So here we are, Christmas gone in flash and now it's 2010. I hope Christmas was lovely for everyone and you're feeling relaxed, refreshed and looking forward to all this new year may bring.
I haven't taken down the Christmas decorations yet (though I have made a start today), so my pics are still rather Christmassy. Taken with my new camera which Santa Bloom surprised me with on Christmas day - he's such a sweetie. It's about a quarter of the size and weight of my old one and much easier to use - thank you Santa!
This year for the first time since moving to this house we celebrated Christmas Day at home. It wasn't possible before now, firstly because of building work and subsequently because the dining room had become a storage/dumping ground area.
For the last 2 years Mr. Bloom and I have 'borrowed' my mum's house and cooked Christmas dinner there. This involved a lot of to-ing and fro-ing of food/utensils etc. which I was determined to avoid this year. One month before Christmas the dining room was still a storage/dumping ground badly in need of decoration, but the invites were out and there's nothing like a deadline for making sure thing's get done.
The dining room walls before/after...
The newly decorated room (Christmas day remnants on table!) It's still a wee bit crowded, some of the furniture has to find a place elsewhere and the carpet has to go, but perfectly acceptable for entertaining.
Back to work for me on Boxing Day - I did find it rather strange, I've never worked on Boxing Day before, but I did get Monday off instead. A rather lazy week ensued as Mr. Bloom was off work, then another small gathering at the Bloom's for New Year's Eve.
Dining table set for New Year's eve supper...
Two other jobs that could be put off no longer, and I am pleased to have got out of the way, were hemming the front room curtains and re-covering the sofa.
The sofa had been dark blue - a thrifty purchase where there was no colour choice. I had been covering it with throws for over a year and was fed up with how untidy it looked, but re-covering it was one of those tasks that seemed a huge effort. I finally covered it on Christmas Eve, in about two hours. It's just a temporary fix, I used a staple gun to cover the frame, whilst the cushions were covered parcel-style and fixed on the back with safety pins! Not perfect but I think it looks OK (but that carpet really has to go!)
Ah well, one more lazy afternoon today and it's business as usual from tomorrow - sigh....
Happy New Year to All!
