And the winner is....

Using a random number generator VooDoo Queen wins the big bundle!

The winners of the three herb packs are...
Jennie, D. Suplicki and Moon Daughter

Congrats all! I'll be contacting you for your info and your giveaway prizes will be on their way shortly.

Phew!

Yule, Christmas and Boxing Day feasts... done. There's just New Years with the in-laws and birthday celebrations for the husband and the festivities will be complete.

For all the worry and stress, all the crazy over-doing, we finally managed to step back and have had a grand time.

Hope your holiday was just as sweet :)



Yuletide Blessings

It's been a fantastic day :) We just finished a fab Yule feast and I wanted to send out our brightest Yuletide blessings to all of you from our wee family. Here are our wishes to you and yours...

May you find beauty in simple things, 

notice the magic that surrounds you,

and know that some things that glitter are more precious than gold.

We hope that the faeries and other wee folk take care of you, and you them.

May you be blessed with many treats and good things for the year to come.

May your home be filled with warmth and smiles,

memories that are light and lovely,

and bellies full of yummy things.

We hope you remain a wee bit cheeky too :)

Most of all, we hope that that you always have a wee bit left over,

& that you are as happy as can be.

You are a lovely bunch :)
xoxox

The Dirty Secret

I'd like to share some pictures of my pretty Christmassy house.

Our mantle, lovingly decorated and waiting for three perfect furry red Christmas stockings to be hung with care on Christmas eve.

Our dining room where we'll have our Yule and Christmas and Boxing day feasts.

The pretty view from my kitchen where I keep an eye on the kids sledding down the toboggan hill.

Home made cookies...

there's even some dinosaur sugar cookies!

It's all quite wonderful, no?

The thing is, while there's all that pretty stuff there's also some of this going on...

dishes on the counter...

laundry begging to be done...

a desk full of projects...

runny, sticky jam...

that ruined my perfectly lovely sugar cookie Christmas trees...

Over the past few days I've been reading a lot of bloggers who are feeling overwhelmed at the mo' and I just wanted to say ... it's hard, I know, and I feel all that pressure too.

If you're feeling the holiday crazies over the next couple of weeks please try remember that it's ok not to be perfect... in fact, I like you better that way :)

Much love and big hugs to all of you!

xoxoxo

Christmas Bliss

It's around 11:30 am, I'm on my second cup of tea, second load of laundry, the beds are made, I've showered, done a bit of painting, started a couple of Christmas crafts and crossing my fingers I don't burn out and need a nap by 3 this afternoon :)

My husband sent me this link today... it's made me insanely happy so I thought I'd share it.

That old feeling is squirming it's way back in!

Woo hoo! Ok, I'm slowly getting out of my funk. I've been watching The Vicar of Dibley for two days straight and that big beautiful, enormously talented and terribly funny woman, Dawn French, has cheered me right back up again. (A wee bit of snowfall didn't hurt either)

Anyway I've been making and baking like crazy and here's what I have to show for it...

Festive jamma pants for the kidlet.

Loverly bags filled with hand painted clothes pegs

Black diamonds

Thumb print cookies with homemade jam

Chunky hat and scarf for me muther

Still lots to do but since some holiday cheer is creeping back in I'm not dreading the doing, in fact I'm rather enjoying myself :)

Judika Illes Book Giveaway at Weiser Books

Weiser Books is doing a 5 Days of Yule Giveaway. Today they are giving away two Judika Illes books. I adore Judika's books, I have a few of her titles and I use them all them time.

Head on over and check out the contest link here ... http://weiserbooksblog.com/2010/12/13/day-1-of-5-days-of-yule-giveaway/

Good Luck!