Happy Birthday Ruby Violet!

Well, I can hardly believe it, but little Ruby is two years old today.  This afternoon, we will be going to a little birthday tea.  It will be very interesting to see how Eli feels, seeing his sister with another pile of presents, only four days after Christmas!!

Well, here we are, almost at the end of another year.  Do you have any special celebrations planned for New Years Eve?  The family who  are over from France will be attending a party at a friend's house, and will be staying overnight.  Me? I will be relaxing with hubby and watching the fireworks display from London on the television.  At midnight, I will raise a glass to you all and wish you a very happy, healthy and peaceful new year.  Let's hope that 2012 will be a good one for all of us.

See you all again in the new year.  Take care until then my friends.

Wordless Wednesday (Snapshot of Christmas in Devon)

From Me To You....

May I wish all my dear bloggy friends a Very Happy Christmas from my home to yours.

I hope you will all have a day filled with blessings and love.

Thank you ALL for your friendship during this past year.

May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,
The gladness of Christmas give you hope,
The warmth of Christmas grant you love.
~Author Unknown.

Peace Amongst The Hustle & Bustle!

Well. I spent a lovely couple of hours yesterday morning, as my daughter (who lives in France) and I went to a lovely little town near here, and had a lovely browse around the shops, with their windows all decorated for Christmas. There were just the two of us, as Eleanor decided that she would rather stay in bed!

We came upon a lovely little olde worlde tea shop, where we enjoyed a frangipani mince pie with a pot of peppermint tea. It was wonderful sitting there amongst all the beautiful old china and watching the world rush by outside the window.

Only THREE sleeps to go!

I hope you will forgive me if I am not commenting on your posts quite so much at the moment, but I do send hugs to you all, and thank you again for all your friendship during the past year.


There's more, much more to Christmas
Than candle-light and cheer;
It's the spirit of sweet friendship
That brightens all the year;
It's thoughtfulness and kindness,
It's hope reborn again,
For peace, for understanding
And for goodwill to men!



Wordless Wednesday (Excuse the quality of the Photos!)



Sunday Snaps!

Hallo little peeps! Hope your weekend is going well.  Emma, Eleanor & Alfred arrived on Friday evening, much later than expected, after a pretty awful journey over from France.  Accident, road closures and the usual very heavy Friday traffic.  But the main thing is, they are here safe and sound (thank you Lord!) and they won't be returning until the 2nd January.

I have something a little different for you this week, because I was lucky to receive a lovely giveaway from my good friend Jenny over at knees and paws and this is what I received! Two pairs of gorgeous arm warmers, and the good news is that the material is SO soft that I can wear them without irritation to my skin (yay!).

The first pair are very Christmassy looking, don't you think?! They are really cute, as they have a little hole for your thumb as well.  Thank you Jenny! I am really pleased with them.

Jenny writes beautiful posts and her latest one (as at the time of writing) is entitled "Emotional Holidays" and I love the sentence where she says that "In the darkest night, if you look hard enough, somewhere there is a pinpoint of light."

My third photo today is of a lovely water colour of Venice.  I love Italy and, in particular, Venice ,and another dear bloggy friend, Eva-Marie from Eva Ason's Art Corner is a very gifted artist.  She works full time, but then comes home and paints to relax.  Her regular Followers will know just how many paintings  she can achieve in a week.  How I wish I had a talent like hers. 

Anyway, in one of her posts, I saw this painting of Venice, and I decided to buy it for myself as an early Christmas present! I just love it, and it has pride of place in my hallway.

Eva-Marie's partner, Paul F Xavier composes and performs his own music, and I actually have one of his CD's, entitled A Different View, and it is just so relaxing to listen to it.  Theirs is obviously a very talented household!

I can hardly believe it, but this time next week, it will be CHRISTMAS DAY!  I will just leave you with another festive picture to get you in the mood!  Don't forget, keep calm, and don't get your tinsel in a tangle!



No More "Bah Humbug" from Bouncin'Barb!

Hallo all my little bloggy friends. You might (or might not!) have noticed that I am not posting quite so much at the moment. Like all of us at this time of the year, there are things to be done and places to go to. I am now all prepared, apart from the last minute fruit and veg shopping, so that's a good feeling, and I think I will probably go to the local farm shops, rather than put myself through the crush of people at the Supermarket.

Most of my Followers know Bouncin'Barb,  and she has been kidding us this year with a "Bah Humbug" approach to Christmas. Her little tree has been up, but it's been standing there feeling all bare, neglected and sorry for itself. Anyway, yesterday, the decorations were hung on its branches, and the twinkling lights were switched on. Bravo BB! Do go over and say hallo. I know she would make you feel very welcome.

Getting super excited as I type this, because I only have to wait a few more hours before I see my daughter, granddaughter and little Alfred, their French Bulldog.

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace."
- Religious saying by Agnes M. Pharo.

"Christmas day is a day of joy and charity. May God make you very rich in both".
- Phillips Brooks.

I thought I would give you some old-fashioned Christmas images today. These are the sort of cards that were around when I was a little girl.

Images courtesy of Pinterest

Look after yourselves my dear friends.

Some more Christmas Cheer...

Image courtesy of Pinterest

He who has not Christmas in his heart, will never find it under a tree.  Roy L.Smith.

Christmas, my child, is love in action.  Every time we love, every time we give,
it's Christmas.  Dale Evans.

Every gift which is given, even though it be small, is in reality great,
if it is given with affection.  Pindar.

Your children need your presence more than your presents.  Jesse Jackson.

Christmas is full of shiny things
That sparkle gleam and glow;
These Holiday pleasures dazzle us,
And yet deep down we know...
That Christmas has its special gifts,
... But our year round joy depends
On the cherished people in our lives,
Our family and our friends...

The lovely Natasha over at 5 Minutes Just For Me absolutely loves Christmas and even though it will be hot where she lives in Australia, she does the full works, and decorates her house beautifully.  It would be worthwhile popping across to look at her gorgeous pictures. Anyway, she gave me the idea of just putting baubles onto cake stands, and it looked so effective that I thought I would give it a go! See what you think.

I just love having twinkling fairy lights everywhere!

I'm starting to get excited now, because Emma, Eleanor and Alfred are arriving from France this coming Friday.  I know that 'Aunty Em' is looking forward to taking  Eli to see Father Christmas!



Take care.

The following lyrics are an excerpt from "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year."

There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago

It's the most wonderful time of the year
There'll be much mistltoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When love ones are near
It's the most wonderful time of the year