Birds on my Christmas Tree

Birds seem to love our Christmas tree, lately.

Quite a few have come to roost 

the last three Christmases.

Last night, two more beautiful birds flew in 

and perched on branches among the baubles.

With their beautiful long tails

they are quite splendid

- gifts from two lovely sisters,

piano students of mine.

I'm not sure I can bear to pack them away, 

come January?

Summer sights and sounds

Brilliant sunshine.

Cicadas.

(more cicada song and sightings this year

than I remember, ever?)

Lazy day.

Christmas holidays have begun.

More on cicadas

from wikipedia:

Some cicadas produce sounds up to 120 dB, among the 

loudest of all insect-produced sounds. This is notable because the song 

is loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in humans 

should the cicada sing just outside the listener's ear.

And I would believe it!

Last week of term

Yesterday I ...

went Christmas shopping twice,

fiddled with my camera

to show only the red on our Christmas tree,

watched in horror as my

need-to-be-wet-and-cold girl

bought a kit containg 500 water bombs;

but then later enjoyed the colours

spread out on the sofa;

cooked up a delicious 

pumpkin and caramelized onion flan for dinner

and baked gluten-free gingerbread.

iced with a thin coat of royal icing,

and left overnight to soften a little,

I declare them a success!

* * *

It hasn't been the three days I anticipated

for the end of term,

only one girl at school one day out of three

(proper school lessons are not happening,

but Laura had originally planned to go anyway)

- there have been dramas and hard times 

... but I'm glad I took these photos

to remind me that it wasn't all bad, 

and some of it was very good!

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!

Advent Sunday

I am trying to have our Advent readings

each Sunday night in December.

The Advent candles 

normally sit on the dining table,

but found a new home during

Emily's party.

Time to pick some more rosemary, too ...

* * *

The suitcases I collected in 2011.

Two from a market in the Blue Mountains;

one from the op shop;

and, best of all,

the second one down

belonged to my grandfather,

whom I never knew.

His initials are stamped on it.

* * *

Does your family do Advent readings?

And now ... back to Christmas

And now, viewers, we return to our regular program ...

I've finished teaching for the year,

Emily's party is over,

School is almost out,

and now at last I can concentrate on Christmas!!

Murder, 1950s style

  

A murder took place here last night!

(But thankfully not a real one)

Emily, aka Miss Florida,

dressed in a stunning 1950s polkadot halter-neck dress

celebrated her 16th birthday in style

with her closest friends

in a 1950s diner during a beauty pageant.

and with Christmas in the background, to boot!

Laura played a valuable role as

assistant photographer,

announcer, and general gopher.

We cooked up hamburgers and fries,

and the girls made their own icecream sundaes for dessert.

A good night was had by all,

even by me after the first few hours ...

and I'm pleased to announce that all the girls

went home alive.

Emily bought her dress and petticoat on ebay

and the murder mystery here.