Decorating every corner for Christmas

I love to decorate our study for Christmas. This is the room where I teach piano, and so it's nice to decorate for the sake of my students, but it's also the room with the lovely old sideboard and clock that belonged to Steve's grandparents, and it's a dark and cosy room. This year I've gone a bit over the top with old silver, china, urns, bells, baubles, pinecones  and fake pine branches 

(that have conveniently fallen off our ancient Christmas tree over the years). 

This is how the room was when I finished with it on Monday. 

Since then I've added and made a little more :-) perhaps to be seen in a later post.

Back into the Piano Studio

Since Saturday I've started to feel more normal.

It's almost 3 weeks now since my surgery

and although I'm still a little tired and dizzy,

I'm well enough to ease back into things, including piano teaching.

Come into my piano studio. 

 This is by far the darkest room of our house,

so I've tried to give it a cosy feel with warm walls (Dulux Puppy)

to help the dark furniture blend in.

This is where I spend time each week teaching my 10 or so students.

I bought the piano just before we got married, in time to move into the house

before the wedding. I think I bought it before we owned any furniture (first things first).

(Actually, I'd recommend that order to anyone, 

it's much easier to fit the rest of the furniture around a piano 

than to fit a piano into a house later, pianos are picky about where they like to be.)

 This is some of our sheet music, surrounded by more instruments, music and teaching aids.

My harp normally sits here, too.

By the piano is a watercolour by my mother-in-law,

painted from a newspaper photo of Yehudi Menuhin's hands and violin.

Over the piano are three favourite old songs.

Two of these belonged to my Nanna, and my great-aunt.

This room is really known to us as "the study", not "the piano studio".

Over the other side of the room is the less-pretty section  

- desk, computer, more instruments, an old wardrobe, and files section.  

It's a busy room with a lot going on in here each day.

A fair amount of juggling objects goes on -

Steve even does his morning workouts in here (somehow).

It's warm today, up to 25deg. I've opened up the window to let in some fresh air.

I'm looking forward to teaching again this afternoon, it's been a long time since Term 1.

I'm thrilled that my most advanced student did brilliantly in a recent significant exam,

and am looking forward to catching up with my students in the coming fortnight.

And now, I'll be able to hear naturally!  

(No more avoiding those high notes that the hearing aid just didn't cope with.)

But before then, I'll be resting up a bit to save my strength ;-)

Christmas Kitchen Dresser

 Earlier in the year I bought some chalk paints,

with great hopes of making over our kitchen dresser,

and my craft hutch.

A few months back I finally painted the dresser

and am so happy with it.

I've been looking forward to December

when I could decorate it for Christmas, 

and here it is.

These Grindley jugs love their new space,

I left them up for Christmas but added greenery and twinkle lights.

On the next shelf I made a little forest scene.

(Although I don't ever want to see 

a deer that is bigger than a house!)

A jar of snow and cinnamon

and this little girl with her lantern

also look better on their new white backdrop.

And in case you're interested,

here's what the dresser used to look like:

and here it is now:

Remind me to show you my craft hutch, too!

One Small Thing: more decluttering

Laura has been doing so well

with her school attendance,

and was at school every day for a week,

(half-days, that is)

until this morning when she was sick

after feeling funny all night.

So she has had a day on the sofa

watching movies

and I have been most productive.

My one small thing 

turning into hours of decluttering!

I started in the craft room 

with the aim of sorting just one shelf,

through old craft magazines 

and project ideas.

After I'd culled some

I put the rest into into folders with pretty labels.

With some space gained I included some things 

previously stored in the study.

And that led to tidying the study!

More sorting through folders and papers

and rearranging sheetmusic.

Look at all that space!!

Which meant that I had room at last

to play some harp just now.

I think the reason I haven't been playing much harp

is that I've been sitting right in the corner on the piano stool,

feeling cramped.

Now I can spread out and enjoy.

Much better!

*

Laura hasn't been sick again

and might start eating soon, btw

*

I was just about to say (for those of you 

kind enough to be concerned) that we are 

still unaffected by fire.

But just now I have heard sirens and have discovered

that there is an out of control fire

 a few minutes' drive away.

(Update 15mins later: 

now that fire's not even listed on the RFS website,

must be under control already!

Yey for firefighters!)

Elsewhere, many fires continue to burn, all over the state.

Praying for rain.

Lightening up

For a long time 

we had at the back door 

a speaker and a boot cupboard.

The boot cupboard made for good storage

of gumboots and thongs,

and I had handpainted and stenciled it,

but it made getting out the back door 

with a load of washing tricky,

and I never like the look of 

two pieces of furniture 

right up next to each other, especially when 

both have knick-knacks and lamps on them!

So a few weeks ago I decided

that enough was enough,

and I moved the boot cupboard to the verandah,

and lightened up on the accessories.

Aaaahhhh...  much better.

Cosy

We've had a cold and rainy week,

with all of us a bit sick here and there.

So I've really been appreciating cosy times

... with the heater on

lamps glowing

soft comfy furniture

and the surroundings of home,

and some Doris Day.

This was on Sunday afternoon,

Steve was out, and we three girls

watched By the Light of the Silvery Moon

as the sun went down,

very cosy.

Satisfaction

A few hours together

at last to call my own ...

and the satisfaction of getting

my craft room tidy again.

Lovely with the winter sun

shining in ...

In the backyard

We had plans to go out today,

but instead opted for an afternoon in the garden.

Why not enjoy it, after all our hard work lately?

A picnic afternoon tea,

some games, boules, an obstacle course ...

and when Steve suggested going to the corner shop

for an iceblock, the girls were out of there in a hurry.

Leaving me in the quiet garden.

Here you can see the fence which will soon be replaced:

Over the last weeks we (mostly Steve)

have cleared this whole fenceline of 20 years of 

lovely green vines -

jasmine, bouganvillea and more,

and plenty of agapanthus below.

It looks ugly and barren now,

but has potential, at least!

Sunny Saturday

A beautiful Spring morning.

A tidy living room.

After my big Stampin' Up! night here last night

Sunshine streaming in.

 

Colourful freesias from a friend.

Saturday.

Life is good.