Worth their weight in gold....

Hello,

Oops, I've been absent from here for a while. 

I feel a bit devoid of words at the moment, I'm not sure why so I will let the photos do most of the talking - with a few words for explanation where necessary. 

Fabulous fungi growing on coconut, found in a packet in one of my kitchen cupboards 

(cough, cough!)

A few of my Christmas makes - a scarf for daughter,bobble hat for son's girlfriend, 

my Osen Christmas stocking.

Son's brass band played at a carol concert at St Matthew's Church in Sheffield. 

This was the only concert that son played that we attended this year. 

Before son went to University we used to attend many band concerts this time of year - we thoroughly enjoyed our one brass band outing this Christmas! 

Only one child is, well, still a child but we continue with the old traditions of pillowcases

 for a few gifts from Santa, newspaper, port, carrots and Santa's muddy footprints. 

Sons enjoying a virtual reality experience - they are on a roller coaster, using an app on their 

mobile phone. I love this sequence of photos while experiencing a 'loop the loop'.

I reduced my work hours 3 months ago, I hardly saw my daughter and as she has only 18 

months left at school we decided it would be better to reduce my income but spend more 

time at home for those last 18 months. I do appreciate that this isn't an option for some and so am grateful that we have the choice. 

One of the benefits of reduced hours means I have more time to bake and this year I made 

a Christmas cake for the first time in several years. M&S have been supplying our 

Christmas cake for the last few years. 

Younger son saw me putting the marzipan on the cake and said "I wanted to ask if 

you had made one this year but didn't like to"! 

Older son saw me icing the cake and said "Oo, homemade cake, so much nicer than shop bought".

Those two comments were worth their weight in gold, and every penny of income lost because of my reduced hours - in years to come I know the boys will remember the Christmas cakes I made - they would never remember "Oh, yes mum used to work 4 days a week"!

Yarny Christmas gifts -

 Cherry Drop and Holly Berry from West Yorkshire Spinners. 

I have plans to knit socks with this yarn. 

And yarn from Jamiesons of Shetland for my baa-ble hat. This is a free knitting pattern

 from Shetland Wool Week 2015. There are lots of finished examples of baa-ble hats 

here on Ravelry.  

What a super label!

Indulgent evenings spent reading craft magazines (more thoughtful gifts from children) and 

wearing my new pyjamas. 

I have wanted to buy snuggly pyjamas for several years but just never actually bought any. 

 I saw a pair reduced to half price just before Christmas and decided this year was my time to buy a pair, and I LOVE them!  

2015 has been a hard year, not so much for me directly but several friends have experienced

 quite difficult bereavements. I don't wish to say more on here. My thoughts have 

been with them over this Christmas period. 

For many, Christmas isn't the happy, jolly time portrayed all around us. 

I do hope that 2016, and the passing of time provides some relief.  

I do hope you all had a super Christmas and I send you all my very best wishes for a 

prosperous 2016!

And as always "Thank you for reading!"

xXx