* Walking in a Winter Wonderland * - It's the 2015 Christmas Chatter Thread

vulpix

P.S love the cutlery holders.

I saw little baby Christmas socks yesterday in the cheapo shops,I thought they would look nice on the tree or with cutlery in.

murie

Free- the decorating looks brill- well done you! You have a new string to your bow now! Those cutlery holders look so cute- you will be a one woman interior designer before you know it with all these new skills! Seriously- well done x


Princesskitty- sorry wiggle is sniffly again but pleased that you managed to have a nice time on your break x I will try my very best to eat a few samples at the Good Food Show just for you! I may wash it down with a liquid sample or two lol! The first time I went there with my sister many moons ago we had a few too many liquid samples and we were singing all the way home when DH came to pick us up! A brilliant time but have always been a little more careful since then!


Whitesatin- as others have said- GO! We cant let these people rule our everyday lives with fear. (Im a fine one to talk as Im nervous about DD coming home on the tube tomorrow but I refuse to let it take over)


Vulpix- Im so happy for you that your back is way better- and what better time to test its stamina than Christmas mooching round the shops! I know when I had my foot done in the summer it hurt like hell and I had heard so many horror stories but Im glad I had it done as I can walk more than a few steps now.


Mrs Ryan- wow that is a good bargain! Who wouldn't be pleased to have a pressie like that?


When they were younger and began to ask questions I always told my kids that Father Christmas is as real as I am in my view. Even now at 19 and 25 they are Christmas 'believers'- particularly DD she is as Christmas crazy as I am.


Right- Im off to wrap animal pressies now (silly fool that I am). I brought them down earlier to wrap and The Hound wont leave them alone, so I had better see to them before her giraffe tongue saves me the bother!

Ruth_honey

The Trisha Ashley meet was really good. It was in the Waterstones cafe/bar and Trisha very kindly bought us all a drink. I think there was 15-20 people there. Most people brought books to get signed. Most of mine are on the kindle, but I had one paperback and another I wanted signed for a friend for Christmas. Got chatting to a few people-Milly Johnson's A Winter Flame came up, so hope you enjoy that. I've got it to read too.

Went to a craft show at the Excel yesterday. So busy there! Nice and festive, though. I bought some Christmas fabric to make a wreath with-will post a pic when I've done it so you see what I need the fabric for.

Bathroom is as finished as it can be for now. The walls aren't dry enough to paint, so he's coming back in a couple of weeks to do that and the ceiling. Then drill holes for all the stuff that needs to go back. Then the flooring can be fitted. But it's ok for now. Just annoying that we can't bring the cupboards in and put all the toiletries back. Having to use a small box of essentials.

I'm sure there was loads more that I wanted to say, but can't remember any of it now! Hope you're all staying warm this chilly weekend. Brrrr!

whitesatin

Just had my daughter and her family round for Sunday lunch, an early one as one of the boys was going to a birthday party this afternoon. It went well and the boys were pleased when they found that the elf on the shelf has appeared already and was guarding a few chocolate coins for them. They were Halloween coins (a bargain from John Lewis last week) which just added to his naughtiness. They told him it's meant to be Christmas, not Halloween.

The boys left with a little hand knitted elf each picked up from a craft fair last week for 50p. They were delighted.

Next time I see them there might be 3 boys! We can't wait. I do hope the baby arrives on its due date, tomorrow.

Crowdpleaser

Hi all. Haven't posted for a bit but read every day!!!

Have had a last push on pressies this afternoon and have ordered all but one of main pressies today from a mix of argo tosco amazona and cex. Am tootling in to town tomorrow to get the stockings finished. Can't wait for it all to be done. Got a couple of weeks until o can wrap it sll tho. It's all currently stored at my workplace!

Kids have written their Mr c lists today.

Me n dd2 went to the range and I picked up a few Xmas Decs.

Am knitting father Xmas bunting at mo. Won't take long. Not sure where I'll hNg it yet tho...

Tree will go up next weekend! Whoop! X

Clumsy42

Does anyone else find the Boots christmas gift guide to be useless this year? Usually they have proper sections for each brand/category so you can see most of the range. This year they've got loads of pages of certain items from different brands mixed up together. Not very helpful for me at all.

Going shopping to a retail park tomorrow. Looking forward to it but I'm not sure how long I'll last. Better be some benches/chairs available! :rotfl:

FeistyFidget

pinknfluffy28 wrote: »

Good Morning All.

I need to rant I'm afraid, so please feel free to pass over my rather selfish post ...

Gutted. Dd2 has been quiet for a few days, and this morning on the journey to school, I found out why. A couple of the boys in her class told her on Monday that Santa isnt real. They explained how parents do it all etc. They are 7 & 8.

We knew it wouldnt be long before dd2 (8) worked it out for herself, but she was absolutely devestated and told me she feels really sad.

I refuse to lie to her, so I told her that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, and suggested that she asks santa (in secret) for just one special gift, something she knows mummy & daddy would never buy for her... I just have to hope now that the item she asks for is the xeno monster she has been ranting on about all year, but that I have point blank refused to get her (its been sat on top of my wardrobe for the last 6 weeks!).

The mummy part of me wants to grab these boys by the collar and shake them, but as I work at the school, its probably not a great idea ;-)
So I have had a word with the teacher and warned her, as some of the kids in that class are still very firm believers. Luckily shes a great teacher, and big fan of Christmas, so she is going to have a class discussion today about the big man, how different religions and different people have different beliefs, but that she certainly still believes in Santa!

Hopefully, between us, we can at least get dd's christmas spirit back, if not restore any kind of belief.

Why cant kids just be allowed to be kids these days? Rant over xx

I personally think that Father Christmas is the embodiment of our Christmas spirit. All the things we do to please others and to make Christmas special for them, the loving gestures and cherished times, that is what Father Christmas is to me and what I shall tell Jr when the time comes I still believe as if I didn't it would mean that I'd be selfish and not have any Christmas spirit at all

kaya1991 wrote: »

Pinknfluffy - I'm sorry to hear that My mum is a teacher and her class (year 1, so 5 and 6-year-olds) are currently doing the same thing. quidsy is exactly right - why take your chances? It's great being 24 and old and wise enough to know he's real - I bet those children will feel very silly for doubting the big man in a few years.

Cherry24 - A Boy Called Christmas just arrived for me the other day too - isn't it gorgeous?! Spookily enough, the topic of my blog post tonight is cosy books for Christmas, and I included that book! His others are well worth a read too.

I THINK I'm done with my Christmas shopping! I think if anything, I've gone a little bit overboard and might end up stashing things away for birthdays, whoops. But the next fun bit is the wrapping (I wish I could have a job as a present wrapper), and after that it's the big Christmas food shop! I'm off to Gunwharf Quays at the weekend with my mum, so we're going to write the food list on the train. On Sunday I'm going to a Scandinavian Christmas market in London - SO EXCITED!

I hope you had a wonderful Chistmassy weekend?

freespirit66 wrote: »

Hopefully this will work, otherwise i give up i am such a technophobe and cant understand how something that works suddenly doesnt:D i feel so much lighter this morning seeing the wall and i know it sounds ridiculous but i feel very proud of myself and DD1, but its really thanks to you lovely peeps who encouraged me to give it a go and realise that i can be strong. Right i must get on, need to offload 8 bags to a charity shop today, another thing i absolutely hate doing :rotfl:EDIT oh dear it looks awful there but now its dried out it is superb


04624181 thank god for people like your mum who work hard and help make people who are in hospital comfortable, especially on christmas day! Good for you being proud of her, its people like her that make this world go round!

FUNNYBUNNY oh i would love a nice little job like that, good luck with it

PINKSTEPS ooh well done my lovely, you deserve to sit back and relax and enjoy the christmassyness now! I hope you hear from your builder soon and get the work done quickly!

LINZ that is on my bucket list to watch a baby being born, i totally missed Thumper as he came too quick
I hope they can sort your little one out its horrible watching them suffer when they are so little. I am beginning to think about the big clean as well, seen as i will be buying the tree after next week!

ALLIE mmm let us all know how the baileys went please, oh i have seen the busy b planner, how are you liking it?

Free huge well done to you, it looks amazing!

princesskitty29 wrote: »

Hi all! :wave: Just got back from Center Parcs yesterday, I haven't caught up at all yet, just checking in and then i'll go back and have a read when I can. We had a lovely week, it rained most of the time but it didn't matter too much. DH took Wiggle to a sensory class one morning so I managed to sneak in a little spa visit as only one parent could go to the class. Apparently he was the only dad there and all the mums were saying how amazing he was that he took Wiggle to the class whilst I went to the spa - his ego was huge by the time he got home! There were fairy lights everywhere and the little Winter Wonderland bit was very festive, lots of Christmas trees, snowmen and real reindeer! They also had some singing reindeer that Wiggle loved dancing in front of, it was so cute. I loved waking up amongst all the trees, I think it's good for the soul.

Whilst I was gone I had a few parcels delivered; a mini Henry hoover for cleaning computer screens for DH's stocking, an erasable pen for FiL who loves doing crosswords in the newspaper and it works on that as well, and Wiggle's play kitchen. Amazingly we found that in our meter cupboard, obviously it was flatpacked and they somehow managed to squeeze it in! I'd like to get him some toy food, if anyone has any good suggestions please let me know.

Anyway now we're back from holiday I must really get on with my Christmas planning, I would like to finish the shopping ASAP and get prepared for my North Pole Breakfast!

I'm so glad you had a lovely time

freespirit66 wrote: »

Afternoon everyone, just quickly popping on will read back later, i am watching a christmas film :rotfl:but just wanted to say i have finished my cutlery holders and thought you might like a peek, dont look too closely at the sewing lol, its a pity you cant really see how glittery the felt is, but im sure they will serve their purpose and hopefully last more than one christmas

Another big well done for the cutlery holders free!

vulpix wrote: »

Free,thank you for asking about my op.It went really well,I am cured.I was amazed at how quickly I felt better.I was expecting to be ill for a long time but I feel fantastic.I walked round shops yesterday for 2 hours without a twinge,previously I would have been rushing to sit down after sit down.I have got a lot of metalwork in my back and lots of fused vertebrae which feels odd,but I expect my brain will stop registering it in time.

Get yourself to the Drs girl,I put up with it for years because Everyone I met with a bad back complained more than me so I assumed I wouldn't be taken seriously.I shouldv'e done it years ago.

Vx

Vulpix, that is awesome that you are healing so quickly!

We are currently rushing around trying to order the last few items ready for moving day Saturday! Our bathroom and kitchen are 95% finished and looking fab! I'll post pictures once we've moved in properly We've pretty much run out of cash (despite the amazing generosity of the in-laws) so there will be a lot of unfinished jobs, I'm a perfectionist so really hope that they don't bring my stress levels out too much. It's hard going from a new build that was perfect, to an older home.

We managed to get two more gifts in the nectar double up on Friday. It was really stressful as we had originally planned to get for two boys and generally they are VERY hard to buy for. Usually whatever is bought isn't appreciated or right so I'm always loathe to spend actual money on them IYSWIM. After DH was on the verge of throttling me (4th time looking at the toy aisles) I decided that they could just have a £10 love to shop voucher each. I initially decided against vouchers as it always seems like no thought has gone into it, but seeing as whatever we get is usually wrong, at least they can either buy what they want or put it towards a bigger purchase. I used the vouchers to buy for my sister and her GF instead, they each have some lovely slippers and fluffy socks

Still no wrapping done here, I did attempt it the other day but we have no room until we are moved and it was just making me grumpy!

freespirit66

Evening everyone, nothing christmassy today but have decluttered 6 bin bags and odds and sods from DD1s room to the tip, she is a terrible hoarder the complete opposite of me, i cant even go in her bedroom sometimes :oand DD2s OH fitted my new to me chandelier in my bedroom because i snapped the other one from cleaning it, and DD1 found a near identical one on facebay so old one went straight to the tip, so all in all i have got rid of lots of stuff this week and got a few jobs round the house sorted, quite a good week then!!!

MRSINVISIBLE havent heard from you since your York trip, i hope everything is ok my lovely!

MRSRYAN ooh fab bargain with the coffee machine and a lovely present at that!!

PRINCESSKITTY oh poor wiggle but glad his ear infection has cleared up, hope his cold goes very soon! Haha that made me laugh my stuff inspiring someone :rotfl:it reminded me of when the kids were little, DD1 had a fancy dress party and i made her an outfit as a mermaid with beautiful irridescent purple material and voile, it was absolutely just cobbled together as i really am no good at sewing i just try to make it look the best i can with the skills ive got, anyway a couple of weeks later her friends mum turned up at the door with some trousers asking me if i could take them up and make a fancy dress outfit for her DS :eek:
:eek: :rotfl::rotfl:i had to explain that it really was just made to last that day and that i had no idea what i was doing, i dont think she believed me and thought i was just making excuses it still tickles me to this day! I think your DH sounds wonderful and christmassy and it made me smile, kids really do bring out the best in us adults and make everything seem magical !!

MRSMONEYPENNY it was frosty here DS had to scrape his windscreen before he went to work!

VULPIX that is wonderful to hear, i am so glad it has worked for you, and to walk around for 2 hours wow, that is a great achievement, and for recovery to be much better than you predicted just aces it!!

MURIE haha that made me giggle :rotfl:you arent a silly fool i am wrapping our dogs presents in some doggy wrapping paper i got from Battersea Dogs Home charity letter

RUTHHONEY oh im so glad you enjoyed it, how lovely of her to buy everyone a drink! She always seems a lovely person on twitter, its nice when they really are in RL. Glad your bathroom is nearly finished, it will be lovely having a christmas soak in your new bath look forward to seeing your wreath

WHITESATIN hope you have some good news soon

CROWDPLEASER ooh your knitted bunting sounds interesting can we see a pic please?

CLUMSY arggh dont you just hate shopping centres/malls with not enough benches!! Yes the boots catalogue was bitty this year i agree

FEISTY glad that the move is all going to plan, its an expensive time of year anyway without the added expense of moving into a home that needs a lot of doing up!

mandco

Freespirit love the cutlery holders I'm sure they'll be a big hit
princesskitty glad you enjoyed your break it sounds lovely. glad wiggle is on the mend despite the cold
vulpix glad to hear your surgery was a sucess
fiesty try not to stress over the small stuff it'll come together eventually and once bubs arrives you'll be too busy to notice
whitesatin sounds like you had a lovely day you must be so excited waiting for the baby to arrive

well I def have a xmas nut in the making taz spent the day wearing xmas clothes watching xmas cartoons

2 things I preordered have arrived and picked up a lego dimension expansion pk using nectar double up so that's a couple more off my list.

had a fall off the chair in shock moment today as ds ask if I would buy him some books for xmas :eek: coming from the kids who previously tried everything he could to avoid reading was def a suprise but a good one. Just need to find some that will keep him interested maybe a series that can be added to?

still need to find a xmas dvd for the xmas eve hamper as haven't really seen anything new yet this yr

might put the tree up next weekend as taz keeps asking when we can do it and its only a couple of days early. anyone else putting theirs up then? its coming round fast now

been looking for an art therapy/adult colouring books for dd and saw harry potter one in sains thought I mention it as I know a couple of you like HP

tc all

Ruth_honey

freespirit66 wrote: »

Evening everyone, nothing christmassy today but have decluttered 6 bin bags and odds and sods from DD1s room to the tip, she is a terrible hoarder the complete opposite of me, i cant even go in her bedroom sometimes :oand DD2s OH fitted my new to me chandelier in my bedroom because i snapped the other one from cleaning it, and DD1 found a near identical one on facebay so old one went straight to the tip, so all in all i have got rid of lots of stuff this week and got a few jobs round the house sorted, quite a good week then!!!

MRSINVISIBLE havent heard from you since your York trip, i hope everything is ok my lovely!

MRSRYAN ooh fab bargain with the coffee machine and a lovely present at that!!

PRINCESSKITTY oh poor wiggle but glad his ear infection has cleared up, hope his cold goes very soon! Haha that made me laugh my stuff inspiring someone :rotfl:it reminded me of when the kids were little, DD1 had a fancy dress party and i made her an outfit as a mermaid with beautiful irridescent purple material and voile, it was absolutely just cobbled together as i really am no good at sewing i just try to make it look the best i can with the skills ive got, anyway a couple of weeks later her friends mum turned up at the door with some trousers asking me if i could take them up and make a fancy dress outfit for her DS :eek:
:eek: :rotfl::rotfl:i had to explain that it really was just made to last that day and that i had no idea what i was doing, i dont think she believed me and thought i was just making excuses it still tickles me to this day! I think your DH sounds wonderful and christmassy and it made me smile, kids really do bring out the best in us adults and make everything seem magical !!

MRSMONEYPENNY it was frosty here DS had to scrape his windscreen before he went to work!

VULPIX that is wonderful to hear, i am so glad it has worked for you, and to walk around for 2 hours wow, that is a great achievement, and for recovery to be much better than you predicted just aces it!!

MURIE haha that made me giggle :rotfl:you arent a silly fool i am wrapping our dogs presents in some doggy wrapping paper i got from Battersea Dogs Home charity letter

RUTHHONEY oh im so glad you enjoyed it, how lovely of her to buy everyone a drink! She always seems a lovely person on twitter, its nice when they really are in RL. Glad your bathroom is nearly finished, it will be lovely having a christmas soak in your new bath look forward to seeing your wreath

WHITESATIN hope you have some good news soon

CROWDPLEASER ooh your knitted bunting sounds interesting can we see a pic please?

CLUMSY arggh dont you just hate shopping centres/malls with not enough benches!! Yes the boots catalogue was bitty this year i agree

FEISTY glad that the move is all going to plan, its an expensive time of year anyway without the added expense of moving into a home that needs a lot of doing up!

Oh, she was so lovely. All the authors I've met this year have been. Trouble is, if I've not read any of their books, they're so nice that I want to read everything they've written! Vanessa Greene is really nice, then she told me that she also writes as Abby Clements. I've read Abby's books, but now I have to read Vannessa's!

I've got a 7th Heaven mocha face mask waiting for me when the bathroom is complete. Will have a very long soak with festive music and a good book. Can't wait...

Would love to see the knitted Christmas bunting too. I've just finished a crochet cowl for a friend. It took me several (ok, many!) attempts to do the first row, but I had help and eventually got there. I hope she likes it. I like your Santa cutlery holders, Freespirit. Very cute!