Tag Archives: Christmas

Christmas is Coming

4 Comments

I know that the year is rolling by and before we know it Christmas will be upon us.  In fact I read this comment on a discussion forum a couple of days ago,

“Everyone is so busy and it will get even busier as it gets closer to Xmas… which I haven’t planned anything….”

This got me thinking as to why everything has to be busy in the lead-up to Christmas.  I love Christmas for the joy of being able to share the day with my family, especially the grandchildren.  I do not enjoy the commercialism of it nor the endless round of parties, celebrations and gift-giving.  The associated stress and pressure is simply not worth it.

Christmas Shopping

I try to switch off to most advertising at any time but I find it particularly insidious at this time of the year.  Every conceivable type of business is exhorting us to buy their goods so that they can be delivered by Christmas.  Worse still, are the offers of no repayments until the New Year etc, etc.  Just remember that everything has to be paid for at sometime and do you really want to be paying for Christmas at this time next year?

Like many other aspects of our life, we have managed to eliminate a lot of unnecessary Christmas festivities and focus on what is important to us.

This year we will be keeping it simple.

Neither The Duke nor I attend any work functions.
The Duke and I will go to a local festive gathering.  It is an opportunity to socialise with our neighbours and is hosted by a different family each year.  Everybody brings their own drinks and a plate of food to share.
We will take our grand-daughters to see the Christmas lights in our area. I want to take them to a carol service at the local church.
We will spend 5 days at the beach with family.
Christmas lunch will be at my sister’s place with extended family.
Gift giving for the family will focus on experiences and/or consumable gifts.

Over the next 6 weeks I will share some of the things you can do and make in the lead-up to Christmas which are memorable but relatively easy on the budget.  Please share any special ideas from your family.

In the meantime, here is a photo I took yesterday when I went to Caloundra to meet some friends for lunch.  I am hoping for some similarly spectacular weather when we spend some time there at Christmas.

2014-11-07 02

The Christmas Menu

6 Comments

As you know we are staying in a holiday apartment so Christmas this year is a little different.  I do have access to some basic oils and condiments, however, the full range of pantry ‘essentials’ that I take for granted at home are not all here.

On Sunday evening I finally made some effort to plan our Christmas Day menu but it was still really flexible when we went shopping at the Queen Victoria Markets yesterday.  The plan evolved as I found various items.  Today I went to the local shops to pick up the last few things I would need and I have started the preparation.

Here is the menu.

NIBBLES

Cracker biscuits and vegie sticks with dips – beetroot, pumpkin, carrot & coriander and 1 other which I can’t remember.

ENTREE

Grilled prosciutto-wrapped haloumi and grilled asparagus with roasted capsicum salsa

MAINS

Chicken roll with spinach and pinenut stuffing
Seared Atlantic salmon with lime and cucumberPotato salad with herbed mayonnaise dressing
Roasted balsamic pumpkin, red onion and feta salad
Rocket, avocado, tomato and capsicum salad

DESSERT

Berry meringue smash

It is designed to be a simple yet special meal which I can prepare in an unfamiliar kitchen with minimal extra ingredients.  I have made the pumpkin salad, cooked the potatoes, wrapped the haloumi in prosciutto, roasted the capsicum and made the salsa.

Kitchen
Tomorrow I will assemble the other salads, roast the chicken and make the dessert.  The Duke will cook the asparagus, haloumi and salmon on the BBQ.

BBQ
I am looking forward to sharing a relaxing day with my family.

 

 

A Quiet Christmas

2 Comments

You may or may not have noticed the lack of posts about getting organised for Christmas.  That was because I really have done very little.  We are going to be travelling interstate so it will be somewhat different to most years.

Things I have done:

Made a cake
Organised gifts for our children and granchildren
Attended the annual Christmas drinks with neighbours from our road
Sent a small number of cards and emails
Had a BBQ with my mother and siblings before we all head in different directions for Christmas

Things I have not done:

Put up a tree
Rushed around buying gifts for lots of people
Attended work Christmas functions
Planned a huge feast

2013-12-17 01This evening we called in to visit our daughter and family and give them their Christmas presents.  The highlight was explaining to Miss O and Izz that we will be going to Sydney on New Year’s Day to see “The Lion KIng” for their Christmas gift from us.

The Duke and I will not be exchanging particular gifts but instead we are saving towards our planned trip to the UK later next year.

We will be spending Christmas Day with my mother and our younger daughter in Melbourne.  We are staying in rented accommodation so I will decide on a menu based on the weather and also availability of kitchen equipment/utensils.  We will have access to an excellent of fresh food from the market and we will enjoy creating a special meal without over-indulging.  A laptop and the internet means that I will be able to use virtually any recipe I could possibly want.

I will spend some time reflecting on the year that was.  2013 has had some challenges which we have survived and I am looking forward to a fresh slate – 2014!

What are your plans?

A Year in Review

1 Comment

Here we are, almost at the end of another year and as usual I try to take time to think about what I have done and my plans for the new year.

I was looking back at some of my posts from around 12 moths ago and although I have achieved a lot this year, some of my lofty ideals did not come to fruition.  You can check out my goals here.  The photo project was an epic failure but everything else (and much besides was done).

The organising for Christmas also fell by the wayside but it was all achieved before 25th December.  My goal is to do better in 2013.

The important thing when you find that the achievement did not measure up to the goal you set is to simply pick yourself up, dust off and try again.  That is what I love about a new year – it is a clean slate.

I have my 2013 diary and have resolved to use it properly this year instead of cluttering my brain with 1001 things I have to remember.  An Excel spreadsheet is set up to record our spending so that we can see where the money goes.  The emails are sorted/deleted/archived/actioned/unsubscribed as required and I will keep this up-to-date each week.

Our holiday in March is planned and booked.

How was your 2012?  What do you plan to achieve or do differently next year?

How Green Was My Christmas?

4 Comments

Well, Christmas is over for another year and I hope it was a good one for you and your families.

One of my goals was to reduce our overall environmental impact from the festivities so it is probably time to review what I did and whether it made a difference.

Cards – I only sent 11 Christmas cards by post this year.  This is a significant reduction over the years.  There was a time when I posted between 50 and 60 cards each year.  I sent ecards and emails with our family newsletter.  These are generally well-received, save time and money for me, reduce clutter for the recipient.  I will continue to do this.

Gift-wrapping – this year I made fabric gift bags to use which seems to have been successful in making a significant reduction in the amount of wrapping paper which ended up in the recycling bin.  There was still some from gifts we received but that may change in time, who knows?  Perhaps I will make some for Belle to use next year as well.

Gifts – I made a few hand-made gifts and also a couple of experience gifts and some Oxfam Unwrapped gifts which seemed to please the recipients.  I need to plan my handmade items a bit further in advance next year.  I received a couple of practical and requested gifts so I was very happy.  A bathmat, colander, air mattress, gluten-free sauce and dressing and a Kathmandu voucher as well as a promise of dinner when we are next in Melbourne.  We do not want to be overwhelmed by ‘stuff’ and my family understand that. Yay!!

Food – we made a conscious effort not to over-cater and were mostly successful.  I have fruit cake leftover as well as a little smoked salmon and some cold, grilled chicken.  All of this will be stored appropriately and used to avoid any waste.  We had a special meal with close family but did not over-indulge.  Next year I would like to try to be more organised with my garden and be able to use more home-grown produce.

I am pretty happy with our achievements and will continue to  work on improving each year.

I would love to hear about your celebrations – what worked and what didn’t?

Gift Giving

5 Comments

Even though I do not buy many gifts it can still be a challenge to find the perfect gift.  I try to make choices that fit with my values and will be truly appreciated by the recipient.

This year The Duke and I have agreed that we are not buying ‘stuff’ for each other and that our trip to the USA was our gift to each other.

Belle, Missy and my immediate family will receive a combination of money, home-made goodies and Oxfam Unwrapped gifts.  These are well worth checking out if you are not familiar with the concept.

Blanket

Miss O and Izz have more than enough toys and clothes so I bought them each a special Christmas ornament when we were overseas and also a couple of cloth badges.  I have recently given them the camp blankets which belonged to Belle and Missy when they were younger and collected badges.  Their main gifts are experiences rather than stuff – tickets to shows.  I will take Izz to see a stage production of Hairy McLary and Miss O to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  These will both be in January and I am really looking forward to sharing the joy with each of them.

At work our team (about 10 of us) used to do a Secret Santa but a couple of years ago we all agreed that it was really unnecessary and we would make a donation to World Vision using their gift catalogue.  We have lots of fun choosing what animals we will ‘buy’.

I feel that my gift-giving will not just add more stuff to people’s lives but make a positive contribution in several ways.  It has also meant that I have no need to spend hours trawling the malls with a million other stressed shoppers so I am happy about that, too.

Meeting a Deadline

2 Comments

No real time for blogging just now as I have a deadline to meet.

We are going to lunch at our friends’ place on Saturday and we have been requested to bring our photos from our USA trip.  I had nearly 1000 photos from our 4 week trip but the first cull brought that back to just under 600.  I have now got them in order and am looking at them critically  and culling them further.  I hope to have them in a presentable state to show as a slideshow by Saturday.  Wish me luck.

Christmas is presenting other deadlines and the next thing on the agenda will be finishing our Christmas letter – I have some general notes so it just needs to be padded out a bit.  Then I will write the cards that I still send and organise my Christmas email which is actually the majority of my Christmas correspondence these days.

What deadlines do you have looming as the year draws to a close?

Back Again

1 Comment

Blogging has taken a back seat this last week as my ‘real’ life has been rather busy.

We have been away for the weekend to catch up with friends and celebrate a ‘milestone’ birthday for my girlfriend.  We had a fabulous time and I have returned refreshed and with renewed enthusiasm after our short break.

I am working through a pile of mending/alterations of clothes for Missy which I have promised I will finish before she moves interstate in a couple of weeks.  I have spent some time helping her declutter and sort some things prior to her move as it is an ideal time to rationalise exactly what you have and what you need.  There is no point in paying to move things that you really do not want to keep.

2012-11-05 01Speaking of things you do not want to keep, this is a pile of fabric that a friend offered to me last week as she did not see the possibility of using it any time soon.  I have accepted it and have space to store it until I start creating.  I think that may be next year as the next 7 weeks are looking pretty busy in the lead-up to Christmas.  However, I already have some plans for some of the fabric and am looking forward to using it.  Thanks, Sandra.

I mentioned that it is 7 weeks until Christmas but my busyness is not really related to a crazy shopping frenzy or significant over-indulgence in food.  It is more about a self-imposed deadline for projects that I want to complete both at home and at work before the end of the year.  More about that in tomorrow’s post.

Still On Track

2 Comments

My tandem challenges for October are both still on track.

Frocktober – I have accepted the challenge to wear either a dress or skirt each time I leave the house.  In order to add a degree of complexity to the challenge I am trying not to wear the same outfit twice during the month.  So far this is going well.

Stoptober – in conjunction with Frugal Queen I am endeavouring to spend as little as possible this month.  In addition to my haircut and fruit and vegetable shopping which I mentioned in an earlier blog, I bought some hem binding to complete a false hem on a skirt for Missy.  My total spend in 9 days has been $59.70.  The Duke has ordered a new DVD player online since our old one simply ceased to work.  He searched for a good deal and this one is less than $5o, including delivery.

My organising has been fairly limited recently but I am working on completing mending and sewing projects.

I am busily making lists of what I need to achieve before Christmas which is only 11 weeks away.  Composing my Christmas letter and writing cards are things that I like to get done fairly early so will be starting those soon.  I am also keeping an eye out for recipes to include in our Christmas menu.  It will be a little different this year as I am eating a gluten-free diet.  I try to make it grain and sugar free as much as possible, too.  Creativity will be the key.

Have you started thinking about Christmas or do you have your head buried firmly in the sand?

Closed For Christmas

1 Comment

A short final post to wish all of my readers a very Merry Christmas.

When I began writing this blog early this year I had no idea whether I could really blog consistently, what I would write about (apart from a very general idea of the topics I might cover) or if it would be of any interest to anyone.  You have all inspired me to keep going and develop the themes of organisation and sustainability which is what underpins all of my writing.

I hope we can continue to inspire each other and make a difference to our own lives and the lives of others in 2012.

Please have a safe and joyous Christmas season.  Wherever you are, I hope you can take time to relax and recharge yourself.  Enjoy the company of family and friends.

I hope you will come back and join me in 2012.  I am looking forward to the new year with anticipation.  I love the thought of a blank canvas waiting for me to put my mark on it.

Best wishes for the festive season and 2012.  May it be everything you desire.