So the new year is here! Happy 2018! While Christmas kind of snuck up on me and seemed to be upon me too soon, our holiday in Ireland over Chistmas and New Year gave me a great chance to recharge and make some plans for our home for this year. In making my list of… Continue reading Reviving our Laundry Room with Laura Ashley
Clove-studded oranges and gold-sprayed foliage, red candles and wire ribbon, spiced beef, chocolate coins and The Snowman on the telly. Those are my little Christmassy things. Not memories as such. Not traditions either. More like short scenes or photos in my mind. They are things that immediately bring the Christmases of my childhood to mind.… Continue reading Those Little Christmassy Things
December is usually a hectic month but this year seems to have been an entirely hectic year. December hasn’t been the crazy whirlwind of other years but rather a continuation of the rush, bustle and busy-ness of the previous months. In an effort not to have Christmas arrive upon us with nothing done, no prelude,… Continue reading Christmas, Cocoa and Calming Down
By now you probably know that style-wise I’m a bit old fashioned. The sleek modern look is not one you’ll find in my home. Here and there perhaps as a radio, a phone or a lantern. For the most part though, my style is eclectic with a touch of nostalgia. When it comes to Christmas,… Continue reading Decorative Dried Orange Slices
December is rushing past or, more accurately, I am letting December pass me by in a blur of meetings, appointments and planning sessions, almost all of which are entirely unrelated to Christmas. Advent, as I have mentioned here on this blog often, is a time of year I love. The anticipation, preparation and the weekly… Continue reading The December Rush
Thirteen or fourteen years ago a good friend of mine, my first friend in Germany, gave me a gift of an Advent calender. I still have it. I was about to type that it is a firm favourite among my Christmas decorations but that wouldn’t be true. Advent is not Christmas. Advent is the lead… Continue reading An Alternative Advent Calendar
€100 doesn’t sound like much but it can make a hell of a difference if you spend it wisely. We’ve – ok I’ve – just done up our bedroom for less than that and it is like a different room altogether. Whereas before it was mismatched and dated, it is now bright and airy and,… Continue reading A Master Bedroom Makeover On A Small Budget
I’ve been in denial of the fact that it is November. I was just sitting here making a few mental notes of what’s on the agenda this week and suddenly realised it is not just November, it is mid-November. MID-NOVEMBER! How? Halloween was just the other day. Today is St. Martin’s Day in Germany and… Continue reading Muddling Through (with a giveaway of December Girl)
A few weeks ago I wrote about the possible pitfalls of Center Parcs holidays and how we were preparing for our upcoming Center Parcs stay at Post Zelande in Holland. The tone of the post might have come across to some readers as pessimistic but to me it was a realistic view based on our… Continue reading Staying at Center Parcs Port Zelande, Part 1: Accommodation
All I wanted to do was cook the dinner. That’s all. It shouldn’t have been so hard, should it? I mean I made it out of work and into our village with nine minutes to spare. Just enough time to pop into the shop for milk and meat before walking round to the schoolyard just… Continue reading Making the Dinner
