Children's plays

 Hubby and I went to watch Will in the first of his school play on Tuesday afternoon, he had another later show in the evening and the following evening so parents could watch, brilliant idea, he had practiced for days ensuring he knew his lines. His year has 3 classes, so each class had a segment of the play, Will was confident he appeared with 3 other boys, we both enjoyed the show.

George recently has had time off school, so we did no know what to expect from him, his class production was Wednesday morning, he did not join the children on stage, he sat to the side with his 1to1, he joined in with some of the actions whilst singing. Mollys class show was in the afternoon, she was a star, very confident on stage. It's been pure joy to be able to watch all the children enjoy their shows, no photos as its impossible to get solo photos.

In-between shows we popped to our favourite garden centre, these couple of photos are from their many displays, all with seating for family photos, each year we have had photos on the outside snowman seat, it was sad walking past it this season.

Daughter and I enjoyed a couple hours of peaceful crafting on Monday morning, sat listening to Christmas music and pottery painting, mine is all plant pot, daughter did the Christmas plate, both should be back within a couple of weeks, before Christmas. 

I spent the day with daughter on Wednesday, it was warm and sunny, which was a great improvement, we had lunch together, in-between the two concerts, later I did the bedtime with George and Molly, whilst daughter watched Will. My brother arrived for a week longer visit, he's staying at his home for Christmas this year.

This week I cleaned the tops of my kitchen cabinets, washing the doors and the tile surrounds everything above my reach from the floor, I did the top of the fridge freezer and boiler. I will do the lower half next week, which is not too bad as I regularly wipe it down. Slowly things are getting done, I stood on a dining room chair, whilst hubby was out and avoiding any comments, I was surprised it was not as dodgy as I expected. 

Storm Bram was extremely kind to us, we missed most of the terrible weather, Tuesday was a wet breezy day. We are far enough from the spot where the containers lost overboard in the solent were washed up on shore, so no bananas, or packing or trays here, not too far away the beaches are a mess.

A December garden

I know I am blessed to have such a lovely garden space, through the winter we don't sit outside, but I am often outside doing bits, I need an outside space, it really does everything they say.

Along this fence is my grey tub which now has loads of pots on becoming a display area until next summer, the olive tree is loving this spot in the sheltered corner. I love the blooms in hubby's old motorbike boots, just a bit of fun.

The fake grass is best at this time of year when real grass starts to get messy in our clay soil, this area now drains well and looks good. I love the bare branches of the magnolia and acer trees. The fleabane daises should stay green all winter, softening the end of this section.  

Through the winter months this is the productive end of the garden, I have broad beans, leeks and some carrots in one bed, the second bed has brassicas, Japanese onions and more carrots, I am very pleased with the hurdles around each bed, it's a shame they are plastic, I keep nets on the bed to stop cats and pigeons.

The greenhouse is working as well, on the top shelf I have 5 foxgloves, 4 aquilegias, 4 geums and some small violets. In the propagator I have daisy seeds hopefully for daughters garden. I have spare brassica plants and some gaura cuttings which need potting on. On the other side is all my tender plants.

It's been a quiet weekend, we did go out for a meal with hubby's petanque friends just a nice carvery, daughter slept over whilst ex had children for the night, she had a lazy evening in, we spent Sunday morning together, I do like these breaks she has, sadly in the new year her ex won't be staying at the house anymore as she starts to build her own life forward, it was cold and wet outside. As much as we loved our grandchildren having daughter to ourselves is brilliant. 

There were hardly any leaves to pick up, I am always glad once they have all dropped, my two packs of tulips are in pots, one at the back and the other in the hosta tub. The patio we have stopped cleaning and will wait until the spring before we give the whole space a scrub. The winter months are where you view the bones of your garden, this is the time I make plans, normally just little tweaks, this year I want to change nothing, I am very happy with this space, for me it is perfect. 

Saturday was bright after a night of heavy wind and rain, our village Christmas light festival had to be scaled back, we did not go, no point in getting wet before going out, it was nice to see the sun in the morning. Inside the smaller Christmas cakes are finished, and ours has its marzipan on, I will let it go hard before icing which makes it much easier for me to cut it away so I can eat some of the cake. 

Today I am meeting daughter and we are going pottery painting, this was her request, will be fun without the children we can concentrate on painting, later I will treat her to lunch. This week is school plays and my brother is visiting us for a week, he is home this Christmas, his daughter and grandson will be staying with him. 

Busy week

 Christmas by candlelight concert, a perfect start to the month, we have seen this act a few times before singing Elton John and Queen, they do not copy the acts, just sing their tunes their way. Both hubby and I enjoyed the show a very festive start to the month, singing loads of the huge hits from the 50's which I love.

I planted the red amaryllis bulb this week, I will plant the white one in a couple of weeks, I love these blooms, something beautiful to look forward to seeing on these dull days

I did get a new plant from the village, I love cyclamen and had loads of shades of reds to choose from, I thought this red was very festive, this is a houseplant in a lovely pot.

These tiny cyclamen in front of my pond are beautiful, they can't be seen from the house, only visible when walking in my veg area, so really just for me to enjoy. 

Daughter has rebooked our pottery painting morning, George had an upset tummy after all the antibiotics and therefore not able to go to school earlier this week, it's booked for next Monday, we have taken George before, it is going to be busy and George is not good with too many people in a strange place to him. 

Wednesday hubby had his dental appointment, just a check up, he has now booked both our next check-ups for the same day, I had my first ever shingles vaccination, it was a dry day so I spent an hour in the garden, hopefully I collected the last lot if leaves from our Magnolia, and used the last of my home made mulch, I still have 2 packs of tulips to plant.

I got my new glasses on Thursday, I'm pleased with them, it's the first time for me to wear varifocals, I have also a simple pair for my computer work, we had a wander around the shops, just for something to do. Later I went for our Christmas meal with WI in a nice hotel, a really lovely meal, I opted for salmon rather than turkey.

I managed to wash all my wooden floors, on my knees rather than using the mop, corners and skirting boards were done, I feel much better knowing they are sorted, I try and do them this way once a month, but recently I've been lazy.

Pagan

I love all the foliage at this time of year, mine is all silk and years old, I have always been Pagan in my decorations, add in candles to make brilliant displays, I also have my vase of poinsettia, seen here.  

Kitchen 

Shelves in  hall

Dining room

Sitting room, with my new Amaryllis. 

It's advent time again, it was my turn to full the tiny bags this year, I got a nice mixture, the unused chocolates will go into a bowl for over the holidays, these were made in 2022 always in first bag our favourite ones.

Daughter got her finger shut in a metal gate last week, nothing broken just badly brushed, I decided to slide down our stairs, jarred my back and a bruise on my bum and foot, we are walking wounded, told hubby to be very careful, its definitely not his turn.

Our quiet life was broken this week, we received a letter from Information Commission Office informing us how our CCTV should be set up, they received a complaint about our motion camera being able to record beyond our property, they state the letter will close the complaint. Firstly we only have static cameras, as checked by local council after next door complained about our rear camera, which she has previously stated she has seen moving towards her side. The cameras were set up years ago because of her unacceptable behaviour, we have filed the letter as another issue she refuses to believe the truth as proven by official's, more time wasting and silly allegations against us. 

I have a busy time until the middle of next week, all nice things, no doubt I will include them in future post, tonight we are out to our local live venue, we are both looking forward to it, hopefully the rain won't be so bad the car park is next to the venue.