people/occasions. Father Christmas and reindeer on our chimney breast reminds us of my sister-in-law who gave him to us. She's not here any more, but I enjoy the tangible reminders of her. She was a great giver of well-chosen gifts.

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  4. I am in awe of your Christmas decorating skills. I will pretend that it is only lack of such lovely items that has caused our dearth of festive decorations here. Actually as I look over, the martian on top of our tree is drooping over alarmingly. Even he is embarassed to be seen in such a hopeless household!

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  5. Nice deccies!

    That comma comment reminds me of the old joke Q: "why were the inkspots crying?" A: "because their mother was doing a long sentence".

    Bah boom.

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  6. Lovely to see your memories on display. I did no decorations this year. Felt a bit curmudgeonly, but still...No one seemed to notice in the end!
    All over for another year.

    Now it is the New Year to look forward to.

    Small Grandson is getting very wise- he looked all around at the Pre School, & solemnly told me he had "looked & couldnt see Santa's sleigh anywhere!"

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  7. I like all your Christmas decorations, Isabelle - our house is much the same - small bits here and there just to show it is the Season, but not overdoing it. I am especially keen on the cross stitch bell pull/wall hanging your Mum stitched - what a lovely keepsake to display every year.
    Happy New Year!
    PS The Edinburgh Tattoo was on t.v. here in Melb. on Christmas Eve - one of the best for years, we thought! Can you hear all that noise from your place?

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  8. Love seeing your Christmas decorations Isabelle! Isn't it wonderful to have items from the "dear departed"? I too, often think how wonderful it would be to still have my grandparents here -- especially when I hang the Christmas bells that used to hang in their window. What a funny comma comment -- I think perhaps I've been in one too for the last month!

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  9. People still iron? I'm pretty sure I've only ironed once or twice in the past year. Funny, that -- I used to iron even my jeans! I remember growing up with the "ironing basket" -- I'm still not sure why on earth we had to iron sheets since we never had guests.

    I think I'm still in a sugar comma...too many Christmas goodies.

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  10. All the lovely decorations seem so.. appropriate, over there in the season of frost and sparkle. Despite my being brought up here, and having had a majority of hot christmases, I grew up with the imagery of northern europe at christmas. trees laden with snow, holly, snowmen. Not to mention red-faced santas on the verge of coronary occlusion as they sweated their way across a hot beach panting ho ho ho.

    Most of my lovely decorations were broken last year by my cats, after which a headed off to the sales and bought a couple of boxes of pretty (and mighty cheap) baubles. Apart from goggle-eye and the sleigh and the bird, all my decorations are new. I also went a bit crazy with swedish stuff, all that red and white folksy stuff this year: so pretty!

    I do hope all there at your place had a lovely lovely day. We had seafood, and a fruit platter with toffee poured over it: yum. Gosh what a long comment, you'd think I was on holidays.

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  11. Thanks for the tour Isabelle! Lovely decorations, especially when they have memories attached. Every year when I haul out the tree ornaments it's like a trip down memory lane, as I recall where each one came from and where we were living at the time......Can't put up photos as computer is on last legs and refuses to do more than the basic tasks. Maybe when the Bean delivers the yell-free instructions that came with the flash drive he gave me for Christmas....Meantwhile, Happy New Year to all at Castle Life!

    What??? No catlets???

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  12. I always enjoy seeing decorations and hearing their history. You have some pretty ones.
    I love those little glass Christmas trees.
    The catlets make beautiful ornaments :)
    I hope you had a wonderful Christmas Isabelle.
    Happy New Year to you, and may 2008 be a year filled with blessings for you and your family.

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  13. Christams decos are particularly full of memories aren't they? Perhaps because they aren't around all the timem so don't become too familiar.
    Terrible about being in a comma. Worse even than being ina semi-colon, though I suppose that might apply to a colostomy patient...

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