i've had quite a good xmas, got a real tree with my housemates which we decorated with my favourite mistletoe lights and homemade gingerbread baubles and this year's new decoration, a ceramic snowman acquired in cornwall where we went for my friend's 30th birthday. i buy a new decoration every year, preferably from a visit somewhere.
it is not officially xmas in the nay household however, without this fellow:
it has belonged to my dad since he was a child, and i believe it belonged to someone else before him, making it probably about 70 years old. i obtained it when i left home at 18. it lives in a glenfiddich bottle case. once, i lost it for a few years and i genuinely felt a bit wrong when it was missing from the xmas decorations.
here is how arnie looked this year:
smashing, as you can see.
i've had many lovely evenings in in front of the fire, which is one of my most favourite things about my house, even though i'm always a little nervous when it's first lit. i'm just a wuss really.
cosy!
for actual xmas, i went home to wolves. nearly didn't make it though because of the mega snow, which induced my housemates to build new friends in the garden, such as monsieur table here:
this was before we had a few more dousings of the white stuff. my brilliant sister named monsieur table. she's good like that. chickens aren't really keen on snow. they don't really realise that the ground is still underneath it, although after a few days they got bored of of being cooped up and so tentatively braved it:
there is plenty of chicken news; a visitor, a moult, a war, i shall go into this another time. right now i'm busy planning tomorrow night's entertainment, a 70's dinner party with my housemates as a sort-of xmas present to each other. i've been given a load of 70's cookery books from my mum, including one which previously belonged to my great aunt which still has her handwritten and typed additions. it's absolutely lovely. we have devised a full 70's menu, including retro drinks and we will all be in costume too. off charity shopping tomorrow for some 70's crockery!
will post pics and a review!
