Christmas wrap up, gosh i love the festive puns!!

Greetings all,

Christmas Day has been & gone again.  The house is ship shape & i'm already home from the Boxing Day Sales.  The children are in their rooms happily playing with new gifts & my husband is flicking between Ashes Cricket, Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race & some fantastic documentaries on the television.  As my Grandfather Christian always said "Christmas is as far away as it will ever be".  Sigh.
We had possibly the most peaceful & relaxing day of the year here, at home, just the 6 of us.  Sure there was the “oh no, someone chipped the Nigella platter” moment when pulling out the large bowls from the cupboard; handsome soldier melted my counter spray bottle while baking pancakes for breakfast; & we calculated that we wouldn’t be eating oven roasted pork until early afternoon . . . lucky i'm not one to panic or worry!!  Just gave me more time to take snaps of the children having fun . . . 

 The ultimate girlie girl gift, a tutu, shame Santa got the credit!!

  I can't imagine what it's like to be a twin, other than admire from the outside that it's something incredibly special!!

 Perfect gifts for boys . . . a bed of nails & a GiggleSpotDesigns robot, our son is pretty chuffed!!

 Note books & pjamas never fail as stocking fillers for children of all ages.  The Ivy Designs cushion was a gift which i'm thrilled our eldest loves as much i do.  It's perfect on her red Arne Jacobsen egg chair.

 . . . tut tut, those reindeer . . .

Check out the Mediterranean & Euro styled Christmas Day menu . . .

anti pasto & olives

cheese & crackers
beetroot, hummus & eggplant dips

smoked leg of ham & mustards

zesty herb & lemon marinade octopus

green garden salad

smoked turkey breast & cranberry

BBQ roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, snowpeas & mushrooms

roast pork with homemade apple sauce

gelato panettone & fresh berries

 . . . free up space in your oven, BBQ the vegetables & cheat on the dishes with disposable trays (shhh but i was & reuse them a couple of times) . . .

 Our 3rd daughter was so excited that we were having dessert at lunch time, she called it 'lussert'!!

 What else can I say other than full belly, lots of phone calls to our siblings & extended families, gorgeous handmade gifts & a couple of Wii games (Lego Star Wars & Harry Potter) to see out the evening.  I spent the afternoon lounging about with a child drawing & naming her dream farm animals, names like Lavender, Ginger & Daisy . . . while I was engrossed with Lisa Johnson’s ‘Covetables’ book filled with snippets of her ‘sabatical’ in the South of France with her husband.  She has a range of gift cards too, I can imagine them framed in my homestead kitchen in sets of 4.  This Christmas, at home, I can almost taste our farm life, the barn, the animals, the produce – I’m so carried away with the idea of some olive trees & patient enough to plant avocado too!!   
My in-laws got together at my husband’s childhood home for Christmas, one nephew started off the school holidays like many – with a broken arm!!  My siblings all did the solo thing like us & all sounded extremely relaxed too.  We’re meeting up in Sydney in January while my country doctor brother & family house sit in Balmoral, pool & beachfront.  We’ll trip between Summer Hill & St Ives, ticking off all the parents for various events + catch up with old friends from Seaforth to Rozelle. 

Wishing everyone a delicious festive time of year, I’m stealing one of the children’s gifts now – The MasterChef Junior Official Cookbook – it’s pitched at my level of cooking & like my fondess & success with The Silver Spoon for Children . . . my cooking the evening meal can only get better from here!!  Love Posie

getting into the spirit . . .

Greetings all,

It's really time to get festive & if i've forgotten anything, i don't care, i'm not going anywhere today!!  That said my husband is at the Fresh Food Markets in Belconnen getting vegetables as not ALL  our favourite vendors did last night's Farmer's Market, like the potato bloke, so he's allowed to do some potato shopping!!

Just because i'm not religious, i don't skip the superficial fun of this time of year.  For us it really is about family & presents.  I look at Christmas as an opportunity to stop & reflect on the year, how lucky we are & extra fun ways to show each other how much we love one another. 

So i've lit the frankincense & myrrh candles from Erica, thanks honey!!

 Hung the last of the handmade ornaments (this is from Kim from A Little Bird Told Me) & her gorgeous felt brooches were a hit with the teachers at school as gifts!! 

 Kitchen counter is 'a go' for food preparation, gosh i love wanky organic counter sprays, they make cleaning the kitchen counter over & over & over again a little less torture & smell delicious.

 What's not to love about a random birdie garland??

 What's all this about then, hmmmm??  No kidding, not staged, this is ACTUALLY how i found the reindeer today.  Those 'softie' bullies really didn't like the wooden imposter & well, broken antler, left on the ground & they're all pretending not to notice??  Damn, not the hot glue gun again??

 Yippee, my collection of Babushkas has grown, a couple of extras thanks to Bord & Butik in Alaska, love you Heidi!!

 The children have made their name place cards for the dining table.

 I'm in a 'nothing is going to spoil my joy' kind of mood.

 What is with this Santa, is he under arrest??

 While the children play with their gifts tomorrow, my husband & i can plant some lavender. 

 Let's not forget tomorrow is a big day for these two blokes!!

Merry Christmas to you all, 'tis the season for happiness whatever you believe.  I just believe in family, fun, friends & stopping to appreciate what you have or how you can make things better in your world. 
RightyO, best sign off, husband is home with potatoes & some surprises for our feast.  Just we 6 here in Canberra tomorrow, will be peaceful & fun, i love it.  We'll see our extended million family members in the next week, but this is all about us, lucky to have our handsome soldier home & relaxing this year.  Tomorrow we're having a bit of an Italian spin on our Christmas feast, i can't wait, will be so delicious!!  Love Posie
PS if you're new to this blog, welcome & hello . . . if you want to enjoy some giveaways while i take a little break, both current giveaways are open until the new year so good luck, follow & comment to enter!!

my creative space 'reindeer stampede'

Greetings all,

Christmas decoration shopping for our home & my market stall just took on a whole new meaning . . . seems ALL these reindeer had to come home with me from Lincraft as they are ALL vitally important props in Christmas (well that's what i told my husband).  Now to decide on how to decorate or leave plain??  Any ideas??

 Prices range from $3-10, not included in the 30% off sale this week as snappily stated by the nasty shop assistant i had to endure!!

 Look at these naughty reindeer from Allana C, gobbling away at the GingerBreadHouse!!

 I'm back on Tony Ferguson weight loss diet (more just a very sensible eating regime) & after a little morning snack from The Flute this morning in Fyshwick then a trip taste testing our way around the Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets . . . my husband made me a very sensible lunch.  Tony Ferguson is brilliant if you don't drink tea, coffee, alcohol (i don't), you can resist bread, rice, potato, pasta (i can) & only have time for a brisk walk for exercise (i do).  The weight falls off. 

Check out the new Handmade Market postcards, yahoo, only 30 days away!!  Check out the website & FaceBook to win a copy of the Handmade Living. a designer collective book!!

Finally, the reason we were on the south side of Canberra this morning . . . picking up this delivery of Creationary which i won from the clever & talented Jho from One Red Robin blog.  Thanks Jho!!  I have to say, it couldn't have gone to a better home, we are Lego mad, we love board games, our children are creative to the core & the words "let's go back to school to pick the children up & take them home to play with this now" slide out of my mouth at 10a.m.  Funnily enough my husband didn't swing by the school on our way back to north Canberra.
So that's it from me this week, i am recovering from a migraine, which came on strong during a P&C meeting last night (coincidence??) & i had to leave & came home very very very sick indeed.  It was a blur of throwing up, shower, sleep & waking up like i've been hit on the head.  Argh!!  So today i rest, enjoy my lunch & get ready to put my game face on for when the children finish their homework & challenge them to a game of Creationary!!  Bring it!! 
Happy Creative Spacing everyone, love Posie