Little Wandering Wren …. chats!

The evergreen fir Christmas Tree, the symbol of Christmas. Get it right and it's adored, get it wrong and  ... you could be at our place! Last Christmas I was in Bangkok apartment hunting ahead of our Thailand relocation. I had no clue as I searched for any signs of  Christmas, that this was due the death of the much-loved King  Bhumibol Adulyadej .  I did wonder how it would be living in a country where Christmas appeared non-existent.  Unbeknown to me, what I was witnessing was not a Country that did not wish to mark Christmas, but a country in mourning. Most celebrations were cancelled or at the very least subdued out of a mark of respect. I can only understand the real impact of this seeing the tremendous effort which has gone into celebrations in 2017. The Thais put on a great Christmas, despite it not being a holiday that they celebrate. It is a normal working day, which is a bit of a shock to some of my friends whose...

I'm rather pleased with our Christmas this year! Thanks to our friends Down Under and the warm weather. I salute you all! Of course that's an "Aussie salute" to also shoo the flies away. Melbourne is experiencing a weird summer with a fly plague. We've just had the warmest Christmas in eighteen years followed by flash flooding in Melbourne. Here are a few of my favourite pictures from our Christmas  at the beach on the Mornington Peninsula: Antlers with a beachy twist was the theme! We do have the nicest friends, who knowing we were overseas until just before Christmas,  fill up our fridge with all sorts of wonderful goodies, make a girdle buster ice cream pudding, and arrive bringing with them the turducken; turkey, with duck and chicken, cooked to perfection on their barbecue.  On account of it being bleedin' hot, I instigated a  TOB - Total Oven Ban.  So salads were mostly the order of the day.  Which caused a few prob...

Well here we have it the Final Countdown Don't you find it funny the way you think in songs at this time of year?  I think it's all that surreptitious brainwashing of Christmas background music! The one song that I keep have going round in my head is:   'I'll be home for Christmas You can plan on me' Which is a bit of a joke in our family.  In fact last week  all five of us were in different countries, on four different continents! It's not the first time we need a spreadsheet to work out where everyone is! 'Please have snow and mistletoe  And presents on the tree'  Well snow is a big ask for the Australian crowd as it's going to be a hot one.  A top of 35 degrees celsius (95 °F ) in Melbourne, Adelaide will be the hottest city in the world! It's similar to last year when summer rules apply If it can't be cooked on the barbecue forget it,  it's turkey and some posh salads. Her...

Can you imagine what a nightmare it must be when your blog is called Fairy Bluebells Craft Adventure and your drawn  with Little Wandering Wren for Amy's annual Christmas Card swap?  Well fortunately we ended up being beautifully matched because there is nothing I like better  than a traditional English snowy Christmas card. Here is Debbie's card below. Thank you Debbie it has been lovely to meet you here. They say past behaviour predicts future behaviour  so poor Debbie drew the short, and rather long distance expensive straw,  when she was allocated an Australian blogger with as much crafting talent as a rock. We're not talking an Uluru, Ayers Rock sort of a rock, and yep I reckon you could count on one hand the amount of craft posts I have done... I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking to add in Christmas card making into the mix  of packing up and leaving Australia. Except that it seemed like a lovely idea!...

Tis the season to be jolly! We're looking forward to another ocean beach Christmas. It's casual, relaxed affair. Just us, our friends and four dogs! There is a wonderful ' Dogs N Grog ' Christmas tradition in our Melbourne park.  All the dog owners are invited for festive drinks in the park with their pooches.  The beauty of a summer Christmas. It's a casual chaotic affair by all accounts - bring a bottle and a dog or two. It pretty much sums up how our Christmas will be. And the really good news is that I've found the gin,  goodness knows where the brandy's gone and sherry forget it. So proud was I of my gin find, I decided to make a feature of it. What do you think? I'm not doing much (read anything) in the way of Christmas decorations... So I was rather proud of this effort - hic! Well, I'm just about to fly to Bangkok for a weeks house hunting, and we're not having Christmas here in Melbourne anyway. I kno...

I love an Aussie Christmas at the beach It’s a relaxed, no fuss and bother affair. Well normally… Danger! It's Christmas! We're unusual,  we clear out of the city for the beach on Christmas Eve, most of our friends stay in town for Christmas lunch with family, but for us, with our broader family overseas, it's a lovely escape. We go to the Mornington Peninsula,  one hour out of Melbourne.  By Boxing Day this place will be heaving. Melbourne-by-the-sea they call it; finding a car park will be tricky,  and we'll bump into more friends here on the Blairgowrie dog beach,  than we will on any walk in the park back home! Our Rye beach house is in neighbourhood with mostly permanent homes. It's become our Christmas Eve tradition, to take a quick stroll  around the block. We like to check out any local building developments  and to admire the local decorations.  Or maybe not.  Perhaps in our dreams,  no one re...

  'Are we getting an advent calendar?' my 19 year old son asks hopefully? 'Nah, you're too old' I reply! Then out shopping I couldn't resist, and bought an advent calendar... Which I presented to my youngest with a Ta-ra! 'Thanks Mum, you're the best! ' Which did make me feel a tad guilty... The age of innocence... Because every year we tell the advent calendar story. The one of many moons ago, when we lived in a far away land  the land that chocoholics dream about - Belgium. Where I could have bought some local Godiva chocolates But no! They don't call me 'the best' Mother for nothing. I  drove to the British shop, Stonemanor in Everberg   and splashed out many, many francs,  it was well before the Euro. I bought him a Cadbury's Dairy Milk advent calendar. These ones were special,  not one single chocolate behind each purple window,  but a whole bar. Yumm... He's grown a bit ...

Goosie, Goosie Gander where shall I wander.... Here I am in seat 27G  which is waaaaaaay too far back in the airplane for me,  but guess what, I'm very happy here! Christmas flags at Richmond Station, 2015 I'm on my way to Abu Dhabi, then London. And whoo hoo, I'm on Wifi thanks to Ethiad Airlines. It's my first blog written  cruising at an altitude of 34,000 feet  and travelling at a ground speed of 927 km per hour,  and I think that's pretty cool. In fact it's very, very cool the outside temperature is -39.0 celsius - ho ho ho... Australian Eucalyptus in full flower So I am returning the UK for a quick visit and sadly a family funeral. If it wasn't under such circumstances  I'd be happy to have achieved what every woman really wants  at this time of year: two weeks away and just  ' beam me up Scotty. ' I'm back on December 22nd when everything's done. Prepared and ready. Christmas...