What I've been up to

I've had a busy and productive day today and am feeling quite happy with what I've achieved. Firstly, Emily and I went into town this morning to get a present for her friend in America. We stopped at Nero's for a quick coffee/hot chocolate before shopping but, unfortunately, they didn't have any soya milk so I couldn't have my chai soya latte :( and I ended up with a cup of tea instead because everything else uses too much milk! We didn't stay in town long as the pavements didn't feel safe and it was COLD!

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Back home again and I made some Cranberry sauce using the recipe Ruth had mentioned on her blog a few days ago. I had bought some Cherry Brandy while we were out this morning and had all the other ingredients at home. The cranberries had acutally been bought because I really liked this decoration Joni had made but when I tried it at home the container I had been going to use wasn't wide enough for the cranberries and the candle :( - Cranberry sauce was my alternative use for them and from what I tasted today, it should be rather yummy!

The rest of my afternoon was more or less taken up making little gift cards (which Karen had shown on her blog) using the Christmas supplies I already had. However, I can't really show you them or it will spoil the surprise for those who are getting them.

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Instead, I took a few photos of some of my favourite Christmas ornaments. I recently started reading Karen's blog (yes, another Karen!) and she was talking about having got a 50mm lens and had been taking some photos with it. I got my 50mm lens some time ago but haven't really tried it out properly so today I decided to put it on my camera and take a few photos to see how I got on. I think the reason I haven't played much with it before is because I've been quite lazy ;o), it's so easy to put on a zoom lens and zoom in and out as you please without having to move much. However, I do like the results I got with the 50mm and think I'll be playing a lot more with it in the near future. (I'd like to thank all the ladies I've mentioned, for the inspiration I get from their blogs and for the ideas they are happy to share with everyone who reads their blogs. Isn't the internet a wonderful thing! Thank you!) My glass Santa (above) and Snowman (below) came from a little shop in East Grinstead. They used to have the most beautiful ornaments but, unfortunately, they closed down a little while ago and although the new owners kept the shop name, it's not as nice as it used to be.I bought the ornament below when I was in Denmark in 1984! I stayed with my Dad's cousin and her family for a couple of weeks and had a fantastic time. I was there at the end of November (I think) and got to see the Christmas market - which I loved! I bought a few ornaments but this is one of only a couple that have survived our moves backwards and forwards between South Africa and England. One day I'd love to go back to a Christmas market in Denmark to stock up again. And finally, a photo of Emily. She is getting so grown up and is so pretty (I know I'm biased but I do think she's pretty!). It's not often she'll let me take her photo and although I only took this one tonight, I love the way it turned out. I hope you've all had a good weekend and are ready for the final countdown to Christmas! I hope to post my layout for today, tomorrow.

xx