I’m loving Fall.  The 60-70 degree temperatures we’re having are just perfect.  Over the weekend we had all the windows open to get some crisp Autumnal air running through the house.  And I managed to snap a few pics of some visitors to our back yard…

Other reasons to love Fall?  No more mowing the yard. Cooler temps = nights by the fire drinking hot chocolate (with marshmallows).  Brightly colored leaves on the trees…

The anticipation of the holidays.

Bring it on!

Wow.  Where did the time go?  The two weeks we were in England absolutely flew by.  And now we are back in the US and back to work already.  Boo. Although I didn’t get a a chance to post on the blog when I was across the pond, I wanted to share some of the amazing photos I took of the English countryside in all its Winter glory.  Although technically it didn’t snow on Christmas day, it did snow in the days running up to Christmas.  And on Christmas morn, the part of the world we were currently inhabiting looked like this…

and this…

and this…

 

and this…

Gorgeous, huh? Of course, all the snow and ice played havoc with the traffic.  At one point, it was touch-and-go whether my grandparents would be able to make the 2 hour journey to Wales to celebrate with the family (on the account of them living on a 45 degree angle death-hill). But Christmas eve, we braved the slushy death trap and brought my grandparents safely to Chepstow where we all spent a lovely Christmas in each other’s company.

Happy New Year everyone!

Just like the ones I used to know. This weekend, Rick and I are heading over to the UK to spend Christmas with my family. Rick’s niece, Ashley, is flying in today from Oklahoma – she has graciously agreed to look after our house and babies while we are gone.

As I’ve mentioned before, Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year.  There are a few English Christmas traditions that I miss when we celebrate in the USA, so it will be a treat to experience them again. 

Christmas crackers.  We put these on the dining table, along with party poppers and little chocolate treats (and the usual table setting fare).  After dinner, you pull the crackers with your neighbor – they go off with a large pop!  Whomever gets the larger end gets to keep the contents.  This usually includes a party hat, a really terrible joke or riddle, and some kind of small gift.  The quality (and usefulness) of the gift is directly proportionate to the cost of the crackers.  Read: more expensive crackers = better toys. One year, I tried to bring crackers in my carry-on luggage from the UK to the USA, but they were almost confiscated because they contain gunpowder.  Mmmmm yeah, not the best idea to bring explosives onto a plane, Amy.

Christmas Cake.  Ahh sweet, moist fruit cake covered in marzipan and icing, I adore thee.  There is nothing better than having a slice of Christmas cake on a cold Winter’s morn with a steaming cup of tea.

Christmas Pudding. Another version of the Christmas cake, except rather than being baked in the oven, it is steamed.  It comes without the icing, and is usually served with cream.  It is also heavily laden with brandy.

The pudding is traditionally served after Christmas dinner (not that anyone has left enough room for this dense dessert after all the turkey). To serve, you are meant to pour a *small* amount of brandy over the top and light it.  A little dinner table fireworks show, you see – the piece de resistance of the holiday meal. 

I always remember one year my mum got a little heavy handed with the brandy.  The resultant fire managed to sear the dining room ceiling.  Fun times.  I wonder what shenanigans we’ll get up to this year?  Stay tuned for my next blog post winging its way from England…

Craigslist gave to me … a free lighted Christmas tree.  Score!

Seeing as we will be in the UK for Christmas this year, we weren’t really planning on putting up Christmas decorations (except for these inexpensive DIY light-trees at our front door).  But when I saw this 7.5 foot pre-lit Christmas tree advertized on Craigslist for free, I jumped right on it.  Well, not literally.  You get the idea.

When we got the tree home, we plugged it on to make sure all the light were working. Given that it was a freebie, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the whole thing was kaput. But much to our surprise, everything worked just fine.

I love how the tree makes our sparsely decorated  front room (read renovation zone) feel so festive.  Just imagine how great it will look next year with the fireplace going, stockings on the mantel, and some gorgeous tree decorations I nabbed on clearance during this year’s post-Christmas sale!

What Christmas bargains have you scored this year? Any amazing deals on clearance or fabulous tales of freebies?  Do tell.  It is the season for sharing, after all.

Being from the UK, the whole Thanksgiving Holiday is quite new to me. Whilst I am definitely a fan of the two days off work, turkey and cranberry dinner and plenty of delicious desserts, I haven’t got into decorating for this particular festivity.  Yet.  Christmas on the other hand, I’m a BIG fan of.  I usually start thinking of buying chrissy pressies in September.  And I love it when stores play festive music and have Christmas ornaments on display in October.  Yes, I’m crazy. So by the time November comes around, I’m-a-ready to start decorating. This Christmas we’re going to be in the UK. Although it will be the first Christmas in our new house, I’m not sure whether it is worth going over board on the decorations.  So, I wanted to find a quick and easy (and cheap!) way to impart the festive spirit without going the whole hog.

Sparklies always bring a smile to my face. I figured something sparkly at the front door would be a good place to start. So, here’s how I made two sparkly Christmas trees to flank the front doors .. for a grand total of … wait for it…. $5.98.  Yep, for under 6 bucks, we now have these beauties welcoming our visitors and friends to our home.

How did I do it? I’ll break it down:

2 x Tomato Cage: $5.96

String lights: $0 (already had)

Electrical ties $0 (already had)

Imparting Festive Spirit: Priceless.

You can get the tomato cages from your local DIY store.  They come in a variety of sizes, ranging from little 2 feet ones up to 6 feet ones.  I scored a couple of the 4.5 foot high ones for $2.98 each. You’ll also need some string lights and some electrical ties.  We already had these on hand, thus costing us zilch. zero. nada.

Before starting to wind your light onto the frame, check to make sure your lights are working.  We forgot to do this on the second christmas tree, got to the end of the project, plugged the lights in …. and they didn’t work.  We swapped out every single bulb in case one had blown.  No luck.  So we ended up having to undo all our hard work and start again with lights that did work.  Lesson learned.  Always test the lights first.

Starting at the bottom, tie the lights onto the frame using the electrical ties.  These also come in a variety of sizes – I found the 4″ ones to be most effective. You can snip the excess plastic off the tie once you have tightened them around the frame.  To make sure the lights are evenly spaced, I used small pieces of blue painters tape to guide me. Rick thought this was terribly funny seeing as I am always ribbing him for being the OCD one.

Keep winding the lights around the frame, securing them with the ties, until you get to the apex of the tree.  How many lights are used will depend on how tightly the frame is wrapped.  We had a few lights left over when we reached the top, so we started winding them back down the frame until they run out. Et voila, in no time at all, you have a sparkly-in-the-making christmas tree. Repeat process for the second tree.

Rick set up the wiring outside so these babies will automatically come on when it gets dark.  He also covered the electrical plugs in these helpful protector boxes.

So, there you have it.  A quick and easy way to spruce up your hoose. The sparkly lights definitely make me feel more festive.

What decorations are you putting up this year to get you in the festive mood? Are you going all out or keeping things minimal?