Looking Festive

Hello Lovelies, we haven't had any snow here yet but,  by heck it's blinking cold ( minus 5 in the garden right now ) .

 Yesterday there was a hoar frost and once again the countryside looked wonderful. A mist hung in the air all day and watery sunshine added to the beauty of it.........

Ice crystals were everywhere........

Making the skeletal remains of the hog weed stand out along the verges...........

 It looked so pretty in the bare trees and hedges......

And was particularly thick on these teasels..........

I love this close up and I think it really shows how chilly it is here at the moment. It's not quite midwinter yet but being out in this harsh but beautiful landscape THIS special carol came to mind...........

Thankfully at home we are warm and snug and enjoying the Christmas traditions. The boys decorated the tree without much interference from me this year..........

It's loaded with all our decorations , collected over many years. Many are sweet handmade items bought at school fairs and the like.........

Or things made by the boys..........

It's a  real fun mix up tree but I do enjoy a bit of colour co-ordination too.
My red and white archway decoration is full of things I find attractive , along with simple warm white lights and It really makes me happy ( it's held in place by 3 cup hooks screwed into the wooden frame ) ............

My crochet snowflakes and on their fourth outing now (Lucy's pattern ) and they could really do with a bit of re-stiffening but I'm not sure I will find time for that.

 It's getting a bit hectic around here now. School plays, present buying, present making, present wrapping etc,etc.
I'm enjoying it so far but I will admit to finding it all a bit stressy on occasions too.

I've recently found a lovely blog....Tales from a Happy House ( wish I had time to try and  make a felt gingerbread house like that) ......Gillian made some yummy looking chutney so I had to give it a try.
Lots of wonderful ingredients........

Were chopped up and simmered in my biggest pan..........

This lot made 5 big jars of hopefully yummy chutney. I'm going to give them as gifts so I will make the jars look as pretty as possible and I'll share pictures when I manage to squeeze in another post.

At least I remembered to buy some wild bird food when I was dashing about buying and making gifts this week. This weather is tough for our feathered friends............

Hope the build up to Christmas is going well for you, and you have enough time to enjoy it.
Jacquie x