Boxing Day at Marinas

Today was spent in the company of the same good friends as yesterday. This time at the home of Gordon & Marina. Good food, plentiful alcohol for those who imbibe & soft drinks for those who dont.

Dane got amorous

Gordon was hand fed

And Allen almost wrecked the house!

Plus I learnt something new. Gordon is in charge at their house & always has the last word "Yes Dear"!!

Pets Christmas

I cant leave out the animals at Christmas and they both had their parcels. Sooty got a collar with a blue bandana & bells plus some cat nip treats while Lisa got choc drops, a snowlady soft toy & a new collar with bandana.
The picture shows them admiring each others bandanas.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day has been & gone but it was a good day spent with good friends.
Each couple had got gifts for the others which we opened in the break between the main course & dessert. Gill had made up small Christmas sacks which took us all back to our childhoods, with a tangerine, a chocolate coin and sweety treats as well as gifts. Dane & Gordon had traditional Christmas hats while Allen received a chefs hat complete with Santa.

Marina had got Gill & I special scarves that we both had admired on a girly day out, while the men got wine & a treat. I had got the men mugs & some of their favourite sweets, with the girls getting a floral storage case for their handmade cards & a craft magazine. Lisa hadn't been left out with some choc drops from Marina & a new teddy from Gill.

 Dane, Allen & Gordon

 Marina, Gill & Me

Today we are all at Marinas, and on 6th January - Three Kings at Gills.

Scrapbooking

Having completed my first scrapbook of a holiday in Florida I have now started on my second. This time it will be of my two Great Nephews - Haydn & Evan.  Have completed the first page.

Will post pages as they are done - so that Andi & Chloe can see them before they get the final article.

Christmas Cake

I have just completed my first attempt at icing a Christmas cake. Allen had made the cake some time ago, along with 5 others for friends. My decoration isn't up to the standard of my niece Chloe http://clobell.blogspot.com/ but for a first effort I was quite pleased.

Christmas Table

Following on from a previous blog. My Christmas table is now set, complete with my table centre. The theme is plum & silver. I made the silver place mats by covering standard plastic ones with embossed paper silver table runners. I got matching napkins and the crockery & cutlery were bought on a recent trip to Ikea in Murcia but put away for Christmas. Happy with the overall finish.

Special Christmas Card

I have had to wait before I could post the blog as the person  the card was made for hadn't received it. One of my crafters husband asked me to do a special Christmas card for his wife Marina. So this was what I came up with. The card is made using the Keepsakes Tall Books embossing board and the box is designed to fit it & show off the card as it has acetate it the window. It also has a stand to support the card.

Table Decoration

I have been looking around at the shops for ideas for a Christmas table decoration but nothing, as they say, rang my bell. Then on a visit to a local DIY shop with 2 friends we came across contemporary silver metal Christmas trees which were on special offer. With a red glittery reindeer - yes I know Santa had 7 - some matching snowflakes & some clear gems I had the start of my decoration.
A visit to our local Chinese shop yielded a large red glittery plate, a red, green & silver tinsel & small red & silver baubles.  The tree was stuck down to the plate using silicone glue, then some of the baubles were threaded onto the tinsel, which was then wrapped around the base of the tree. The remaining baubles were then dotted around on top.
An inexpensive table decoration but it will fit in perfectly with my colour plan for the table - maroon & silver. Watch this space for a photo of the finished table.

Christmas Present

When we collected our post yesterday there was a package from my nephew Andi & his lovely wife Chloe. Along with our Christmas card was a lovely banner which Chloe had handmade for us. She is such a talented young lady. To view more of her beautiful work go to http://clobell.blogspot.com/.

Here is a picture of our banner. Thank you Chloe.

Crafters Christmas Cards

Since I started running the craft group I said that they had to make each others birthday & Christmas cards. It is always nice to see what they come up with. These are this years Christmas cards made for teacher (me).

Clockwise from 12 - made by Gilly, Pammy, Irene, Mavis, June & Marina. Centre is by Janet. I am so proud of them all.

Getting into the Christmas Mood

Having had a few days of cold weather Thursday was much better so we decided to get the outside lights up. We had bought a new set as one of the ones from last year had gone to the Christmas light heaven. First the shooting star went up followed by the new set along the bottom of the balustrade and finally 2 shorter sets meeting in the centre.

 Daylight views

Nighttime views

Zumba Progress

The Zumba classes are still continuing - much to my surprise and I am really enjoying them. The arms & feet are now doing the same dance at the same time - well most of the time they are.  The hour flies by & I am well & truly shattered by the end of it, but I am starting to see results - waistline has reduced & I have lost 7lbs in 4 weeks. I know its not a lot but that is without dieting so I am happy with the results.
Classes are continuing through the Christmas holidays so it will be ideal & in the New Year I can combine it with dieting too so should see improved results.

First Christmas Party

Last night we went to our first Christmas function.  This was for all my crafting ladies & their husbands. We went to a local restaurant and had a superb meal with lots of chat & revellry.
When we arrived there was a beautifully wrapped parcel in front of my place & when we had finished they gave me a thank you card & I was allowed to open my gift.  A box of my favourite choccies - Lindt D'Or  & a gift voucher worth 30€ for my favourite jewellery shop - Bijou Brigitte.

As Allen is tea boy when they all come they also bought him a bottle of Reserva Red Wine, which he will really enjoy.

I thank them all & for posperity their names are:- Pammy Walker (Mrs Straight Lines), Gilly Howard (Dizzy Blond), Marina Beardsall (I Like Green), June Whitworth (I Can't Decide), Irene Everett (Dancing Queen), Janet Pocock (Can I do Lilac)  & Mavis Riley (Mrs Messy). They are a great bunch of girls & I love them all.
A special mention for Pammies husband Arthur/Wally. A man came around selling single long stem roses which all the husbands declined but Wally followed him out & bought one for all the ladies. A special touch which went down well with all of us. Big thank you Wally x 

Cold Weather

The nights have been getting colder even though the days are still warm enough when the sun is out.  Last night was the coldest yet with the temperature down to 1.3ºC. Not quite as cold as UK but cold enough that even Lisa needs her bed socks on to go to bed.

At least her front feet & legs were warm. Doesn't she look cute.

Change of Bowls Club

Well following the last blog about our success in the club rinks match we had problems within the club. Allen, myself & four others have left Vistabella and 3 of us have gone back to our old club San Luis, where we have been greeted by many good wishes. Makes us wonder why we left in the first place.
So all our efforts in the Club competitions were in vain - but sometimes you have to lose something to gain in the long run.  In this case it means that I can again play Ladies pairs with Sheila Cox in both Nationals & Valencians so hopefully we can go one better than last year.