Christmas Highlights

I've been busy....but, tonight, with a very full stomach after a Christmas Eve Christmas dinner, I want to show you some of the highlights from the past weeks....

December 8th...

                                           another trip into London and some stunning and interesting windows...

A luxury handbag store...love the foliage framing the window..

Ralph never disappoints...and look at the red door...

not a clue where this was...but it is very clever..

what every well-dressed doe should be wearing this season...

The Cloth House...and it's getting dark...

which means the lights are coming on...

and the stars are out..

just hovering above the throngs of shoppers...

most of which were too busy to look up...but not me...wandering along with my mouth gaping...

Standing on Oxford Circus looking towards Regent Street...was amazing...

December 15th

                                         finally a fully decorated tree...

Although the tree has been up and decorated for a few weeks...I finally photographed some of my new baubles that I have collected throughout the year...this one is from Harrods and was a  gift from a friend...

This little babushka was on sale at Anthropologie after last Christmas...so I snapped her up!

The little dove I purchased from Althorp..in memory of Diana.

A regal figure from Buckingham Palace..

another gift from Harrods...

and finally a fleur de lis from Le Louvre.

December 16th

                                        and we awake to find this...

yes, it's the last day of school and we have snow...

so, what's a girl to do, but put on her boots, grab her camera and take off...

for a long walk around the village...

and start snapping away.

It's amazing what an inch of snow can produce...

stunning scenes of ordinary things...

A touch of red lends a Christmas feel to the church graveyard...

The church itself looked stark against the cold sky and fallen snow...

but the gravestones themselves came into their own with their covering of lichen...

and a snowy backdrop...

a snowy angel looks over another grave...

and my favourite cottage in the village.

December 21st...

                                           a Tudor banquet

I helped plan and cook for our WI Christmas Tudor style banquet...

complete with Tudor costumes...

and a candle lit table for our Tudor menu.

December 24th

                                         an early Christmas Dinner

and the table is set...

for Roast Pork and Christmas pudding...

It went off with a bang!

Merry Christmas!

Flowers at Christmas

Well, I've started decorating...the tree is outside 'relaxing' in a bucket of water before it comes in, my Christmas wreath is made and on the front door... and the shops are full of lovely flowers...

Look at these little beauties...tiny individual poinsettias...

I've plonked them in glass jam jars with a piece of music paper, and sat them in a vintage wire basket thingy...

Red tulips are also making an appearance...

in various parts of the house...

Whilst, over on the windowsill, some pinkish red cyclamens are keeping company in old army ration boxes...

When the sun goes down (at blinking 4 o'clock)...

little fairy lights from Ikea illuminate them.

In the kitchen on the sill a cactus is flowering happily, again in festive pinkish red...

And on the front door...my newly made holly wreath...

A lovely lady in our village does wreath making lessons each Christmas...she provides all the holly from her own garden, with proceeds of the day going to charity...I've kept mine simple this year with some red holly berries and dark blue sloes.

See you next time with a fully decorated tree...hopefully!

Christmas in London

To celebrate the 1st of December, I thought I would post some photos of the gorgeous decorations strung around London...

Carnaby Street in Soho...

Oxford  Street, heading towards Oxford Circus...

Selfridges always looks amazing...the greenery with the blue fairy lights is very effective...

This is the front of  The Montague, a boutique hotel near Russell Square...the photos are difficult at night, but the effect was terrific..

In the daytime, the flower boxes come into their own with bright red cyclamens and ivy garlands...

I'm thinking I might give this a go at home for Christmas, but in a container of some sort...

Anthropologie was looking very festive with innovative displays...

gorgeous tablescapes...

clever and unique Christmas decorations..

presented with their usual flair...

I'm off to explore some local villages, this weekend, to find all things Christmasy!!

Robx

A Walk around London

Hello everyone, yes I'm back after a short break from blogging and I have lots of photos to share from a couple of recent weekends away...

Last weekend we went to London for four days, primarily to see The Phantom of the Opera with some friends from Europe, and for a change we walked instead of tubing it everywhere. As a result I stumbled past some sights and places that I haven't photographed before....

I'll start with the view from our window at the Hotel Russell. Just opposite Russell Square this grand old hotel is within walking distance of Oxford Street and onwards. The British Museum is right around the corner and Euston Station is just up the road, which meant we could avoid the tube with our luggage (I packed enough for a week)!

On our way we walked down Regent Street which was heaving all weekend, with Christmas shoppers and tourists like us.

We wandered past buildings with a definite French influence...

and came across many iconic sights...

including golden statues which gleamed against the blue sky...London is getting spruced up for the games...

We couldn't have had a better day...especially in November.

Big Ben was looking very handsome with freshly painted golden bits...

But as always, I also find myself taking shots of doors and windows...

This confection was in Queen Anne's Gate and I'm assuming is in the Queen Anne style...

This very special door leads into the Embassy of Chile, which was a lovely surprise as our friend Marco, is Chilean!

Another window with the lot...interesting street sign, old fashioned lamp and a chandelier!!

I always seem to find an interesting red door...

Keep in mind, most of these street names are very old and would have originally reflected the purpose or destination to be found...

Finally, the Union Jack was evident everywhere...

The Cross of St. George, en masse, flying over Admiralty Arch.

Looking up The Mall towards Buckingham Palace, the Union Jack and the flag of Turkey.

Finally  we visited Admiral Nelson atop his column in Trafalgar Square, that is, before we hit the pub...and I have lots of photos of pubs around London.

Later in the week I will post some more photos including a visit into Anthropologie. But for now I will leave you with a new furry friend that I made in Russell Square....

He was a rather finicky eater...I had rustled up some snacks from the bar in the Russell Hotel, but we found he had a preference for the cashews, turning his nose up at the sugar coated peanuts. We decided not to offer him the wasabi peas, although it may have been hilarious to watch his little face after he tried one...

Linking up with Laura from Happy Homemaker UK