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"!!

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.

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.

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.

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

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 

How long till Christmas?

I haven't blogged for ages as I just haven't had any spare time.  I've been trying to get all my special Christmas Cards made for mine & Allens' lovely families back in the UK.  Got Allens' batch all done & sent to his sister for distributing. All the other special cards are made & ready to go as soon as I finished the little gifty bits to add in - was going to post piccis but as some of the family check my blog I can't until after the event.
Anyway I have just got to finish a bit of knitting & then I'm done & can start planning Christmas Day.  We have 4 or 6 friends coming for traditional Christmas dinner - I love cooking this meal so volunteer to do Christmas Day. The others then do Boxing Day & Three Kings, which is the main day for celebrations in Spain. Will make table gifts for everyone so have to decide what to do for each one before I can start to make them.