…some of my Paperwhites are on the kitchen table and growing nicely, snug in their mossy basket. I’m looking forward to opening the door in the mornings to their heady scent…
…I have the bluest of blue hyacinths on the kitchen windowsill…
…and the first of this year’s shop-bought tulips…
…elsewhere in the house, I have been making a little something to protect my Christmas present…
…the clue is in the fabric…
…just a simple envelope with the now obligatory buttonhole!
My Christmas tree and other decorations came down today and what with the rain and dreary skies outside, it had the potential to leave the house feeling dull and uninspiring.
%5B2%5D.jpg "Amaryllis Red Lion macro (2)")
Fortunately though, in my conservatory I have a very welcome splash of colour in the form of the amaryllis I planted in October.
Only two of the four Red Lion bulbs that I planted early specifically for Christmas actually flowered in time. The other two are yet to come, but I have been enjoying the colour nevertheless, particularly as seen through my macro lens.
I think this is my favourite of the five varieties I planted. It is Temptation and I am just loving these dramatic flowers. It is huge and needs to be propped up against the window to stop it toppling over.
This is Apple Blossom and in spite of being planted three weeks later than Red Lion, it flowered for Christmas and is still going strong with another stem ready to take over when this one has finished.
%5B2%5D.jpg "Amaryllis Apple Blossom (4)")
The other interloper to the festive flowering was Pink Passion. It is absolutely huge and has eight flowers on it making it incredibly top-heavy.
Finally, this is Fairytale and is going to be the last to flower. It has the smallest of the flowers of them all but it is very tall.
You can find more Splash of Colour posts here.
… to say that we are now virus free and the hoards have left the building!
It’s been busy, fun and exhausting and I am grateful for this:
I’m trying to summon the energy to compose a Splash of Colour post for tomorrow.
I don’t feel very well. My throat is sore and so is my head.
No2 has been to see the doctor and she thinks he may have glandular fever. It would explain quite a lot as he’s been ill for over two weeks now.
I’m going to bed. N’night.
My shopping arrived at 1am, on the dot. I felt so sorry for the driver – he must have had a horrendous day but he was still smiling as delivered my shopping! No2 and I carried it into the kitchen, put the fridge and freezer stuff away and left the rest until this morning!
In case you are interested, I did the ironing, made the tiramisu (I must post this recipe one day. It was given to me by an Italian lady who lived next door to my friend when she lived in Warwick. It is heavy on grappa, but oh, so good), wrapped a few presents and did some hand-quilting to while away the hours!
%5B2%5D.jpg "Christmas tree lights bokeh (2)")
My Christmas tree is now in the living room and I spent a leisurely afternoon decorating it after clearing the car and drive of 8 inches of snow. That’s a lot of snow for London.
At last, I have some twinkle.
When my parents moved house they gave me a couple of boxes of old books that belonged to my uncle’s father. I decided to use them to decorate my fireplace. I had put a couple on the mantle a couple of weeks ago and so added some more to the hearth.
Some of the titles are quite intriguing. I think I might read them and better myself.
I am enjoying sitting here by candlelight, listening to my latest teenage tendency that has been on repeat for some time now.
I have lit my orange and clove candles and the room is filled with a Christmas aroma. Just wish I’d made some more mince pies… perhaps tomorrow.
At last! It feels as though I have actually done something productive for Christmas.
My cards have been made…
From the scrap basket…
%5B2%5D.jpg "Christmas ornament card (2)")
Inspired from here…
We had snow. A lot of snow. In a very short space of time.
My plans for a weekend of carefully planned festive preparation are verging on disaster! I have felt very pleased with myself by organising my Christmas food shop to be delivered tonight… but I have just had a call to say they are running THREE HOURS late and they should be here before 1am. 1am!!!
My Christmas tree is currently snowed in the garage instead of making the living room twinkly.
Perhaps tomorrow, I can plead with No2 to help me clear a path so I can bring it in then… but to be fair, he is feeling very under the weather and has been for almost 2 weeks now.
So now I've got three hours to kill. I could do my ironing or wrap some presents or do some embroidery or make a tiramisu or some mince pies for the freezer…
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more sparkly…
…last night I helped my niece, Jasmine, bake some cupcakes for her Brownie hostess badge.
She pays no heed to the less is more school of thought!
