It's that time of year again when I know that am starting to feel a bit 'Christmassy' because I have an uncontrollable urge to play Handel's Messiah. This time of year for me is strangely hypnotic as I get a real sense of peace planning Christmas and buying presents and planning what food we will eat. This year is even more exciting as it would seem that I am not the only soul to feel this way. Over at Pixie Wood, Cherry's new forum ( that girl has some great ideas!) is absolutely buzzing with Christmas ideas, recipes and fun so it would seem you girls are way ahead of me! Our Christmas this year will be quieter than last year when we had all of our family with us at our home, it was wonderful and I loved every minute.
The weather here has taken a turn for the worse and we are surrounded by huge piles of leaves from the Oak trees that reside in our fields. Luckily the leaves stayed on long enough for our bonfire party that we held last Saturday. The swag you see pictured above was part of the decoration. Lucy and I spent a fab couple of days decorating the marquee with hedgerow finds. There has been so much colour this year so we were able to collect all sorts of berries and leaves. You might be able to make out the Spindle berries, they are the orange and bright fuchsia pink flower-like berries. It would seem that Mother Nature has it dead right when it comes to colours that are supposed to clash when put together! I quite fancy growing some spindle so I have kept some berries. According to a local tree-man I have to leave them out for the frost to get them or they won't germinate so will keep you posted on that one. It all looked quite magical with the candlelight and I think that everyone had a great time. You can just see some Victorian tealights entwined in the swag and these were lit to greet people as they entered the marquee.
I'm off to the Country Living fair again next week and this to me is all part of the countdown to Christmas. I usually go with a couple of girlfriends and we all have a great time usually topped off by a meal and a few glasses of wine before we get the train home. Actually I don't really need that much this year but I just love the atmosphere there and everyone seems to have such a good time that it rubs off on to everyone else!
Anyone else going?
What lovely decorations for your bonfire party! We used to have a spindle tree in our last garden. I'd forgotten how much I used to enjoy it. Time to find one for here I think!
Posted by: Sue | November 11, 2007 at 04:16 PM
It does sound like you're getting into the mood for it all - your bonfire party looked amazing, such a cosy affair!
I can't help getting into the Christmas mood, it's such a wonderful time.
Posted by: Tash | November 12, 2007 at 01:23 PM
A bonfire! What fun! We can't have those this time of year where I live... so we have to rake all of our oak leaves (we live on the edge of the woods, loaded with tons of oak trees = gazillions of leaves)! I'd rather have a bonfire! Lucky you! =)
Posted by: beachy | November 14, 2007 at 02:21 PM