Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Sentimental buttons
Dad gave me a tin of old buttons. Oh, the joy. When I opened the tin, childhood memories came flooding back. This was Granny's button tin. Mom had added to it, and at some point a school project or two had added its own leftover buttons.
I needed to use the buttons, so I made these Christmas tree decorations. For added sentiment, I added the name tags of our dear cat, Rosie, and darling Themba, who have both crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.
New blog posts at Surrey Life and talkhealth.
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| A selection of sentimental button creations |
O! Christmas Tree
For The Gallery ~ Christmas Tree.
This year, our Christmas tree stands on a table, well out of the reach of the devil Boxer puppy. She loves all things pretty and dangly, and quick as a wink, the decorations will be off the tree, back to her den. My choice of decorations? A selection of African themed beaded fancies, and painted balls and little animals.
This is my favourite Christmas card. Received from our 6 year old godson who lives in Melbourne. It is in Japanese, but I thought his Christmas tree fits in with the theme too.
Photography by Lesley Beeton
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Our family Christmas and a Happy New Year
After all the tears and guilt, we spent Christmas Day in our own way, quietly, soberly, thoughtfully. Just as we wanted to. We celebrated the day, the special time together, the memories, our passion for each other. We didn't miss being with a lot of people, trying to outdo each other with food, drink and gifts.
And we had time to listen to each other, walk, laugh, cry. It was beautiful. We both felt refreshed, and excited about the New Year. We made plans, for work, for holidays, for house renovations. Mom's diagnosis two years ago at Christmas, her short, savage illness, and our grief had really taken it out of us.
I hope that in years to come these memories will fade, to be replaced by happier times at Christmas once again.
The Gallery - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Each week, I follow the prompt by Sticky Fingers and post a photograph which best describes my interpretation of the theme for The Gallery.
A beautiful wreath adorns our front door. Made by the lovely Jill Spain of Christmas Pie Crafts.
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| Christmas wreath by Christmas Pie Crafts |
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| Hand made tree decorations from a local craft fair |
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| My own watercolour painting for our Christmas cards |
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| Stockings packed and sent to Australia |
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| Gift bags packed for Mr B's staff |
I must confess that gifts are bought and wrapped, Christmas cards sent, Christmas cake baked.
And we are really looking forward to the Christmas break.
Now pop over to Tara at Sticky Fingers and see more Christmas.
Photography by Lesley Beeton.
Letter to Santa from Brin the Boxer
Dear Santa,
My very dear friend and fellow Boxer, Themba, died a few months ago. Before that, he was quite poorly, and we didn't have as much fun in the garden as we used to.
I have been a good boy, kind and gentle to my Mum and Dad, as we all mourned the loss of little Themba.
This week, Mum and Dad told me they feel well enough to ask Santa (or the Rescue centre) to bring us a new friend in time for Christmas. They have been thinking about it for some time, but it is a difficult process to re-home a dog, and they did not want to get my hopes up.
Yesterday, we went on a long trip in the car (and got a bit lost). When we got there, we were greeted by the loveliest lady who gave me a drink of water and a romp in the sheep field. After that, she brought George to meet me. George is a 2 year old Lurcher, who was rescued as a stray in the Republic of Ireland. He was going to be destroyed, but the good people at The Dog's Trust took care of him and brought him to England.
He has been well looked after and fed yummy food and is a lovely chap, and boy does he run fast!
We had great fun. I was very tired on the trip home, and slept all night next to the fire, thinking about George.
Mum and Dad have heard this morning that they have been accepted as George's new Mum and Dad, and he will be with us in two weeks.
Thank you, Santa, for helping my wish come true in time for Christmas.
Mum says she will introduce George to everyone once he is settled in his new home.
Happy Christmas!
With lots of love from,
Brin the Boxer
Shackleford
England
I've sent my Letter to Santa to Rumpydog 'cos he's publishing all the Letters on his lovely blog, with a little help from his Mum, Jen :-)
Fee-fi-fo-fum
Brin the Boxer smells the Springer Spaniel's bum. And the Lakeland Terrier. Two new friends who have joined us walking in the woods. Of course, Themba had a real nose on him. Brin has to get really up close and personal to make his acquaintance. Which leaves some dogs and their owners a little non-plussed. Not Rory, the tough little Lakeland Terrier, who can high five and roll over! But can't walk to heel.
No matter, we know all the paths and disappear in a flash, behind that tree, into that copse, or as last night, onto the cricket pitch. It's actually a great space for walking the perimeter. Plenty to look at, plenty to sniff at. The Pavilion is a bit run-down, but news of the imminent demolition of the Mushroom Farm should hurry up the plans for the new houses, and a new cricket pavilion in the Village. And so, we have been taking a last look at the mushroom farm development site. It really is quite sad, and will be a huge task to clear the site of all that concrete and asbestos. When we first moved to the village, the local pub restaurant served a very popular ShackMush burger, a vegetarian option which was delicious. Although the pub is still serving good food, it no longer serves local produce.
The work done by the Ranger earlier in the year, to clear the birch trees and rhododendrons, is now yielding results. The central part of the Heath has been opened up, the fungi have been splendid, although if you blink, the giant slugs will eat them before your eyes! The badger setts are very obvious now, as are the deer 'bedding areas'. I keep Brin on lead so as not to disturb the animals, I hope other dog owners do too.
Things have been a bit busy at chez Mad dog woman. Not content to be pushing ahead with phase 1 of the patient digital record system, I have also had to host a dinner for Consultant colleagues, purchase gifts for junior staff, and have all the nephews, nieces and assorted God-childrens' gifts ready for Dad to take to Australia next week. No, Dad isn't the postman or Father Christmas, but he is going to Australia for 5 weeks and my brother will enjoy the special time with him (or else)!
That means that we (Mr B, Brin and I) will enjoy a very quiet Christmas. We have been invited to spend it with Mr B's family in Croydon, but the thought of leaving Brin alone all day, and sharing Christmas with some of my least favourite people in the world has driven me to tears - quite literally. I have written about this here.
Talking of Brin, we have been in touch with Boxer rescue, and at last, someone is coming to see us, to vet us. Please, fingers crossed that we will be matched with an adorable Boxer dog before Christmas. A new companion for Brin, who although he is a human dog, should really have a playmate to romp around the garden with. He gets easily bored when I am mucking out the hen house. When Themba was alive, they would play and play and never get bored or cold.
And to end, the community police person has been around this week. Not a woman I have taken to, but she seems very efficient. This week, she was on the trail of a pony (it could have been a donkey) in a field. She noticed the gate was down on the service driveway of the neighbours. Unbeknown to me, the tree men had opened the gate, it fell down as the post is rotten and it had been tied up with green garden wire! Anyway, they were only picking up any debris from the hedge trimming, to keep things neat and tidy. Next thing, the police person is about, asking questions and implying that the neighbour is furious. I went over to appease her and sort things out. The police person explained that she thought the driveway was the path to the field (!) and thought some undesirables had broken the gate down. All's well that ends well, but beware. Don't leave your neighbour's gate open, don't leave your donkey in a field, and don't get the tree men to tidy up, because, in Shackleford, you are being watched and will get into trouble.
(Of course, the next day, the wind blew the gate over again. The tree men were blamed, so I enlisted the help of the super-neighbour who tied the gate to our gate post. Job done).
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| Stockings for Australia, gift tags by Christmas Pie Crafts |
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| Gift bags packed with gifts for staff. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas |
That means that we (Mr B, Brin and I) will enjoy a very quiet Christmas. We have been invited to spend it with Mr B's family in Croydon, but the thought of leaving Brin alone all day, and sharing Christmas with some of my least favourite people in the world has driven me to tears - quite literally. I have written about this here.
Talking of Brin, we have been in touch with Boxer rescue, and at last, someone is coming to see us, to vet us. Please, fingers crossed that we will be matched with an adorable Boxer dog before Christmas. A new companion for Brin, who although he is a human dog, should really have a playmate to romp around the garden with. He gets easily bored when I am mucking out the hen house. When Themba was alive, they would play and play and never get bored or cold.
And to end, the community police person has been around this week. Not a woman I have taken to, but she seems very efficient. This week, she was on the trail of a pony (it could have been a donkey) in a field. She noticed the gate was down on the service driveway of the neighbours. Unbeknown to me, the tree men had opened the gate, it fell down as the post is rotten and it had been tied up with green garden wire! Anyway, they were only picking up any debris from the hedge trimming, to keep things neat and tidy. Next thing, the police person is about, asking questions and implying that the neighbour is furious. I went over to appease her and sort things out. The police person explained that she thought the driveway was the path to the field (!) and thought some undesirables had broken the gate down. All's well that ends well, but beware. Don't leave your neighbour's gate open, don't leave your donkey in a field, and don't get the tree men to tidy up, because, in Shackleford, you are being watched and will get into trouble.
(Of course, the next day, the wind blew the gate over again. The tree men were blamed, so I enlisted the help of the super-neighbour who tied the gate to our gate post. Job done).
Am I being selfish?
There is some rather unpleasant history between Mr B's family and I. It goes back 21 years and I will always feel rather sad and disappointed at the way they reacted to our relationship. I do make an effort to be civil to them, but that is as far as it goes.
This year, for the first time in 17 years, his parents are spending Christmas in the UK with Mr B's sister in Croydon. This presents a very real dilemma for me. I don't want to spend Christmas Day with them. I also know that Mr B has not had Christmas with his family in 17 years. Still, this year I win. And Mr B agrees (he's a darling man).
Two Christmasses ago, my parents set off on their Christmas Hols (much like Dad is doing next week), to spend Christmas in Australia with my brother and his family. Mr B and I were delighted for them, and looking forward to spending time on our own over Christmas.
Sadly, Mom fell ill and was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer in Australia, and returned to the UK to start palliative chemotherapy on Christmas Eve. It was a Christmas tinged with sadness, although Mom was very brave and we had a beautiful day together. A cherished time. Last year, we invited Dad to stay with us over the Christmas period. It was a poignant time, our first Christmas without Mom. How things had changed.
So, when Dad announced he was going to Australia for Christmas this year, we couldn't have been happier for him, and us. His grandchildren in Australia are adorable, and although we Skype often, they can't wait to have Grand Dad with them for Christmas. They have been so grown-up too, in understanding where Granny has gone. It will be lovely for them. We feel relieved, the pressure is off us. We can have a couple of lazy days, enjoying the time of year and each other, preparing for the New Year.
Except for the in-laws. They are being very demanding about our presence on Christmas Day. I feel sick when I think about it. There is no way that they will be able to fill the gap left by my mother. And after much haranguing by Mr B's sister, I cried. I'm embarrassed, but at least they know how I feel. Hopefully, that will be the end of the matter.
Selfish? Maybe. But when you grieve, you must do it your way. Don't be swayed by what others think is best for you. And this Christmas, it's all about healing us.
SMUG OF SHACKLEFORD
I'm almost afraid to say it, but I'm ready for Christmas! I've bought all the gifts and written all the Christmas cards. I even posted the cards for oversees destinations before the last posting date! I found a supplier in the High Street for all the gift bags and bows, so no wrapping as such, just gorgeous little bags of delight. I have given my wish list to my husband and my father, together with links to the right size, style and colour, and overseen said purchases, so I won't be surprised by things I don't want or need. I haven't been greedy, but I have chosen well, even if I do say so myself.
(I should say at this point that the gift purchases I have made include fourteen(!) small, individual gifts under £10 for each of the staff working with my husband at the hospital and a special gift for each of his secretaries. I'd be happy to tell you what and where from....)
And then there was the dinner party last night. A very pleasant pre-Christmas affair, not a turkey or mince pie in sight. We invited good friends and neighbours who have helped us this year and to top off the evening I brought out my home-made chocolates. I even found time to make a festive table piece with holly and gold ribbon.
The dogs were mostly well-behaved although the big big dog was a bit too friendly and I noticed a lot of dog hair on dark trousers as our guests were leaving. Oh well, some people have children, we have dogs.
Thank goodness it's cool and wet this morning, perfect for tidying up and putting the Noritake away. The dogs seems very tired, content to lie-in as long as necessary. I am watching the man of the house pick up the last of leaves from next-door's oak tree, the dogs are doing their usual supervision of garden tasks. Dad has been organised for the day, the house is clean and quiet. I am a domestic goddess after all. Bliss.
MOVE OVER MOVEMBER, BRING ON CHRISTMAS
Right, that's Movember done, World Aids Day today, it's all downhill to Christmas now.
At the start of this blog, I briefly mentioned how Mom was diagnosed. As we approach the anniversary of us getting that awful news, I'd like to tell you the story. Picture the scene: Britain was facing an unprecedented snowy winter. It started at the end of November and within days the airports were struggling. Mom was very anxious that their flight to Australia would be cancelled, so when she fell down the stairs, we all thought she was being a flopsy bunny. She fell three times, though, but the GP was reluctant to stop her flying, so in spite of the weather and with two black eyes, Mom and Dad set off on their trip to Perth.
Looking back now, I don't know how she did it, but within days of their arrival Mom felt so awful that blood tests were ordered and Mom was admitted to hospital with low sodium. On its own, this is potentially life-threatening, but I had already been warned that this could be a sign of something really nasty. And it turned out to be extensive small cell lung cancer with paraneoplastic symptoms such as the low sodium.
I went into over drive to get Mom and Dad back to the UK. Thankfully, their travel insurance was incredible and a week before Christmas a first class flight was arranged. Sadly, Mom missed spending Christmas with her lovely grand-children in Perth, in the hope that by starting treatment back in England somehow everything would be OK.
Mom had her first chemo treatment on Christmas Eve, so when we woke up on Christmas morning it was with some trepidation. But Mom was OK and we had a lovely day to remember.
So, at the start of advent, it's good to look forward to Christmas and to be thankful for all the good things that happened this year.
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