THIS MAGICAL EVE.....

Wishing you all a very

Happy Christmas!

Thank you for your visits

and for your sweet comments.

I've made some wonderful

friendships during the year

and I've enjoyed visiting

your amazing blogs.

Christmas Blessings

hugs

Shane

(images of my Nativity set

taken this evening)

Advent, preparation, expectation

I love tradition
and the Advent Wreath
has always been symbolic of
our Christmas preparations.

When our children were small
we made a big event
of choosing the
greenery, pine cones
and candles to make our wreath.

Our advent wreath sat
in the middle of our dining table
and each evening
we lit the appropriate
number of candles,

 We re-told the story of the
first Christmas.

Our children were aware
that Christmas
was not only about Santa Clause.

The first week in December
we bought our Christmas tree.

Then we all decorated
the tree together -
it was such a precious time!

I hope you're all enjoying
the lead up to Christmas day.

Please give a thought
for families with young children
and especially those who are
struggling to meet
their children's expectations
of what Santa
will bring them this year.

Thank you my dear friends for visiting my blog.

I will enjoy catching up with you all
and visiting your blogs very soon.
Be kind to one another

Shane x

LOVE THESE BAGS

Hello dear friends!

I've been such a

 neglectful blogger....

please forgive me!

All of a sudden

Christmas is almost here again

and I had promised

myself last year

that things would be different

for Christmas 2011!!!

I even had a reminder in

my diary...

October - make the Christmas cakes!

One for my daughter and family

in France,

and of course one for us

in New Zealand!

I was going to be so

prepared...

* make Christmas stockings for

my grand daughters

(not finished)

* also make pretty Christmas dolls

for the girls

(not even started, but I do

have the pattern - doesn't really count!)

* make cards for my dear blogging friends

who have been so kind to me,

sending me beautiful gifts,

doing blog posts,

leaving sweet messages here,

when I broke my hand....

(this is a small piece from some exquisite

french lace given to me by Barbara -

do pop in and say hello)

With all my good intentions

I've failed miserably....

 and I don't know why,

but I can't seem to get going

(no excuse I know)

..... until this week..

when all of a sudden,

I've been all of a flurry,

making and creating little cards,

baking Christmas goodies,

decorating the house

and

finally getting that

wonderful

Christmas spirit!

I'm hoping some of you

might feel just like me....

but I'm guessing you've all

been very disciplined

and are completely

organised,

and can now

sit back

and enjoy some Christmas cheer!!!!

The photos are of a

bag and goodies

I made for my lovely

blogging friend Carole.

We finally met earlier

in the year, when she

came to Auckland for

the Vintage Textile Fair!

Thank you my dear friends for visiting my blog.

I will enjoy catching up with you all

and visiting your blogs very soon.

Be kind to one another

Shane



YUMMY RASPBERRY FRIANDS

Every now and then I

have a game of

Mahjong

with friends.

Part of the fun is in

playing ladies

and indulging ourselves

in a delicious

afternoon tea!!!

Last time we played,
I made a plate of

Raspberry & Coconut Friands
(recipe as follows)

Image from here

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter

½ cup self-raising flour

1 ⅔ cups icing sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ cup ground almonds (almond meal)

¾ cup fine dessicated coconut

5 large egg whites

oil for greasing Friand tins

12 raspberries (I used frozen)

icing sugar to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 175˚C (330˚F)

Melt the butter and leave to cool

until just warm.

Sift together the flour,

icing sugar and baking powder

then stir in the ground almonds

and coconut.

Whisk the egg whites until

fluffy - but not stiff.

Fold into the dry ingredients,

then fold in the melted butter

and set the mixture aside

for 10 minutes.

Spray or brush friand moulds with oil.

Pour the mixture in,

add a raspberry to the centre

of each (don't push down as they sink)

Bake 20 minutes.

Cool on a rack

before tipping out of the moulds.

Dust with icing sugar
from a height to give
a fine dusting.

Bon Appétit

Thank you my dear friends for visiting my blog.

I will enjoy catching up with you all

and visiting your blogs very soon.

Be kind to one another

Shane

Je revien!!!

Bonjour dear friends!!

if any of you are still out there -

however, I won't be at all

surprised

if you've given up on me!

I would love you to stay

for a cup of tea

and a nice chat,

we've got lots to catch up on!

Do you have milk in your tea?

It's just been sooo long

I can't remember!

Let's get started!

Now tell me all your news

and don't miss out

a single detail please...

You've been on my mind

and I've thought about

you such a lot in

the last two months.

I've had the plaster removed -

what a relief that was!

And now I can drive again,

I'm no longer trapped

waiting for one of my dear friends

to call and take me out!

I'm now as free as a bird

it is just the most

wonderful feeling in the world!

This sweet miniature tea set

was my mothers

and she passed it on to me.

She loved beautiful china

and had some lovely

tea and coffee sets

which I'll show you another day.

Next time I'll share

a recipe for one of

my favourite cakes!

Thank you my dear friends for visiting my blog.

I will enjoy catching up with you all

and visiting your blogs  very soon.

Be kind to one another

Shane



ALL BLACK CHAMPIONS!!!

Over the last 8 weeks

New Zealand has hosted the

2011 Rugby World Cup

tournament.

On Sunday our team

the All Blacks

beat France

in a nail biting final

to become

WORLD CHAMPIONS!!!!

This is the illustrious trophy

the Webb Ellis Gold Cup.

It will stay in New Zealand

until the next event in

four years time in

LONDON 2015!!

Huge celebrations and

our time to party!!

Auckland celebrated

with a wonderful

ticker tape parade

When the All Blacks

play an international game

it is preceded with

their tradition

HAKA!!!

(a Maori war dance intended to

frighten the opposition!)



The supporters all entered into

the spirit of the occasion.

Many New Zealand faces were

painted black and white!!

The French supporters

were out in force too!!

It has been a wonderful

8 weeks, with so many

visitors here from all over

the world.

New Zealand enjoyed hosting

everyone who made the

long journey to our

little corner of the world!!

Thank you my dear friends for visiting my blog.

The plaster has now gone - Yea!!!

I will enjoy catching up with you all again very soon.

Be kind to one another

Shane