Christmas preparations...

Still no further arrests or other excitement. In fact, I didn't even have to sign in for bail this morning and consequently I don't think I've left the house and garden! We've even been busy trying to make things feel like home and try and get in the Christmas festive feel. Better late than never I guess. On the home front Mama  reported sofa arrivals yesterday, but today you can even see them in photos and it really does make the place feel a little less than camping! Alright, they might have their issues (and I do hope some of these can be fixed on Monday), but I still find it amazing what can be run up in a tiny shack by the side of the road in less than a week for what to us is astonishingly good value: about £350 for these... The mancub is also enjoying a donations from a neighbour.
Other important items in the picture on the right include my lovely birthda picture on the chimney, and for anyone who's wondering what our house looks like the open door at the back is the kitchen, the one that looks closed is the corridor to the bedrooms and behind the chimney is the dining area and other rooms. All very large...

But the real highlight of the day (other than liberation for my big sister too, of course) was the afternoon, when we had friends around (in fact, the same ones that Kitty and the Mancub were dumped with for most of last weekend...) to test drive the sofas. And halfway through L arrived with a huge Christmas tree on the roof of her car! It took a little trimming and pruning and is definitely not regulation shape, but after the littlies were in bed we managed to get the tree to fit in the room and standing up, all ready for decoration in the morning. Amazingly, it's a conifer with a fantastic christmassy smell!  And the spare parts Kitty and I will try and put into a wreath tomorrow, using the skills learnt at a workshop in Aberdeen last year.

So inspired was Mama by this that she then followed on by making a Christmas pudding and is currently making her own mincemeat too. I have a feeling the pudding might end up a little like the first one we created after getting married that was similarly made only a week before due - we still managed to get most of a bottle of brandy in it, but only as far as the top inch, so there were some rather variable bites!

Ho ho ho...