Monday 1 December 2008

Sunday round-upDecember 1 tomorrow! Do you have an advent calendar? I love them — though now the kids are older, we've tended to go without these last couple of years. However, I bought this rather arty-farty one in New York, and I won't open it this year but will save it for next year when Mack can open all the little doors.
See the dog-walkers? You really do see them in NY — here's a pic I took at Central Park in April. A dog-walkers' convention!
We always had an advent calendar at Christmas when we were kids. It was such a big part of the Christmas build-up. I just love them — the naffer and more glittery and sentimental the better.
:: It's cool at last — we even had more rain. Breathe a sigh of relief. We've stopped needing a fan in the bedroom at night, and we may even consider a second blanket on the bed. The picture above was the view from our bedroom window this arvo — it's been a misty moisty day all day. God, that's a dull pic.
:: I'm getting in holiday mode thinking of all the guests we're going to have here over Christmas. Dace and Halina and Max arrive from Tokyo on the 22nd or 23rd, around the same time Lily arrives home from college with two of her closest mates from Perth. Grace has been living in Chile this year, putting the immersion theory of learning a second language into practice. Pelham has been studying at the University of Illinois. They've both been here before, so it'll be fun to see them again. I think Nick is coming down for some of the pre-Christmas excitement as well.
There'll be bodies everywhere, and I'm on the scrounge for spare mattresses and air-beds. This afternoon I checked out how much bedding I have and washed, patched and mended Will's old quilt, which was getting a bit tatty.
I made it for him about eight years ago, I think, with help from Laura in the planning, basting, binding and colours — Will wanted a quilt in Dockers colours. Love Freo, but those colours are a challenge ...
:: Will's been bringing home some of his artwork from college. This is a little carving he made, working with dried-out clay.I'm looking forward to a whole lot more of these.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Spectacular artwork!

Did you just pop an applique something across the little hole in the quilt?

pinkfairygran said...

Love the arty-farty advent calendar. I always had them as a child, and when my own sons were small we had them but I was always more eager to open mine than they were theirs. I had a Swiss friend who made a beautiful one each year for her daughter... well, she used the same fabric calender, but in each pocket there was always a little something, a little chocolate, something for the dolls house, a badge, a fancy eraser, that kind of thing. She spent hours looking for the ideal presents for the pockets - this is the same mad, wonderful friend who sent me a box of fifty small gifts on my fiftieth birthday.. can you imagine the joy and fun of opening all those, even as a fifty year old!
These days she and I exchange small advent calendars most years, taking it in turns, and this year I have one which has a chocolate behind the door!
Happy advent!