It's been a few years since I spent Christmas at my own house but this year both my children are here, as Will visits from Oz and will be staying a while for hospital visits. It has been a challenging year and we hope for healing and love in my family throughout 2012. Of course, having an 18 month old grandson living round the corner is reason enough to celebrate; Louise, Mark and his parents will be here on Christmas day and Barney of course!
Earlier today Barney came to help me decorate the tree, he was fascinated with putting the decorations on. It's a great shape, having a fat, wide bottom! I had to move furniture to get it in but certainly worth it. Seeing the decorations after some years brought memories back... the nativity figures were bought in Maryland in 1994, my first holiday abroad on my own after some difficult years. They're made from corn husks and the animals date from my children's farm collection.
I'd forgotten the box of fabric decorations I made, I used to sell these in a previous life...
Memories.... decorations given to me by children I've taught ...a glass boot...
a funky Father Christmas....or is it a Mother Christmas?
a relic from my corn dolly period....
...a peg doll is our 'fairy' at the top of the tree....
...decorations from my travels, a ship in a bottle from Annapolis in Maryland...
a doll from Hong Kong......
and a joey from Oz...
and these 'walnut babies' a friend used to make in the 70's - they're so cute!
a baby in half of a walnut shell, appropriate as I live at The Walnut House...
My 2011 tree, looking forward to a happy family time...
