general stuff

christmassy snippets

Julie

On the last day of term I sent in my usual teacher christmas presents of peppermint bark

 

Pepbark2

 

we made some cakes for a charity fundraiser, and went a bit mad with the edible glitter

 

Christmascakes

H assembled our Christmas tree (with much cursing at the fact that all the colour coded stickers had dropped off the branches but I think the random branch lengths add to the 'realness')

and the lovely miss Amy decorated it.

 

Christmastree

I smile every time I walk past the tree because it is dotted with my growing collection of treasured handmade decorations from bloggy friends: the beautiful stained glass bird from Kristen, The sweet Christmas angel from Dottycookie and the lovely Miss Ivy Pecker from Jooles.

 

Christmas decorations

 

Anyway, we've had a relatively good Christmas and the day itself was
quite peaceful. As usual the excitement and magic of the festivities
passed Toby by completely but on Christmas morning, for the first time ever, he showed some interest in opening his pressies. It was lovely to see him working out how to get the paper off and being interested in what was inside. Even though it was a fleeting moment it brought a tear to my eye, in a good way – the perfect Christmas present for me.

 

Tobyprssies

I hope your Christmas was a good one and I just wanted to pop in and wish you a very happy New Year.

See you in 2013!

47 thoughts on “christmassy snippets”

  1. I’m so glad Christmas was peaceful for you Julie and that it brought you some joy too!
    Lovely to see some of your Christmas photos as well, we have a colour coded tree and I always leave that to my Hb too. 🙂
    Wishing you and your family a very happy, healthy and peaceful 2013!!!
    V xxx

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  3. When our tree comes down soon it’s going the journey as it’s falling to bits , yours looks lovely . Glad to hear you had a good Christmas and wishing you all a Happy New Year xx

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  13. Happy new year to you Julie, and your family, your blog is wonderfully inspiring, thank you for all that you share, may 2013 be good to you. xxBrenda

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  20. It’s so lovely to hear that Toby did get into the present opening. Those moments can be so few and far between that they seem to have never have been to start with. have you noticed that Toby has been comming up more and more in your post? I think it is an amazing way to keep those sweet, fleeting, moment alive and out of time’s weathering hands so that they will stay fresh and new for all days. Just something to think about as you start the next year and look back on all the happenings that have made up this year.
    Tara Wurster

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  29. Love those snowy cakes – I hope that they made a lot of money!
    Sending you my best wishes for 2013 – your quiet courage continues to inspire so many people including myself – thank you.

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  30. A Very Happy New Year, Julie to you all. Thank you for the lovely Christmas Card. Glad to see that Toby is enjoying himself. Sorry not been about much in blog world as still smitten with Instagram. Hope you had a nice Christmas.

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  31. Well, I’m climbing out of the woods, one oouch at a time. Here’s the stupid thing – I started reading this (because you are on my first tier of Paying Attention) but got sidetracked by the peppermint bark link and never finished. This is just a symptom of my inability to concentrate these last several (months) days. But I looked at it again today and found the marvelous REST of it. I love the tree – and it looks real to me, so the branches worked out wonderfully. And I am deeply joyful that the little bird does his job. But I think the most wonderful thing is the picture of Toby, who looks interested and excited. This small thing, above all others, is the greatest gift, I think. I love being able to share the preciousness of this and this silly, wonderful season and all things with you.

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  32. Wishing you and your lovely family a happy 2013 Julie, may it be filled with joy, health and many many more special moments that bring a happy tear to your eye x
    lovely photos, Miss Ivy looks jolly happy to be with you all!
    love jooles x

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  34. Happy New Year, Julie. Thank you very much for your inspirational blog. So pleased you had a lovely Christmas. ,

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  36. Happy happy New Year, Julie! Been reading your blog for a few years now and it’s one of my favs. I love your little animals. Hope this new year brings you and your family many blessings x

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  41. I found your blog and im in love….really! Congratulations!!!! Love crochet and knitting, and you are such a greta inspiration!!!!!! Have a GREAT 2013, you and your lovely family!!!! I will be here for learning more about knitting (i will try the hand warmers!!!)

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  42. Hi Julie
    Wishing you and your family a very Happy New Year and Bonne Santé as they say here in France.
    In early December, I took part in a workshop to make Christmas sweets and I will definitely recommend the peppermint bark for next year’s, it was such fun, it will surely become an annual event. We made truffles, coconut ice, marzipan shapes and my favourites, Ferrero Rocher. We also made some flavoured with rose water and decorated with real candied violets, a speciality of Toulouse. I love marrons glacés, but would not try with raw chestnuts, having done that once and had wrecked nails and sore fingers for ages, the vacuum packed ones are fine and work very well.
    Like one of your other commentators, I got sidetracked and found the pattern for the Endpaper Mittens, so will probably have a go at those as well as the peppermint bark. It’s all in the colour though, so I’ll copy one of your colour schemes to make sure I get it right.
    Thanks for such a lovely blog. Have a great year. xx

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  43. As a grandma with a grandson on the Autism spectrum I can understand and “feel” your joy.. What a lovely moment. I’m so happy for you.
    Your bunnies are the cutest things ever…. I’d like to order one when you have them up and running again… what little treasures.
    Blessings,
    Spencer

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  44. One can never have too much glitter. Especially if it is edible. 😀 Your tree is lovely and does look real! I like it! Miss Amy did a good job decorating.
    I am finding my favorite ornaments are the handmade ones…. much more meaningful.
    That last photo about did me in. Toby sitting under his quilt with love one one side, love on the other, and love in front capturing it all…….
    Happy New Year my dear friend!
    XX00

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  45. Oh dear, we have the same type of tree and it never occurred to me that the stickers could fall off. I agree with you, though. The random look is charming and we will use it if we have to. I admire your work so much, especially the color choices, and look forward to your posts in 2013.

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  46. So pleased your Christmas was magical , we too have a tree similar and this year we couldn’t find the instructions showing which order to put them on. Happy New year
    Louise

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