Thursday 13 December 2012

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

22 comments:

  1. I enjoyed all your Christmas decorations and the decorations by your boys! The door frame looks lovely, especially with the addition of fairy lights. White are my favourite!
    The frost looks amazing and I enjoyed the Christmas carol I bet that chutney smelled good when it was cooking! There's nothing like Christmas lights on the tree to get into the right mood, is there?

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  2. your home looks beautifully festive, beautiful decors and colours from from your tree...those amazing frosty landscape photographs- blissful...little sophia asked for snow at no.1 on her christmas listy...i have a feeling we wont be in for a white christmas here in devon...but we have had some mighty below freezing days here over the past 3 weeks...I went to bed in most of my clothes and dressing gown one night hehe x

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  3. Such pretty icy photos Jacquie, I always tell Alice that God has sprinkled icing sugar on the earth on mornings like this xox Looks lovely and cosy at yours x Penelope

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  4. Lovely photos Jacquie...I adore these frosty days x

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  5. Thank you for sharing your magical photos with us and the Christmas makes by the boys.
    luv
    irene
    xxxx

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  6. Hey Jacquie, I'm sitting on the couch underneath the fan and feasting on home grown berries. THe bug zapper is on and it's probably still 24 deg. outside at 10pm......How different our two worlds are!! Your hoar frost pics are absolutely stunning, love the Teasel......

    Your house is looking lovely and festive and that chutney looks absolutely delish, I'm sure I can almost smell the aroma.......

    Claire x

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  7. Your photos look lovely. Teh light here was wonderful yesterday too - but the camera on my phone just didn't do it justice. Back to greyness and rain soon!

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  8. Your photos are great. I love the crispness of them.
    I am interested to know what settings you used to capture the cold outdoors and the warm indoors......xx

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    1. Hi , I'm currently writing a post about how I take my photos so pop back soon for that :0)
      Jacquie x

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  9. Your outdoor photos are soooo beautiful!

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  10. Nothing looked bleak in your post today - wonderfully magical and wonderfully warm and cosy.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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  11. lovely homely post Jacquie, I got all choked up watching the choir!! oh dear, sentimental old thing that I am! nice reminder about the birds too, Heather x

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  12. I love those crochet snowflakes, they are beautiful! Maybe if I concentrate hard and practice lots I can make those...

    Thanks for the shout out and kind words about my blog - how generous of you. I did a double take when I looked at my visit numbers today! I hope your chutney is a success. :-)

    Gillian x

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  13. After enjoying your beautiful mid-winter pictures, the hymn was especially perfect and all the lyrics more meaningful to me than ever before. I bought oranges and cloves today to make a spice ball and I put sprigs of greenery in a grapevine wreath and attached a red and green plaid bow to it. Your decorations are lovely and the chutney looks yummy:) Thanks for posting, Jacquie. Blessings to you and yours. xx from Gracie

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  14. Wow, Really amazing pics. The colours are so good, gives a refreshing feeling.

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  15. Beautiful images Jacquie, the Teasels are so pretty all frosted up!
    Your decorations look very festive, so homely and colourful! Bet it smells gorgeous at your house with all the chutney making and baking going on!
    Have a lovely weekend
    Rachel x

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  16. Beautiful photos Jacquie - it certainly looks cold! Chutney looks wonderful too and I think I shall have a go at it myself. Thanks for sharing all your lovely adventures and crafts. I don't comment much but so enjoy visiting your blog. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

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  17. Beautiful photos. I love your tree full of memories. Our tree has ornaments made when our children were little and ones collected over the years. We started a tradition of buying them a new ornament each year. So the tree will be bare when they leave home. Much prettier than a designer tree. Your chutney looks yummy. I am still constantly making your hobnob biscuits as my family loves them. Have a lovely weekend.
    Ali x

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  18. I've loved reading your post, the photos are just fab! :)

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  19. I loved this post fantastic photos of the cold outside...the Teasels look amazing. Then the warm inside with your lovely Christmas decorations and Christmas prep. I really hope you are not finding it all too stressy. I go there too! xxx

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  20. The archway decoration is so nice! I would absolutely like to make something like that, have to be for next year though, time is running out on this Christmas.

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  21. Beautiful wintery photographs. Just lovely.

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