Happy Christmas

 Well, another Christmas is upon us so I just wanted to wish you all much happiness and joy on this special day. It will be a quiet one here as normally we have my elderly sister here to join us for lunch but she is unwell this year so won't be here. I have happy memories of Christmas in the past from when I was growing up and when our children were little to give me comfort. 

Not long till Christmas

 

Seeing as we are already in December I thought I would remind any readers who are crafty that I did a blog post a while back named Christmas Gift Ideas in case you want to make a couple of quick homemade gifts. 

Christmas Gift Ideas

As Christmas is just around the corner and I know that many of my readers are crafty little vegemites I thought I would remind you of crafts I have listed previously in the blog post Christmas Gift Ideas in case there is anything there that you would like to try. 

Origami Christmas Wreath

Happy Christmas

 It is nearly the end of yet another month and, as it is only a few days until Christmas, I just want to wish everyone a very happy and blessed Christmas and I hope that 2023 brings you much joy and good health. 

Happy Christmas for 2020

 Just a short post to wish everyone a very Happy and Blessed Christmas. I am sure most of you are very busy at the moment with your family visiting so have a wonderful time. I am also sure that there are some of you who will be alone and lonely so big hugs to you and I hope and pray that things will be more cheerful for you next year. 

As we won't have any children here tomorrow we will have lunch with my sister. It will be the usual chicken, ham and salad which she likes as she can't eat anything too spicy and this will be followed by pavlova, fruit and cream.

Then I will be getting stuck into a good book for the rest of the day. It won't be too hot thankfully and it looks like the rain has gone for now. We had 44mm the other night which was the heaviest rainfall we have had for ages. 

I hope that those in the Northern Hemisphere keep safe and well during this scary time as COVID seems to be wreaking havoc in some countries. Here in Queensland it is 100 days since the last time there was community transmission of the virus but seeing as there has been an outbreak in Sydney our borders are now shut to visitors from that area and border passes are back in vogue. I am so glad I live in Queensland and not in one of the border towns as the traffic on the highways at the border must be horrendous in our heat. 

Have a wonderful Christmas time wherever you live. 

Christmas Markets

 Normally at this time of the year we have quite a few Christmas markets and this year is no exception. All of them seem to be going ahead during the pandemic apart from the Cobb and Co Museum's Handmade under the Stars which has been cancelled for 2020. I am not sure why one event goes ahead and another is cancelled but there seem to be a number of inconsistencies where restrictions are concerned. At the moment the annual Bush Christmas  is in full swing. This is an exhibition where artisans from remote areas can showcase and sell their arts and crafts and, believe me, they are a very creative lot. 

Rain for Christmas!

We have been hearing the weather forecasters say that SE Queensland would have a wet Christmas this year but I have heard forecasts about rain before and often it just bypasses us. However we have had a couple of storms move through tonight and we got a little rain. I see on the radar that heavier rain is moving east at the moment so hopefully some of our farmers will get good falls. It certainly will be an answer to prayer.

Shortlived relief from the heat

Today we had a 'cool' day...if you can call 31C cool. There have been storms in Brisbane and on the coast and, although there weren't any here, it really cooled down this afternoon which was so nice after continuous hot days which have become rather tiring. We did have a storm on Wednesday during which we received 8mm but there were heavier falls in other areas as well as damaging hail for some farmers in Stanthorpe in which they lost most of their crops but hopefully the rain was just simply a blessing for some of our struggling farmers and they sustained no damage.

Another great Bush Christmas Exhibition

Each year artisans from the bush have the opportunity to feature their creative work at the Bush Christmas Exhibition which commenced this week and will finish on Friday 6th December. As usual, taking a walk through the exhibition is inspiring and if you live in the Toowoomba region and plan to attend I would advise you to get there early as it was packed not long after the doors opened today.

A very Happy Christmas

Just a quick post to wish all my lovely readers a very Happy Christmas and I pray that 2019 will bring you much happiness and good health.

Coming up

As we are nearing the end of 2018 there are a number of interesting events coming up in our city. I know several people who read my blog live in Brisbane or in the region and like to visit when these craft shows are on so I thought I would let you know when they start.

Have a wonderful Christmas

It is not long till Christmas Day now and I imagine there are quite a few excited little children around the country at the moment. There will be no pitter patter of little feet in this household but my daughter and her family aren't into the materialism of Christmas thankfully so even if they were here there would be no expectations of having the 'perfect Christmas' whatever that may be.

Hot chillies, hot weather, hot Christmas

Everything seems to be hot at the moment! Not only is the weather really heating up after a relatively cool summer up until now but the hot chillies I planted a few months ago are flowering and starting to produce 'fruit' as I have read that technically they are a fruit :-)

The Winner is.....

Thank you to all who entered in the Christmas giveaway for two beautiful potholders made by my friend Judy. All names have been put 'in the hat' and the winner is kepc.

It's Market Time

At this time of year there seem to be markets popping up everywhere. Yesterday Hand Made Under the Stars  was held at the Cobb and Co Museum and as usual it featured a vast array of crafts which would make great Christmas gifts. Yesterday was also the start of the Bush Christmas Exhibition which finishes on the 9th December.

A Christmas Giveaway

I have mentioned before that I have some friends who are really talented and creative when it comes to sewing, quilting, craftwork, crochet, knitting and so on. One of those lovely friends has asked me if I would like to have a little giveaway on my blog and she has made a couple of beautifully made potholders which would be so very useful in the kitchen or to give away for Christmas.

 

A Christmas Eve hiccup

Christmas Eve arrived and it was a lovely cool day. As we weren't expecting any visitors for Christmas the plan was to just make a potato salad and the traditional pavlova (as requested) later on in the day as the rest of the salads could be made up quickly before lunch the following day. So armed with my little point and shoot camera I took a walk through the very dry garden hoping to find a little bit of colour scattered here and there.

Time to declutter...maybe not!

Despite plans to visit our Farmers' Market and the new Toowoomba Backyard Gardeners' Market this morning, when the day dawned hot and sunny that shook my resolve and instead I opted for a day of pottering. Isn't that what people of my vintage do? No? Oh well, perhaps I will start a trend :-) Unfortunately the gardeners' market is on the third Saturday of the month which is the same Saturday as our Simple Living Toowoomba workshops but ours only run from February to November so I really shouldn't have missed the opportunity to go today. Perhaps next month ... not that January is likely to be any cooler. However, in an effort to not procrastinate the whole day I decided to start doing some decluttering starting with the patterns.

Markets and Heatwaves

Well, summer arrived with a bang this year. No gradual warming of the days until we reached our 'normal' average temperature but a week long heatwave which I am sure none of us who live in Queensland like one little bit. However, we just have to find ways to survive...without aircon! So the Mango Ice Cream has been made and Icy Poles will be the next on the 'To Make' List I think. The heatwave has coincided with a couple of markets I was looking forward to but the heat didn't seem to deter anyone as the venues were quite crowded.

Some Good 'Cuppa' Books

Do you enjoy reading? I used to be a prolific reader once upon a time. My favourite author was Francine Rivers but I must admit I haven't read fiction books for a long time. However I have bought several non-fiction books this year when they were on special and thought they would make good Christmas presents for some of your friends and family depending on their interests of course. You might like to buy one or two for yourself to read over the Christmas break if you have any time to relax that is.