2013 in 2013 Update

As I undertook this challenge six months ago I didn't realise the amount of stress all the clutter in my house caused me. Clearing out and getting rid of things has been liberating. I feel lighter and life seems easier. Having less stuff means I have less to keep tidy and an easier house to clean. It has also revolutionised the way I think about stuff. I feel as if I have been freed from my possessions. They no longer have such a hold over me. I want less around me which means I ultimately need less also. This way of thinking stops me from buying useless things that I think I need but really don't, and makes me more thoughtful about the things I do buy. 

Trying to live a more simple life is a positive step forward but this simplicity is difficult to put into practice during special times of the year like Christmas. I enjoy buying my family and others presents. I don't think I'm particularly great at it, but I do enjoy it. I love seeing the surprise and joy on their faces from opening gifts. 

So this year, to make it all a bit easier, I have followed the four presents rule. 

Something to read

Something to wear

Something they need

Something they want

I used these four rules but there are others that I noticed around the web during recent searches, such as 'Something to do', 'Something spiritual', 'Something to listen to', etc. I took a few liberties this year and changed 'need' to 'toy' for my little ones, and also combined the gift to make it easier still. I assume that as my kids get older and their needs change so will the list, but it is a good guiding principle I feel. 

Anyway, the point is, I just want to keep it simple. I don't want to be adding copious amounts of things back into the house after working so hard to get rid of things. Especially, as to date I have been able to get rid of over 2013 items. In fact, during the summer break when Daniel is at home I am going to go through everything again and get rid of items that have not been used in the last 4-6 months. By about June/July next year (this is when I started this year) I will total up the items and see how I have done. I'll let you know the outcome :).

X is for Xmas Eve

Only one day until Christmas :). We are having Mum and Dad over for dinner tonight and I am trying Honeycomb Cannelloni recipe for the very first time. I am excited and apprehensive. I hope it works out. I don't think I would have been game enough to try it without the Thermomix here to help me cut up all the vegies though. It would need a lot of prep work otherwise. Best thing is, in order to make it I had to buy a lovely new cast iron pot to fit it all in. I have been wanting one for years and now I have a lovely blue one.

Doesn't the dinner just look delicious! Hopefully mine will look just as nice.

Honeycomb Cannelloni

Q is for Quilt

Q is for Quilt. Just a tiny bit more hand sewing to go and it will be ready for Nicholas to open on Christmas day :). I hope he likes it, it has taken me two years to finish. Hopefully, the next ones won't take as long :).

Here are some photos of its journey into becoming a quilt.

The start!

The end!

O is for Oh...so much baking

I spent most of the day in the kitchen baking Christmas treats, and my feet are feeling particularly sore. But I am happy with the results. All I have to do now is bag everything up and give it to our friends. I hope they enjoy eating them :).

Chocolate oat balls

Butter biscuits cut into Christmas shapes

Gingerbread men. I made over 90 of them!

Honey jumbles...yum.

The final product (sorry about the bad photography)

B is for Bees and Backyard

Over the last few weeks we have been spending a lovely amount of time in the backyard. I have been pulling weeds out of everything. Daniel has been espaliering trees and making beehives. I just love spring/summer time. All the fruit is out on the trees, the bees are buzzing around and Nicholas just loves playing in the water, so why not spend as much time outside as possible.

Daniel's beehive being built.

The Nashi tree being espaliered.

My raspberry and strawberry patch being covered up to protect it from all the blackbirds. A few weeks ago actually I counted 16 blackbirds in the backyard all hoping and jumping around. I had never seen so many in one place before.

 And Nicholas enjoying some water play.

A Month Of A To Z....Advent.

Today is the first day of December, and as I was browsing through my list of blogs that I read in Google Reader I found this exciting little challenge run by JustB. For the next month I will post something everyday (ideally) starting with each letter of the alphabet. It might be a photo, a blog post, an idea...whatever I want. On December 1st I have to post something beginning with 'A', on the 2nd something beginning with 'B' and so on. I am a bit excited about this as I figure this will be a lovely little challenge that will get me back into posting on a regular basis.

So to start with... A is for Advent.

I still haven't quite finished my advent calendar from last year but I am definitely excited about how it is looking. I only have the binding to go now and it will be finished :).

In my advent calendar this year I will have little explanations and bible verses that tell of Christ, his coming, and the importance of it in relation to the promises God made long ago. I don't think Nicholas is going to really understand what I read to him, but it is a good introduction nonetheless.

I was going to find a bunch of verses and write up explanations myself but a friend linked to this wonderful blog and resource on her facebook page, so for this year at least I will be using this well thought up and biblical guide to developing my child's understanding of Christmas.

Here is today's entry from Part of the Main: 

"Day 1: The (Empty) Stable: Waiting for Jesus Then and Now 

Right now we are beginning the season of Advent. At the end of Advent is Christmas. The word “advent” means “coming.” It is the season when we remember the coming of Jesus Christ, God’s only son, into the world. Have you ever waited for something for a long time? God’s people had been waiting for a very long time for God to send a Savior to them and keep all of his promises. That Savior was Jesus–who was born long ago in a stable in Bethlehem. The baby Jesus would grow up to save all of God’s people. Yet that is not all of the good news. It was God’s plan to send Jesus to the world twice. He came long ago and he is coming back again. Like the people of Israel, we are waiting for him to come. 

Jesus, thank you for coming down into our world! As we learn about your coming help us to see what you have done for us. Help us to be ready for you to come again. Amen. 

Bible Readings: Psalm 130; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18"

<sup>Psalm 130

A song of ascents.
1</sup> Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
²     Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
    to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,
    so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
⁶ I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
    for with the Lord is unfailing love
    and with him is full redemption.
⁸ He himself will redeem Israel
    from all their sins.

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

 

Rent a Cherry Tree!

Well, it's taken a week but we have finally finished eating all the cherries we picked from our Rent a Cherry tree, that I won, last weekend, and they were just delicious. The tree was full of massive cherries which were shared between the Jolly's, my Mum and us. It was such a splendid day, even though the weather was a bit overcast, and a real delight to share it with others.

When we arrived we were shown to our tree and given a brief history of the orchard.

Once everyone had arrived we began picking (and eating).

After all the hard work of picking and eating cherries, we sat down for a relaxing BBQ. The orchard provided the BBQ equipment, a table and chairs, and even toys for the kids. All we had to bring was the food, drink, picnic rugs and ourselves.

And the beautiful view from the orchard once it had cleared up a bit.

This, I must say, was the best prize I have ever won. It was a fantastic and relaxing day for all involved, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in renting a cherry tree next year. I definitely I think we will be renting one next year. I'll give it to Daniel as a birthday present :).

I Won!

Near the end of last year I entered a Christmas giveaway on Platinum Ridge's facebook page. All I had to do was like, and share their page and this put me in the running to win one of their rented cherry trees. And surprisingly, I actually won. I was/am so excited. Basically, it means that I will get to pick all the fruit off a specific tree that they allocate me in their orchid, which could bear about 10kgs of fruit.

So next weekend we will be heading out to Glaziers Bay to pick us some fruit. In anticipation of this Daniel bought me cherry corer for Christmas because taking the pips out of cherries by hand takes a super long time.

I'll be sure to take some photos of next weeks expedition to share :). Also if you have any cherry recipes that you love, I would love to hear them, as I will be inundated with cherries next weekend :).

Christmas Break

Since Daniel has been home since last Friday, I have been living the life of luxury. I haven't had to dress Nicholas, feed him solids, give him a bath or even change his nappies. Daniel has really stepped up in into the position of being a stay-at-home father while he has been on holidays, and I am loving it! I am loving that Nicholas and Daniel are spending lots of time together. He is definitely 'Daddy's little boy'. The other when Nicholas woke, I went into his room to pick him up and give him his morning hug, and as soon as Daniel walked in the room he started pushing me away and put his arms out for Daniel. 

I have actually been enjoying having a little bit of freedom. I went into town the other day with Mum for a few hours and when I returned Nicholas was asleep and had been for about 2 hours! I was super impressed. This has also meant that in the last few days I have had the opportunity to spend some time in the kitchen preserving and baking.

I made some more mango chutney, as it was super delicious and I didn't make enough jars at Christmas time to leave any for us. We have already opened up a jar and used it on toasted sandwiches. I can't envisage it lasting the entire year.

I also made some Rhubarb and Strawberry cordial. I used strawberries from the garden and rhubarb that I bought from a small local market. I doubled the recipe (kind of). I used about 4 cups of strawberries instead of two, and I had 9 stalks of rhubarb so I just put them all in. I doubled the water and sugar content, but only used 3 lemons, as I thought four lemons might make the drink a bit sour. It made about 2 litres. I also sterilised the jars so it would last a bit longer. I have already given one bottle away to friends and plan the drink the other on New Years Eve.

It is delicious and tastes like summer.

I also gave this bottle of Blackberry and Apple cordial (and the card) to a friend yesterday to say thank you for lending me her baby bassinet when Nicholas was born. It was such a blessing not to have to buy one.

And here is a another decorated bottle of Blackberry and Apple cordial from earlier in the year.

Hark The Herald Angels Sing

Hark The Herald Angels Sing 

 

Hark the herald angels sing


"Glory to the newborn King!


Peace on earth and mercy mild


God and sinners reconciled

"
Joyful, all ye nations rise


Join the triumph of the skies


With the angelic host proclaim:


"Christ is born in Bethlehem"


Hark! The herald angels sing


"Glory to the newborn King!"

 

Christ by highest heav'n adored


Christ the everlasting Lord!


Late in time behold Him come


Offspring of a Virgin's womb


Veiled in flesh the God head see


Hail the incarnate Deity


Pleased as man with man to dwell


Jesus, our Emmanuel


Hark! The herald angels sing


"Glory to the newborn King!"

 



Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!


Hail the Son of Righteousness!


Light and life to all He brings


Ris'n with healing in His wings


Mild He lays His glory by


Born that man no more may die


Born to raise the sons of earth


Born to give them second birth


Hark! The herald angels sing


"Glory to the newborn King!"

Chutney

Along with cards this year, Daniel and I also made mango chutney to give to family and friends. We then covered them with paper and twine, and used some Stampin' Up bits and pieces to finish it off. I hope it tastes as nice as it looks :).

Let Us Paint!

We finally got around to painting the salt dough ornaments. Aren't they grand!

Musical Monday!

Being Christmas, I have been listening to a bit of Christmas music lately. However, finding decent Christmas music that it is enjoyable can be difficult. As kids the only Christmas album we owned was John Denver's 'Christmas Like a Lullaby', and it was played every year on Christmas Eve as we open up our presents. I can't say it is my favourite Christmas CD, but having listened to it every year since I can remember, it brings back lots of good memories.

This year I have been listening to three Chirstmas albums. First is Sufjan Stevens 'Songs for Christmas'. I love this album. It has fives discs, produced from 2001-2006, with songs ranging from Amazing Grace to Jingle Bells. If I had to choose a favourite though, it would have to be Come Thou Font of Every Blessing.



The second is 'A Very She and Him Christmas'. Patty from The Plaid Cupcake suggested it to me, and I am glad she did. It is just so sweet and lovely.



And the third, of course, is Handel's 'Messiah'.



What have you been listening to this Christmas?

Oh Christmas tree!

This our Christmas tree.

It was originally meant to be an advent calendar. However, my Mum never got around to putting pockets onto it, so it turned into a Christmas tree. I like it because it conveniently doesn't take up a lot of space. Plus, it doesn't leave a mess.

As kids we always had a traditional Christmas tree, but since leaving home I have never been bothered buying one. It just didn't seem important. This year, since having Nicholas though, I have viewed Christmas a little differently. For the first time in ages, I have been excited about Christmas. I've been listening to Christmas music, putting up decorations, as well as making decorations, reading and talking to Nicholas about the birth of Christ, making lots of handmade presents, writing Christmas cards and spending time with family and friends. It has been fun. Since having kids, my sister is always commenting on how much more exciting Christmas is, and I think I would have to agree.

So when I drove past this sign,

I just couldn't resist taking one :). So we bought a few decorations and put it on the front porch.

I also bought this nativity scene template that I will eventually sew together, but probably not before next Christmas. I like it because it doesn't have tiny pieces that could become stuck in a little person's mouth.