Month in Numbers | December

Ah, delectable December.

How it whizzed by!

A closer look shows that even though it was a busy month, 

I was actually a little light on numerical statistics:

70: the number of Christmas cards sent via Royal Mail ... so much for cutting down!

19: the number of Thank You letters that The Boy Child will have to write ...

which isn't making him happy.

24: the number of days in December that Elvis the Elf was in residence.

17.50: the amount it cost to go and see Santa at Westfield.

 It turned out to be worth every penny!   

Month in Numbers is the brainchild of Julie

and you'll always find a warm welcome over at her place. 

 Not to mention entertaining posts about a varied list of topics.

Go on over, stop by and say hello. 

One Little Word | 2016

Winter Wedding | Random Sample

Panto

Before Christmas, we met up with friends to go to the Panto.

Pantomime is a peculiarly British tradition at this time of year.

And if you happen to see a good production, you will 

know why Pantos are a British institution.

We saw Cinderella, which had a cast made up of present day children's TV presenters

 and TV presenters from the early 1990s.

We loved it (even the dads)!

The Boy Child thought it wonderful.  

Our Scandinavian friends thought it was great fun.

Good family entertainment, with plenty of audience participation.

Photo Books

Now that Santa has delivered the gifts, 

I can share the photo books I made for The Boy Child

to give to Granny and his Godparents.

 I chose a size of 24x20 cms, with twenty pages and a soft cover. 

 I used Blurb and found their templates extremely easy to follow.

 I simply copied and pasted from the Things He Says section on the blog,

and dropped in the photos.  I ended up with two complete volumes.

I originally ordered one copy of each as the test copies (and received a 25% discount).  

After correcting my typos, which was very easy to do, I then ordered six copies of each (and received a whopping 50% discount).  The price per book came in at under £10, including the shipping. 

I wrapped them, The Boy Child wrote on the tags,

I popped each parcel into a jiffy bag and sent them off via Royal Mail.

Easy peasy.

(I used Blurb, but there are plenty of other online providers available.)

Winter Wedding

Having enjoyed our Christmas celebrations yesterday,

we are now off to a country house hotel for two nights.

The reason?

My cousin's wedding.

**happy dance**

Happy Christmas to You and Yours

December Daily 16-18

The 16th is about my December habit of making our house smell like Christmas.

The 17th was about our visit to Christmas at Kew.

A double page spread, with the advertising flyer in the middle.

Day 18 was all about Christmas jumpers.

December Daily; my favourite project of the year. 

December Daily 12-15

The 12th was when we went to dinner with friends at Dinner.

In the album, the LHS has a full page photo of the rather delicious cocktail I enjoyed;

a Dame Shirley.  I only had one, given the price.  The RHS features my shoes and three photos

cut down to 2x2.

 

The 13th was all about my Christmas tradition of making cranberry sauce.

 The 14th was about a list.

Our plans for Christmas day have changed at short notice.

And with that change came the realisation that I will have to do the food shop, and more.

There aren't that many ways to make a list look interesting.

 The 15th was about our family tradition of purchasing the legendary double issue of the Radio Times.  It's the only time of the year when we buy a copy.

December Daily; my favourite project of the year.

Year 4 | School Photo

Can't help think I'd have done better: he's off to one side

and his collar isn't straight.

For the price they charge, I want proper professional.  

I Know it's Christmas ...

... when I can be found in the pub at lunch time.

Cheers!

Gingerbread Houses and Gløgg

I'd already cancelled.

This week, life has been too much.

I didn't know how I could stand and make small talk.

"Come," she said.  "Be with people who love you.

He'll be fine; we know him.

And we have alcohol for you." 

So we went.

He was fine.

As was I, helped by a largish glass of Gløgg

(the Norwegian version of mulled wine). 

Through a Glass Darkly

This afternoon The Boy Child and I went into the West End

to see Goodnight Mister Tom at the Duke of York's theatre. 

We saw it last time it was in the West End

and The Boy Child was more than happy to see it again.

There we were, settling down to Act 2 and 

the scene is where disturbed Mrs Beech is haranguing poor William.

The Boy Child does no more than lean across and whispers in my ear,

"she sounds just like you!"  

To say that I was appalled would be an understatement.

Easy Christmas Card Display

How do you display yours?

When I was young, mum and dad hung long pieces of string

along the picture rail from corner to corner to hang them on.

 These days, of course, we receive a lot less than back then.

I'd been piling them up on the bookshelf.

Balanced on the tops of books.

They slid off.

Of course they did.
I hunted out a shoe box

(from a pair of shoes for The Boy Child, so it wasn't too big).

 I wrapped it in cheerful Christmas paper.

 I lined it with Christmas patterned tissue paper

(which the staff of Tiger had given a few years ago,

when I commented on how nice it was).

Threw in Filled it with cards. 

Done.

All the cards in one place and easy to access.

Christmas at Kew Gardens

We joined a few friends earlier this evening

for a stroll along the winter trail.

It was pretty amazing.

 A festive fire garden, a choir of holly bushes (yes, really),

and a tunnel of lights.

Although I'm not sure quite what The Boy Child made of it.

  

Advent Carol Service

The Brainy One and I had the opportunity to attend

the Advent Carol Service at The Boy Child's 

school this afternoon.

It was held in the same church as the one used by his old school.

But that was where the similarities ended.

I mean, it was lovely and all, but it was like attending a 

concert of choral music.

There was little pupil participation, unless your offspring

happened to be in the choir.

There was no welcome from the Headmaster.

I suppose we were spoilt by our previous school,

 and I have to remember that it's not wrong, merely different.  

The Scent of Christmas

There are several smells that make me think of Christmas ...

Gingerbread lattés.

Satsumas.

Yankee Candle candles. 

I can go all year and never light a candle.

We have several around the house that are used for decorative purposes.

There are several utilitarian ones in the kitchen

 that are used in the event of a power cut 

(which occurs more often than you might think in the West London suburbs). 

But come December, I am busy bringing the smell of Christmas into our home.

This year's fragrance is Cranberry Twist and it smells good enough to eat.

December Daily | Days 9-11

On the 9th, I used a rather cheeky card I'd purchased in Texas last Christmas.

I put the numeral on the front and wrote the journaling on the inside.

I added a few embellishments and covered the back of the card with patterned paper.

Details about the 10th are written on the reverse of the postcard,

 but are not for public consumption.

I didn't bother with journaling for the 11th, as the photos speak for themselves.

December Daily; my favourite project of the year.   

New Shoes

I took delivery of these lovely shoes at 4.20 pm yesterday

 and left the house in them for an evening out at 5 pm.

Of all the shoes I have ever owned, and there have been many,

these are the only shoes that have drawn unsolicited comments

from strangers on the Tube about how lovely they are.  

Here's the Thing ...

... if you're going to pretend to be an RAF Spitfire pilot

from the Second World War,

you should really know more about the aircraft

and the Battle of Britain

 than the eight year old boy you are talking to.

Santa

How I wish that we keep this particular tradition

for a few more years yet.

December Daily | Days 7-8

For day 7, I made a page about wrapping paper.

It could be considered a bit boring, but I love our wrapping paper!

I made up a small 'parcel' and added twine. 

 Day 8 was a short shopping list for outstanding gifts.

That's it, clean and simple.

Just how I like it.

December Daily; my favourite project of the year.

One Photo | Twenty Words

It costs 19p more to send a Christmas card

to Europe than it does for one 

to the United States.