Thursday 27 December 2012

Christmas 2012

I like to look back on my Christmas photos from over the years I've been blogging, so here (a little later than normal) are the ones for 2012. It was all rather a rush in the end - we were still wrapping presents and tidying up well into the evening of the 24th, but we made it in time for the 25th and all had a lovely day. The sun even shone too - so welcome after seemingly endless days of grey.

I'll begin with Sid and Cynthia as I thought of them...

...though they've now been re-named Snaky and Violet. This photo was taken when I finished Violet at 01:30 on the morning of Christmas Eve. They were well received, it seems size matters when it comes to cuddly snakes and they were far bigger than both A and N expected which was a Good Thing.

Now to Christmas baking. I didn't go overboard in variety this year, just mince pies, gingerbread biscuits and cake. However I did make far too much mincemeat and had to make five batches of pastry for the mince pies to contain it all. The mincemeat recipe I used is here (I would use this recipe again, but would make only half the quantity), the mince pie pastry recipe is here (the best!), gingerbread biscuit recipe here (it's from Rachel Allen's "Bake", I use it every year for figures but haven't yet got round to making a gingerbread house) and the chocolate fruit cake recipe can be found here (I make this every year too - I'm not a fan of traditional Christmas cake and this (from Nigella's "Feast") is an excellent alternative)





The finished chocolate fruit cake is in the cake stand and dome (a recent bargain at £15 from Ikea) on top of the piano - I'm not fond of marzipan and icing either!

My favourite Christmas card illustration of this year.

Now a quick tour of the tidy bits of the house set for Christmas...

 Decorating the tree - they did a really good job, I didn't need to do any re-arranging after they'd finished.

Christmassy piano.

Christmas cactus flowering right on schedule (purely by chance!).

Christmas Eve.

Ready for Santa.

Christmas Day cat.

Christmas Day sky (as seen through the back door window) - look, blue bits!

Christmas Day sunshine. The dangling paper snowflakes I'd made last year made a re-appearance this year. I'd hoped to add to them, there's still time...

Christmas dinner. Just the four of us - how we like it.

This year I did remember to order new candle for the angel chimes, so there was one area where I was more prepared than last year.

New Christmas lights - a little blue white for my liking, I realise now that I prefer "warm" white.

Now to some photos of a little walk we made on Boxing Day - lots of images of fence posts, bare branches, black birds and wintry skies - such beauty in simple things at this time of year.












And today we made a little family bike ride to the loch. The sun struggled to break though the clouds and later on we had flurries of snow.




And finally, for the record, a round-up of a few photos from earlier in the month, when it was still cold and clear.

 The moon at sunrise.

 Globe thistle.

 Hypericum berries.

 Buttercup.

 Frozen sandpit accoutrements.
 
 Sunset sky.

 Christmas lights.

Program and notes from my last concert before Christmas and probably the point at which I most felt I had that Christmas feeling. A friend came along to listen and brought her daughter and A too. I think they enjoyed it, sort of - it's not quite Gangnam Style I suppose...

13 comments:

Lyn said...

I love your photos, what a lovely Christmas pos. violet...an unusual name for a snake? Xxx

**Anne** said...

Beautiful Christmas photos and gorgeous ones from your Boxing Day walk too. Thanks for sharing.
Anne xx

Meredith said...

Lovely photos to help you remember a beautiful Holiday.
Hugs to you,
Meredith

Mrs. Micawber said...

Somehow I read Sid and Cynthia as Thid and Thynthia.... :) They look great all coiled up together.

Wow, the kids did a fantastic job decorating the tree! They must have inherited their mum's eye for pleasing arrangement.

I love that shot of the fenceposts, wire, and bare tree in the field behind.

Happy New Year to all of you!

Country Rabbit said...

i feel all cosy sitting here with my coffee and laptop under the duvet reading your posts and looking at your beautiful festive photographs- absolutely beautiful x must have been truly magical for your children x

Jacquie said...

Hi Anne, gorgeous photo's and wonderful crochet :0)
Love your cake dome....got the wanties for one of those now.
Love all your outdoor shots too.
Jacquie x

rockinloubylou said...

We DID enjoy it, apart from my graceless coughing fit! Heyyy, sexy lady...

driftwood said...

merry Christmas, it all looks very lovely xxx

Mairéad said...

Sounds like the perfect Christmas. Your house looks so cosy and the mince pies, well, they look delicious.

Gillian Roe said...

Lovely, festive photos. It all looks so cosy and your Christmas meal looked very nice indeed! x

Annie Cholewa said...

It looks like the perfect family Christmas!

May your new year celebrations be just as cordial, and may 2013 be kind to you and yours :D

Rosangela said...

A criação do meu blog em 2012 me trouxe muitas alegrias e uma delas foi te conhecer. Quero lhe desejar um 2013 maravilhoso, cheinho de saúde e muito amor.
Um beijo grande.

* said...

Looks like you had a great Christmas, your snakes looked great, I made some last year, but not near so smart in the head department as yours, they were a little last minute and a little 'squonky'.

Your baking sounds lovely, I made far too much mincemeat too, and have been toying with making one of those apple and mincemeat flan things and yet it seems wrong after Christmas. I have a Rachel Allan book, but haven't delved into it yet.

Your photos from your walks are lovely, but my fave is the one with the bare branches reflected in the puddle, great photo.

It has been lovely reading your posts and sharing your photographs and walks in 2012 and I'm really looking forward to more in 2013. Happy New year!

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