Christmas has arrived

I am pagan, I love all the mixed berries, ivy and trees, plus loads of candles everywhere, most of the candles are fake, but these days they look so real.
I had to get all my Christmas boxes out myself this year, hubby still not allowed to lift, luckily when our bedroom was built in our attic/loft space they left storage room on the same level, so I only had to pull things through a small door rather than the normal hole in the ceiling. BUT still I have far too  much, I did pass loads to the charity shop a couple of years ago, again this year I have not put everything out. I have 4 sets of tree lights?? why, one set is new purchased last year in the sales, just in case my set refuse to light.
The bottom photo, is me using one of the huge lower branches from the tree, with loads of other silk branches, with lights, makes this corner brighter.
Normally this time of year I do my 12 days of Christmas, where I find 12 items to send to the charity shop, but this year I am changing and my 12 days of Christmas is going to be 12 acts of kindness, all done in December. I will keep a note and list them when all are done.
Will slept over on Saturday night, so the tree was up before he came, he was wide eyed and very excited, but has not touched anything, even our singing Santa on the motorbike, he does ask for him to sing, you can see him here.
Sunday morning we walked to our local community center for their Christmas fayre, where Will found 5 trees, we did not take him to see Santa, mummy and daddy get to do that the 1st time. We are having Will today so every thing is back to normal.
Has it stopped raining where you are, I can't remember the last time we had this much rain, which is very good for our water table, It's so mild as well, nights still feel too warm with our winter quilt on.

Terrific Thursday

Afternoon tea at a Spa day

 Hot tub outside

I was asked by hubby to keep Thursday clear, we were going out, I have no problems with that. Wednesday evening I was told I had to be at daughters by 9am  Thursday morning, on my own, so not a nice meal with hubby. I arrived at my daughters, she asked if I had my costume, nope, so I borrowed one of her's. Daughter drove us to Hilton Hotel, next to Ageas Bowl cricket ground, near Southampton. Hubby had paid for both of us to have a spa day as a thank you for our love and care of him.
So whilst most of the country struggled with horrible weather yesterday, daughter and I were in luxury, the spa is one of the best I have been to (in our price range), we both had a back, shoulder and neck massage, without any issues for me, I have a nut allergy and can't use loads of the oils they have, not an issue for them. Lunch was afternoon tea with prosecco.
Hubby had a quiet day at home, cooked a simple lovely meal for dinner, just a perfect day.
I finished reading another book in the Roy Grace series, Dead if you don't, the opening chapter was suggesting it might be a bit gory for me, I kept going and it was another great book.

Just a perfect day 

November round up

I'm happy with this total, buying the card last week  took it much higher than expected, but I don't like making flimsy cards. 

My stash spending this year is much higher than previous years, but on checking, most of the extra spend has been on yarn, which is a hobby I am doing more this year.
I purchased some trousers this month, I am fed up with wearing jeans everyday, whilst at home they are OK, but it's nice to dress smarter when out. I also got a nice pair for Christmas day, these purchases bring my total spend on clothes to £102.75, which should be the total for this year, as I have no plans or requirement to purchase anything else. Another month with any footwear purchased, I am on target to go the whole year without any new footwear.
My Christmas dec's total so far is £17.98, again I don't expect to purchase anything else, the 4 items I got were just too pretty for me to not get them.

 My book arrived, for the 1st time no cross stitch on the cover. 

8 books from my blog

Another month and I am pleased with my spending, I have no intention to save money, it's just interesting to know where mine is going. The shoe and clothes target, was necessary as I still have far to many of both, but at the same time, purchasing my new trousers this month, brought back the real enjoyment of adding something to my wardrobe, rather than just seeing something and wanting it. I will be setting myself low spends for both next year.
I do need a new winter warm coat, my long coat was purchased in 2010 and my red jacket is older than that, but I will only replace them if I can find good quality in the styles I like in January sales. 
I am really pleased with my 2017 book, I have read through it and as always I have found one tiny issue, just a silly thing I missed, it has happened in almost every one of my books.

Sunny day outside

Amaryllis time again

 Unexpected flowers on this African violet,
lives on my kitchen window sill

 Still loads of colour in the garden 

 Greenhouse cacti and succulents 

 Carnivorous plants loving the sunshine
these work well in the greenhouse.

 Almost done with the leaves

These photo's were taken on Monday, before the rains came, I spent an hour outside enjoying the sunshine. I am pleased to see so much colour in the garden, my geraniums planted in the back bed has flowered for months, the bright pink is an extra bonus to see each day.  I have a few extra pots on the decking, filled with my birthday bulbs, once these  have flowered in the spring I will add them to my side garden, I would rather grow them this way than try and plant into hard ground in November.
An hour in the greenhouse, where it's really warm, I have not added any coverings to plants as I want them to have as much sunshine as possible, and this is the sunniest spot in my garden.
The bird feeders are now the busiest part of our garden, we both love to watch the different birds who visit to feed. We have managed to keep the huge wood pigeons away, they can clear a feeder very quickly, we do throw seed onto the garage roof for them. We regularly see two squirrels at their nut feeder, they too stay away from the bird feeders, so a happy balance. Hubby has put bait boxes back down in the back corner, not sure what is coming into our garden, but our cat Purdy is down that end watching all the time, a sure sign something is coming into our garden. 
Daughter did not have time to pop in for making Santa on Tuesday, so we have agreed to make them on Friday. Sign class was good, we are doing our own version of a Christmas nativity, it is helping us put together longer sentences, each one has a twist in which is funny, plus we are going to wear costumes and be videoed.