Cats in the Kitchen, Flora in the Garden

Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
Since we've no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

What a busy start to the week but I am determined to be organised for Christmas so that I am not in a panic in the last few days before, so rushed that I can't sit down and spend time with the children who are both back from London for Christmas. I am endeavouring to have everything under control by 20th December, leaving just the fresh fruit,veg and dairy items to pick up. Now not only do I trail glitter in my wake but also pages of closely written lists fly around my head as I attempt to catch them as they flutter about.

In fact, I think I will go back and put some Christmas lyrics at the start of the post. Oh! That reminds, me I must look out the Christmas cds. I think, I will know when I have checked my list, that I have got all my overseas postings out of the way before the cut off dates. I am on my final batch of twinkling stars and perky birds, which I will decorate my own home with. Yes, I have been playing Miss Daisy squirrel today, when I was doing the grocery shopping, bits of this and that in the trolley, to squirrel away in a dark secret place at home until Christmas.



I have seen this Christmas meme on a few sites, and have been saving it, so today I feel the time is right to answer it.

1.Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot chocolate, but hey its Christmas, I want all the Christmas experience, can I be greedy and choose egg nog too?

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?
Mrs Santa does the wrapping and decorating and the glitterfication of all the presents.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
White lights everywhere, except in the dining room where I have a string of a warm amber colour.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No. Never see any around except at inflated prices in florists. Anyways I like holly, ivy and pine cones better.

5. When do you put up your decorations?
Usually around the 10th December, depends when the house is ready, my system is thoroughly clean the room for Christmas, decorate it then move onto the next, it sort of spreads out the excitement of Christmas decorating. I think over the pond it all starts happening right after Thanksgiving. Am I right?

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
It s got to be turkey and the works, the actual Christmas Dinner, I'm a traditionalist.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child?
Walking to my grandparents house for Christmas dinner knowing there would be another Christmas Stocking waiting for me there. In my memory it always seem to be sunny, cold and crisp.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
What truth? He never told me anything.



9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
No, wouldn't dream of it, like to go to sleep in expectation of the present opening on Christmas Day.

10. What kind of decorations are on your Christmas Tree?
My big tree in the front sitting room is a traditionally decorated tree, all gold, burgandy and pruple ornaments that I have built up over the years. I alos have a blue, turquoise, mauve, pearl and silver tree in the dining room and a small tree full of little wooden ornaments, mainly white in the back sitting room, where the computer is, and this year I am going to have my treasure tree branch where I will put all my assorted ornaments, that I have made, been given or been in swaps for and this tree will symbolise my friends around the world. I think my trees are going to be the same colours this year, but let's wait and see.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread?
Now that depends, if none of us have to be anywhere and we can watch it falling and be snug inside, I love it. I also love snow falling and then maybe just before midnight or the early hours of the morning, the sky clears, the stars emerge and I go down the path into the garden and look in wonder at the virgin snow and the twinkling stars, then return to do the same in the morning and looking for animal and bird tracks in it. Bliss, sitting by candlelight with insence perfuming the room watching snow flakes falling outside the window, drinking a cup of hot chocolate. Pure Bliss, lying in bed, warm and snug watching the snow flakes fall past the bedroom window [remember my casement window from the photographs.]

12. Can you ice skate?
Nope! I could probably stand clinging onto something.



13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
No, but to qualify that, I don't know if I am easily pleased or people have a knack of choosing the right thing for me, but most gifts are favourites. I can remember years where presents stand out. I'll just mention three, the year I got my doll's pram, bottle green and coachbuilt, I thought I was the bee's kness, the year I got my Dansette record player, blue and grey, how cool was I then, amd it came with a copy of Cliff Richard's 'The young ones' [I am red now with embarrassment] and the first proper present my children chose for me and paid for themselves. A lovely pair of silver and turqoise earrings from my favourite craft jewellers, we called them Sweetpea and Little Soldier [my pet name for him when he was young, that will embarrass him if he ever reads this] as they were adamanent they had paid for one earring each. They were always obsessed with sharing exactly, they even used to weigh mars bars if they shared one to make sure they got equal parts. I still have them, in fact I am wearing them today.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Our children being back with us, our family unit complete again for a little while.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
The trifle I make every year for Christmas night, and every year we all say we are a bit too full at the moment, then really late sometimes about one in the morning we descend on it as a midnight snack, and we have more for dinner on Boxing Day.

16 What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Just being together and chilling, if someone falls asleep on the settee late in the afternoon, so what, we just want a lovely chilled out day. Boxing day is sports day for the men, and absolute jammies day for the girls, long lie in, buffet with pick and eat food all day, doing your own thing, listening to new cds, starting or browsing new books, drinking wine etc. I would never dream of being one of these people that shoot off to the Sales for bargains, too much hassle after Christmas Day.

17. What tops your tree?
An angel ,the main tree, or sometimes a star.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
I love making or picking our presents, wrapping them up and giving them to people. I also love receiving, nothing is too small to be appreciated, I truly believe people give what they can and it is the thought that count. Therefore, I love both sides of it.
19. Favourite Christmas Carol?
In the Bleak Midwinter,[which has two tunes, I only like one of them].

20. Three favourite Christmas Hit singles?
Fairytale of New York - the Pogues, Stop the Cavalry - Jona Lewie and Happy Christmas [War is over] - John Lennon

I think I added these last two questions myself, because the meme I saw had only eighteen and I wanted twenty, which is a good number for a meme.

I have opened up another site to run along side this one, called Daisy Lupin Designs, as I have decided, come the new year, to seriously start selling some of the stuff I make. The site will be a showcase for what I can offer for sale at the time. It can be viewed now, although, it is still under construction and needs quite a few tweaks here and there. The thing that is confusing me though is that I have tried to put a link to the new site on the side bar of Cats in the Kitchen etc site, well the link has shown up but it doesn't lead anywhere, does anyone out there know anything about adding links, delving into urls etc is not one of my strong points.

I'm afraid that's all I've got time to write about today, as this is a very busy week for me. don't forget to be thinking about your contributions to the Christmas Story Circle, see below.

Don’t forget to join in Daisy Lupin's
Christmas Story or Memory Posting
Post a Christmas memory, story, even a ghost story
Or poem you would like to share,
More than one if you wish ,
Anytime between 17th and 24th December
Just let me know it is your contribution
I will transfer them to a temporary site
There they will remain for everyone to enjoy
Until the end of January.
Come on lets have a Giant Christmas Story Circle