Just right...

We have a wee tree this year...

It is just the right size for the wee people in the house...

...just the right size for decorating...

(and decorating *must* be done in pyjamas, don't you know!)

...just the right size for playing...

...just the right size for sharing...

...and it contains just the right amount of soil in the pot to make a beautiful mess on the floor!

Thankfully Mummy has just the right amount of patience to clean it up ;-)

~*~

Wherever you are in the world,

I wish you and your loved ones a wonderful, magical holiday season.

Be merry, be happy, stay safe!

May the new year bring you happiness,

good health,

and many reasons to smile.

Thank you for your support and love in 2010.

I cannot wait to continue this amazing journey with you all in 2011!

With much love,

P.S.  No Christmas trees were harmed in the making of this story ;-)

Red and Green

Mother Nature knows how to dress for Christmas.

Her reds are the sweetest scarlet,

fiery and festive...

...waiting to bloom, a blush of crimson...

Her greens are lush and verdant...

(and isn't cypress just the scent of Christmas!)

textural, tactile...

...perfectly draped...

She wears baubles of red...

...and bells of white...

She leaves seasonal treasures to delight...

waiting to be found...

...and brought home...

A wander through the garden has me feeling fine and festive!


~*~

What are you wishing for this Christmas?

Tis the season to be...beady

My plum-glazed ham was a runaway success. And we have enough leftovers to feed a small country for a week. Although in my current pregnant state where I *must* eat everything in sight, I doubt they will last long.

How was your Christmas, dear readers? Full of much merriment and mountains of food, I hope. Was Santa good to you?

I must have been a good girl this year (pah, well of course I was!). My stocking contained, amongst other lovelies, 'The Art of Bead Embroidery' by Sherry Serafini and Heidi Kummli. Seeing as I threw myself straight into the deep end of bead embroidery, not really knowing how to swim as such, it's no doubt a very good thing that I now have some guidance and guidelines to follow. I have already read it from cover to cover. It's worth buying for the gallery pages alone. Eye-candy, and then some.



Santa also gave me 'Creative Bead Weaving' by Carol Wilcox Wells. Having recently re-discovered the joys of my local library (I had been shirking the library for years, reasoning that it was only for geeky teens and middle-aged women with a penchant for Mills & Boon romances), I have borrowed 'Creative Bead Weaving no less than four times in the last six months. It's an essential resource for any beader, in my humble opinion. And now it's mine. All mine. *mwahahahahah*



I also received some Delicas in the most drool-worthy shades of purple. They are just begging to be woven into something fabulous. Watch this space.

So all in all, I guess you could say that I enjoyed a very beady Christmas. The best kind!

To all my beady friends and followers, I hope that Santa filled your stocking with much beady goodness. And to all my non-beady friends and followers, from someone who was a non-beader only last Christmas, you don't know what you're missing! Start writing your letter to Santa for next year now and make sure it includes BEADS!