Feather your Nest Friday, 29th December, 2023.
I hope you had a very Happy Christmas! We did, over two days. Then I was in a state of collapse for a couple for a while! But it was all worth it!
Chase is big enough to be well and truly into presents too.
We had Christmas 1. with Chloe and her family on Saturday and Christmas 2. with Lucy and her family on Christmas Day. Mum enjoyed both as we did! Mum always makes the puddings. It is my tradition now to take a photo of her cutting the pudding each year so this year I have two photos.
Mum's puddings are amazing. Chloe made homemade ice cream and home-made Brandy Custard. 😜
We had very excited children and it turns out that Tom likes turkey and can mow down vast quantities.
Sidney got a very big present. He was absolutely beside himself!
Mum gave me a book I have been really wanting...
So I have some studying to do as Chloe gave me a wonderful book as well.
We had rain which cut down on the watering. Pears and apples are really coming on now.
The girls are coming to stay so I worked on a couple of projects to know what works before they get here. They LOVED having presents that they made last holidays for their friends and teachers. The key rings were a big hit with everyone. So... this time we are going to make car essential oil diffusers and lanyard pendants that hold your sunnies/glasses/keys or whatever...
In the background is my brand new 2024 planner. I am always so excited to have a new diary/planner!
These days after Christmas and before New Year are my absolute favourite days of the year. I feel very reflective and look over the year. What we achieved. What worked and what didn't. Then I start to think of some goals for the new year. What to ditch and what to do instead?
Tomorrow we are heading south to Lucy's farm. Also Mum came by today. I made two batches of Honey Gingerbread.... big ones for Mum, Andy and me...
Lots of smaller ones for the kids...
I am picking tomatoes every day.
Chloe gave me a bag of enormous lemons.
Of course I saved Christmas gift bags and ribbons!
Oh the best thing... we lived on left overs for several days after Christmas. I LOVE left overs and we made sure everyone else had them too so no one had to cook the next day.
Usually Christmas here is hot. One year we even had Christmas fires and that year was a disaster. This is the first time in my life I remember Christmas being COLD! While this was ok, and rain was good, many places in Australia had massive storms, flooding, loss of lives, homes and massive power outages. I checked on a Bluebird who was right on the edge of a cyclone. They were cut off, even from neighbours, people had run out of drinking water, food, basic supplies... but she and her family were ok! Her family were fed. She has been preparing along and she did so well! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
On New Years Day I am going to get things up and running, a new series and new challenges in The Tuesday Afternoon Club.
Thank you to everyone who kept me company, shared, encouraged others and helped all year. 💗
How was your Christmas? How did you build up your home, pantry or garden? Do you have goals for the new year?
See you on Monday! xxx
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. All the best to you and your family and many wishes for a wonderful 2024. I am almost done with my remodeling so after that will come restocking and increasing my level of preparedness. Thanks for a lovely blog full of information and optimism! Hilogene in Az.
ReplyDeleteHappy New year Hilogene! It is so good your renovation is almost finished! You can start the new year building up everything you need! This is great! xxx
DeleteHello Annabelle and happy new year! I would love to join the Tuesday Afternoon Club and have sent a request a few times. I don’t really use FB and so requested through my husband’s account. Wondering if I am missing a step as I have not heard back from requests to join. Likely I am! Really, neither he nor I use the account. We are in Virginia, USA.
ReplyDeleteThanks for any help in advance!
Susie
Dear Susie, I would love to have you... try again and tell me the first name of your husband. Generally I have kept it a ladies group and get odd requests from the likes of military generals and men who look very suspicious to me and probably want to hang around in women's groups for the wrong reasons. Otherwise temporarily have your husband add your name to hi account. Either way we will get you in and just in time for a big New Years start! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteThank you! I sent another request and my husband’s first name is Steven. Very excited!
DeleteDear Annabel,
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely Christmas you had with your family. The boys are sure growing fast. So adoreable. It looks like Sidney was over the moon with his gift.
We had a delightful low key Christmas this year with a dear friend who had lost his wife last year here with us all afternoon and into the evening. Dinner was simple, a roasted pork loin with potatoes, onions and carrots all roasted in the same pan and a Waldorf salad. Dessert was icecream sundaes and cookies. I make my how hot fudge sauce with dates, cacao, and non-dairy milk. It's always a hit. All gifts, and cards were mailed out early so there was no rushing around. While my husband watches football games I've been cutting out aprons, hot pads, potholders, jar openers, knitting cowls in the evening and embroidering tea towels for the gift closet as well as making birthday cards and embellishments from my leftover paper from other projects. My favorite craft supply company is having a huge 75 percent off after Christmas sale and I was able to get some things that I had been wanting but not will to pay full price for for as little as $2 and some $20 cardstock for $4. It has been cold and rainy here but the news said we're still in a drought warning, even with the heavy rains. Life is busy and good. We will be celebrating our 47th wedding anniversary on NYE. Time sure flies. Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year to you, Annabel, and all of the Bluebirds. Cookie
Dear Cookie, It was so lovely that you included your friend in Christmas Day. It sounds like a great menu and beautiful day. I love everything you are sewing! What a good start you are off early for the new year! Happy Anniversary for today!! Also Happy New Year!! Double celebrations!! With much love Annabel.xxx
DeleteDear Annabel, how beautiful, delicate and feminine your Mum is! Sending her lots of love! The boys are very cute and so big already!
ReplyDeleteOur Christmas was bitter-sweet, we were all together, spent good and warm days around the house, we were guests one day at my cousin*s home and had them as guests the next day - we exchanged good, practical gifts and enjoyed every day. For those who have pets as family member, will understand the bitter part - we care and treat our big white dog and have an appointment for radiology on the 4th of January (we have to take him to another town, because we don*t have that machine in our town).
After many dark days, when even at noon was pitch dark and raining, the days are a bit longer and a bit brighter. The young white chicks lay an egg or two almost every day, despite of the cold. We, too, eat yummy leftovers but I am proud to report we did not overspend / over buy / over cook on anything - plus almost everything was bought and prepared way before the end of December, so we managed to put that money away for rainy days. (In this case, it will be the vet bill)
I am at work now, I was working all week and planned a quiet end of the year at home with family. I can*t wait to see your plans for 2024. I want to thank every one and sweet Annabel, for all your support, good thoughts and encouragement. God bless you all and have a Wonderful, Happy and Healthy New Year! From Romania - La multi ani! An Nou Fericit! Laura_s_world from Romania
Dear Laura, Happy New Year! Thank you for your kind words. You are a big encouragement to me. You are also a good example to us all. Your Christmas sounds just lovely! I am sorry about your dog being sick though and hopefully the radiation helps.
DeleteI cannot imagine it being dark at noon! I am so glad the days are getting longer! It is amazing the chickens lay with so much darkness!
We are having a very quiet night too. I want to think over the year, all we have to be grateful for and make some 2024 plans. Quiet is good! With much love Annabel.xxx
Thank you for sharing your wonderful Christmas with us, Annabel.
ReplyDeleteWe had a lovely Christmas! Everyone has a job (some just summer jobs), so they were pleased to buy gifts. I was so blessed to see how generous each one was towards their siblings.
I cherish these days between Christmas and New Year's as well. No school= more time to spend with the children and time to work on a new project (or 2). I feathered my nest by baking bread, giving a home haircut, and mending.
Looking forward to Saturday. I get to reorganize my bedroom closet and my sewing area. An organized home helps in so many ways.
Well, our sailor son was able to join us. But sadly, our adopted daughter is still not with us. We have to expand our home to accommodate her or move. And we haven't been able to do either. But God is working!
Blessings to all!
Love,
Leslie in Ohio
Dear Leslie, Happy New Year! I am so glad your son was home! The presents exchanged between siblings were a beautiful thing to see. The beautiful days between Christmas and NY are almost over. I am soaking up this last little bit. I will pray soon you have the answer so your new daughter can join you! This will be so exciting! With much love, Annabel.xxx
DeleteLovely to see your Mum cutting the pudding etc. Glad you shared a lovely holiday time with all the family.
ReplyDeleteWe had a great Christmas, just the right mix of church and carols,feasting, walks on the beach, chilling by the fire etc.
I've spent time cooking turkey ham and leek pies with leftovers, prepped packages of cold meats for the freezer and leftover slices of Christmas pudding too. No waste.
This year I am determined to do the Swedish death clean, feeling very positive about it. Also want to dig even deeper into sustainable living, less plastic, less food miles etc.
Looking forward to 2024 with you and all Bluebirds.
Happy New Year.
Penny in the UK.
Dear Penny, Your Christmas sounds great and the pies and meats into the freezer were fantastic. So many meals are possible with leftovers! I like as much food as possible to be home grown, locally grown, state grown. Today I harvested spinach and parsley and made pies. Served with lettuce, tomato and cucumber I grew! This means I am getting better with my garden! Happy New Year, hopefully a good year ahead! With love, Annabel.xxx
DeleteAnnabel and Dear Bluebirds, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteAnnabel, your Christmas celebrations look and sound lovely. The boys have truly grown so much. Seeing Pat slice into her Christmas pudding is precious, what memories are being built. So happy for you being able to celebrate with family.
We had 2 Christmas celebrations here also, though our second one was food leftover from first, my husband out did himself. His lasagna was so large it provided 2 celebration meals, leftovers for 2 homes and 2 more meals for us. We also had ham that was shared in leftovers, cookies and candies galore, I sort of over did on that also.
Seeing all be so happy with their gifts was a joy. We gave everyone food gifts and small gifts, every year they all get a pack of socks, one of our traditions.
Now we are all looking forward to a New Year and a better one.
Dear Rosanne, Thank you! Happy New Year to you! Like us you make sure everyone has meals to take home! And you dont waste anything!
DeleteI am glad your enjoyed a beautiful Christmas! I hope 2024 will be good to us all. With much love, Annabel.xxx
Hello Annabel (and everyone),
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, and Happy almost New Year! What beautiful photos. It sounds like you had two beautiful Christmases. I also save all the bows and pretty bags and paper!
We had a nice Christmas eve and Christmas day with my dad. I cooked loads (beef & tomato ragout with pasta for Christmas eve, Christmas brunch, lots of sweets, and a big turkey dinner for Christmas day) and sent dad home with lots of leftovers - and lots for us, too! I froze some for future meals. Two of my aunties sent us gifts of cheese and nuts - wonderful treats! These were shared around, too. The gift cupboard and home baking were all so useful this season - we were able to put together gifts for some special medical providers and leave goodies for our neighbors, and not have to rush around or spend a lot of money at the last minute.
My husband and I spent an overnight up north this week to have a little time to just be us, and it was very nice. His appetite has been great and that makes me happy. He had a CT today, so results next week (praying for stable or decreasing disease). On the way home, we stopped at a thrift shop and found 4 nice shirts for my husband, a jacket for me, a bag full of brand-new large spools of curling ribbon ($3), and a bag full of brand-new baking cups all still packaged up (also $3). A nice spur-of-the-moment shopping stop!
Wishing everyone a wonderful 2024. I hope you all have a great weekend.
<3
Kathy
Dear Kathy, It is so lovely you got away with your husband and had a special time! Also the thrift store finds were great. I hope to hear the CT results come back very good.
DeleteI am so glad your gift cupboard and all your baking and getting ahead worked so well to help you... it was a very big year for you and you did an amazing job.
I hope this year will be better and easier! With much love, Annabel.xxx
Rick and Donna,
ReplyDeleteWell dear Annabel, your Christmas sounded wonderful! All your family and friends and that’s as it should be!
Our Christmas was slightly different. We celebrated early so my youngest and her husband could go back to Atlanta to welcome his sister who married and now lives in San Francisco!
Our early gift exchange was perfect with everyone getting smaller things they’d been wanting like a book, gloves, puzzles, games, a cookbook from the Skye islands, I think, and my wife and I got a beautiful tree ornament of the Queen in that blue outfit and I got a mug from Liberty in London, of the front of the store! Made my day - both items!
I sent out 40+ cards but only received about 12.
Still, it’s sending them and thinking of the recipients that I enjoy!!
Donna got to go to her stepson Jim and wife, Phyllis’s home for Christmas and a home cooked feast!!
Since then, we’ve been relaxing and looking forward to the new year!
We’re all healthy and happy and hope the same is true for you and yours.
Love, Rick in Florida and Donna in N Indiana
Xxxooo
Dear Rick and Doona, I love Liberty of London. Liberty fabrics are the most beautiful ever! Your Christmas sounds lovely and it is good to be flexible so everyones plans fit together. I am happy hearing Donna had a nice Christmas Day as well.
DeleteIt is great you sent out so many cards. I am sticking with it because we need to let people know we are thinking of them!
Happy New Year to you all! With love, Annabel.xxx
Annabel thank you for sharing your Christmas with us and the boys are growing so big and looked so excited about their gifts and Christmas and lovely your Mum could spend time with you all celebrating. What a lovely pudding your Mum makes and your honey ginger biscuits look lovely. So lovely you can all spend Christmas as an extended family.
ReplyDeleteI have been concentrating on giving the home a really deep clean including walls, skirting boards, moving furniture and vacuuming underneath and damp dusting furniture as well bit by bit. I have done half of the walls in the bathroom upstairs and plan to finish that next week and currently we are working on cleaning the bedroom and rearranging furniture, cleaning and putting up the new roller blinds we bought in there too.
I did something I rarely do which is went Christmas eve shopping for food later in the afternoon on Christmas Eve as DH decided he wanted a large ham even though I had bought a mini boneless one. Turned out to be a very big bargain day with heaps of meat markdowns we got from IGA which stocked our freezer back up again.
First we went to Woolworths but they were out of all their legs of ham but we did manage to pick up 600 odd gram of steggles chicken loaf on markdown for $4.80 or $8kg, 1.9kg of chicken drumsticks on markdown for $3.30 or $1.74 kg, 750g of cook honey soy chicken kebabs on markdown for $2.31 or $3.06 kg.
A strange thing happened as there was virtually no-one in the IGA we went to at that time of the afternoon and we met the owner of the store and had a chat to him. He asked us if we needed meat and we said yes a few things so as we were standing there he reduced the already reduced meat down a further 50% on the prices that were on it on the items he wanted to clear as they were closed on Christmas day. So we just stood there and a lady beside him marked them down and he just kept asking if we wanted X and we said yes that would be lovely and kept filling up our trolley. What a blessing it was for sure as all of the meat below cost us in only $25.25 so we were definitely in the right place at the right time.
Then off we went to IGA where we did get our leg of ham for $8 kg normal price as they sell it all year round there. From IGA we purchased 2 x packets of long john cream and jam rolls on markdown for $1.99 ea, old gold chocolate on sale for $4 a block, 1.02 kg of southern style bone in chicken thigh fillets for $2 or $1.96kg, 1.2474kg of marinated peri peri chicken drumsticks for $2 or $1.60kg, 1.334kg of marinated red wine and garlic chicken drumsticks on markdown for $2 or $1.50kg, .968kg of chicken maryland marked down to $2 or $2.07 kg, 3.558kg of premium beef mince for $15.25 or $4.29kg and half price 1.25 litre coca cola on sale for $1.77 ea. This was a huge saving of $121.55 on usual prices and we filled up the spaces in our meat freezer on items we needed.
Have a great week ahead.
Lorna (SW Qld Australia).
Dear Lorna, Well, your Christmas Eve shopping was a great idea! How nice to talk to the owner of the store and that he marked things down! It was like an early Christmas present! There is so much you can do with ham... all the other items were fantastic too. Your freezer is so stocked up for the new year! I have a ham to cook... next week I think we will begin on that... and then I can make some quiches too. What a great week you had! With love Annabel.xxx
DeleteI am so excited—my husband gifted me building out a greenhouse for me for Christmas!! He’s been working on it all week and it’s going to be both darling and functional. Also, our teens are able to help, which is a good opportunity for them to learn and hang out with their dad. We live in growing zone 5b, so a greenhouse is quite essential for winter growing. I’m getting some goals thought up for 2024–I always love a fresh start! Thanks for putting together such delightful posts, Annabelle! I look forward to them every week, even though I don’t regularly comment.
ReplyDelete—Katie C
Dear Katie, This is a fantastic Christmas present and just great the kids are helping their Dad and learning too. What a god project for them! This will be a big advantage to you! Thank you so much for your encouragement! With love Annabel.xxx
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