Thursday, December 23, 2010

Jingle bells

So the house is decorated and I'm about to make up beds while listening out for text messages telling me how Daughter 2 and her man are getting on in their attempt to get to Edinburgh from London on a snow-disrupted train line.

I've featured Santa before. I got him when Daughter 1 was in her pram. She insisted on cuddling him as we walked to the shops and after a while - just as we'd come up the hill on our way home - I noticed that his hat was missing.

It was a heavy pram, Daughter 1 was at that sonsie (chubby) stage of babyhood, but down the hill we went again to retrieve the hat.


This Santa dates from my childhood. My mother was going to throw him out some years ago. NO!!! I gave him a new beard and hat fluff and he's good for another 50 years, surely?
I bought the stained glass candle-holder in the early years of our marriage, though I usualy just place it under a lamp to light up the design. If I use a candle, then blowing it out tends to spatter the inside with wax.



The girls gave me this as a Christmas card when they were little. It's by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.

I got this last year and really like it.

These birds were made by my mother-in-law, who died in 1991. They need a bit of adjustment. Maybe this year they'll get it.

I just like this glass star. It's hanging from a plate from my grandmother's wedding china, beside another old plate I bought years ago just because I thought it was pretty.



What would Christmas be without these incredibly heavy yellow glass balls, hung from the light fitting on the lowish ceiling in the sitting room just ready to strike unwary tall people on the head? (Sorry, Mr Life etc.)

I would like to have made this cushion. But I cannot lie. I bought it. It's jolly, though, no?
Oh, that's the last picture. I suppose I'd better get on with the tasks, then. Beds, hoovering, dusting etc. and clearing my mother's path of snow.
I hope everyone's sitting in a clean, tidy house eating mince pies and chatting to their loved ones. I also hope that this is what I'll be doing this evening. Some of my loved ones, anyway.





19 comments:

  1. It all looks so lovely. I don't have anything like that any more. I should have insisted more. I think I gave away all the Christmas decorations when I moved here. For a while we had a tree, but with no one coming any more for Christmas I lost heart.
    I don't like the relentless emphasis on Santa, though, nor making the hapless workers wear Santa hats.
    I hope your loved ones get through safely and that you all enjoy your rapturous reunions. All the UK traffic and airline problems are on our TV news, night after night! We just have floods and locusts here!

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  2. Hello there Life Family - hope you all have a wonderful Christmas - despite the elements which are conspiring against you getting together. I've got my fingers crossed that they will relent and let me get from Frankfurt to Edinburgh. Don't think we'll manage to catch up this trip - but will be thinking about you all anyway. Hope 2011 is an amazing year for you all Lots of love Zxx

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  3. Well, we can't have Santa without his hat, can we? He's awfully cute.
    Those old (and newer) ornaments hold lots of precious memories :)
    It's fun to unpack them once a year and stir those memories.
    Your house looks very festive with all the pretty decorations. I just finished mine last night.
    I do hope everyone makes it home safely and that tonight finds you sitting and chatting cozily with at least some of them
    No mince pies here. Just Christmas cookies and pumpkin bread so far. Shortbread is on the agenda for today. Merry Christmas to you and yours. xox

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  4. My house is clean and (relativly) tidy.

    The last batch of Christmas cookies are out of the oven.

    I am sitting down with hot honey and lemon (sore throat begone) and Midsomer Murders.

    Happy Christmas to you!

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  5. You couldn't come round and decorate my house next year too, could you? I have absolutely no flair for that sort of thing

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  6. What beautiful decorations, Isabelle! :)I love the traditional ones that you "fixed up" and will be traditions for your family. I hope everyone arrives safely and you are happily chatting over goodies soon! Merry Christmas, Isabelle, and a Christmas hug! :)

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  7. I hope they all manage to wend their way home! Your house looks wonderful, my friend, and I just know how happy you are going to be with your chicks back with you. Have a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!

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  8. Lovely, Isabelle, and I love how I now excatly where all these things are in real life!.

    I have european christmas eve today, and christmas here tomorrow. I may well be sitting amongst piles of mango skins and other items of mess, as I havent yet cleaned the hooose.

    But I have made meringues for the pavlovas!

    Happy christmas to you and yours dear Isabelle.

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  9. Loved your pictures ! ! I really liked your old Santas...Merry Christmas from Texas USA...
    Mary
    www.visitswithmary.blogspot.com

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  10. Anonymous7:58 pm

    How wonderful. I love the precious memories that all your Christmas decorations hold!

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  11. Ah, that looks so welcoming.
    Happy christmas to you and yours Isabelle.

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  12. Hope your daughter has arrived home safely and that you can enjoy a wonderfully happy family Christmas together.
    Kimx
    Old decorations with all their memories are the best...

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  13. Oh yes, that's definitely true of this house - clean, tidy, filled with mince pies and loved ones. Well, the loved ones, anyway.

    Hope yours get to you safely and in good time. Happy Christmas! x

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  14. Hope your family arrive home safe and sound. Wishing you all a Wonderful Christmas.

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  15. I adore your decorations. The glass star looks like a sugar cookie. Regarding the yellow glass balls - what's a holiday without danger? 8-)

    Love to you and Mr. Life and all your family. May this Yuletide bring you more peace, joy, and egg nog than you can hold.

    - M

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  16. Hi Isabelle, my best wishes to you and your family for a happy Christmas Day, which you are in the midst of as I type. Ours in Oz has come and gone for another year. In Melbourne we had a cloudy mild day, perfect really for those driving around, indoor traditional roasts, or outdoor barbecues. Your decorations are all lovely - I do hope your family are all there with you to appreciate the season's ambience!

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  17. Me again. I see in the photo of your Xmas tree that your potted geranium is surviving - very nice! Our bushes have finished flowering, and will need to be hard-pruned back soon, to ensure another round of flowers before Autumn.

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  18. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPPPPY NEW YEAR!

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  19. Happy Anniversary you two Lovebirds! Your decorations all look so pretty. I WANT that Ahlberg Christmas card -- I love their stuff and it's just adorable. I hope the whole Life family had a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy Anniversary!

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