Best laid plans

I’ve had a lovely few days in the company of dear friends who’d left the sunshine behind, flown across the ocean and generously invited me to share their fun in London last week.  Not wanting them to miss out on a bit of country air, we brought them back here for the weekend and planned a few seasonal entertainments for them.

By some curious coincidence, friends from the opposite, other side of the world happened to be in the city last week too, so I was doubly blessed and had the perfect excuse to linger a little longer than I might have done in Daunts, whilst I waited for them to arrive.

I said goodbye to one set as they went off to enjoy a Danube cruise over the holiday period and then hurried over to meet the others who were already champing at the bit and raring to go out into the bright lights.

Oh my, did we have fun!  With a 23 year old for company, what better place to go than Selfridges new shoe galleries?  Of course, we had to explore Liberty too, which took us into Carnaby Street and beyond.  After a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie (first one for some!), we were tuckered out.  My goodness, I have energetic friends!

Of course, we had to ogle the Fortnum and Mason windows on the way back to our hotel.

Sadly, Thursday dawned cold and wet, so our photography walk was rather more about capturing reflections than we’d intended.  Still, the company (and the chocolate) was good and there were quite a few hidden gems to be found.

I’d not seen the pavement in Plantation Lane with the history of London written into it and must return to take longer and look (and read) more closely.  Much as we all enjoyed the tour though, there was one theme:

Rain.  Until we were returning to our hotel after enjoying tea sitting (wrapped in blankets) on the platform at St Pancras Station, when Kristi looked out of the window and cheered - “SNOW!”

To tell a Californian that snow isn’t altogether good news would simply be spoiling the party.  Fortunately, my hero braved the winter weather on Friday morning and rescued us from the big city, spiriting us away to the peace of the countryside.

Saturday morning dawned white, and of course, we had to go and play

Someone was excited!

Of course, our plans were put on ice.  No “Winters Night” for us, instead an evening of wall to wall “Downton Abbey”.  No Daylesford and lunch at The Plough but a day at home chatting, eating and enjoying each others company, with an occasional venture outdoors to confirm that yes, it was still as cold as it was an hour ago!

But worst of all, there was  no plane home.  Having got everyone back to Heathrow safely and comfortably settled into the Sheraton until it was time to check in, back home we followed Kristi and Diana’s American Airlines flight status.  Half an hour after it was due to depart, we spotted that word “cancelled” appear and both of us groaned, imagining the discomfort and anxiety that was bound to accompany that news.  But somehow, they managed to get themselves onto a flight to Chicago, from where they made their way to LA, arriving just about an hour ago – some 24 hours after they took off from Heathrow.

Today, Mary’s Virgin Atlantic flight suffered the same fate, but sadly, there’s no room for her until the 27th.  There is, however, room for her at the inn…if that’s what we can call our home.  We’ll look forward to an extra one at our Christmas table this year and look forward to her return tomorrow!

At least, that’s the plan…

Progress

Remember Shimelle’s Christmas Manifesto?  I think we’ve been over-achieving in the sparkle department already, with quite a few of our most elegant friends joining us on Sunday to celebrate the start of the season.  Those of us on “the home team” (the Son and Heir was here too) had a great time enjoying the company of our guests whose lively conversation and witty banter made the occasion another one to remember.

So, “Appreciate Sparkle”

I think we can also tick off “Cherish Family and Friends”, don’t you?

We’ve written and posted our cards already, so “Write real Christmas Cards”

The Stuart Singers Christmas Concerts were another huge success this year, in a packed Minchinhampton Church both Friday and Saturday nights.

“Sing Songs”

Not bad, so far then.  What about “Indulge in Sweetness” ?  Hmm, that’s not hard!

We cracked open a couple of bags of sweets we brought home from Boston, intended for the party on Sunday but sadly, forgotten until too late.  Candy Cane Kisses and some odd-flavoured M&Ms like Cherry Cordial and Pretzel just beg to be sampled and of course, our elegant friends brought along some rather elegant gifts

I’m hoping those berries will count towards my five a day?

 

But this year, we’ve been enjoying sweetness of a different sort as well.  On Saturday, we went to watch one of our small friends dance and sing in a delightful version of “Cinderella” in the little hall just up the road.

Then yesterday, it was the turn of her younger sister to be part of her school nativity play.  Having only just started school in September she did so well in her role as the donkey and we agreed, she did “wear a marvellous costume”!

(Full marks to the maker of the camel outfit, too, with that great mask and wonderful humps!)

So, I think we can now also say we've “Indulged in Sweetness”

Brilliant idea

A pity it’s not mine!

Recently, I’ve been discovering all kinds of interesting and attractive “magazines” online and of course, it’s the season for a visual feast of ideas and inspiration.  One of my favourites is “Sweet Paul” magazine and today, I came across this brilliant idea for fun gift tags and immediately wanted to make some for myself.

I opened Picasa where I organise all my photo uploads and used the “people” feature to identify a sweet photograph of each person for whom I have a present this Christmas.  Some of them need more than one tag, of course.  For the children, I found pictures of them as babies and they can have the added challenge of identifying themselves.

Having selected the thumbnail mugshots, I exported them to a folder on my desktop and then printed them onto white card in grayscale directly from Windows because I found that printing through Picasa opened up the whole original photograph and not just the face.  Printing nine to a page meant that they fitted my tag punch perfectly.  I punched a hole in the top of each and they’re ready to go.

Thank you Sweet Paul, for a brilliant idea.  I think they will go down very well.

At home today

Plenty of seasonal activity going on here, with a new face appearing amongst the old favourites.

This little chap joined us in the summer, from a market in Yalta.  We don’t generally buy souvenirs as such, but we thought he’d make a pleasing addition to our Christmas collection and he brought a smile to our faces as we opened up the Christmas box this morning.

The other activity was in the kitchen, where a plate of finger food is required for this evening’s WI meeting.  As a change from mince pies and chocolate truffles, I made gingerbread, which I then cut into house shapes with liquorice chimneys.  Sprinkled with “snow”, they make a bite-size village and yes, of course, they’re twinkling!

Tiffany windows

When we were in Boston, I was captivated by the Christmas windows of Tiffany’s jewellers which were themed on paper snowscenes.  You may recall seeing one of them in a blog entry already.

I’ve much admired the work of Su Blackwell, finding that her creations press all the right buttons for me: precise, imaginative, crisp and clever.  So following a link to her blog today, having googled cut paper decorations, you can imagine my surprise to read today’s entry.

I hope someone at Tiffany’s offers Su an explanation.