Short courses

Every year (for about the last 20 years anyway) I have chosen a short course of some sort to do.

It has to be something I haven't done before, and it has to be something not work related.

Previous courses have included:

• millinery (I made a hat with feathers and sequins and flowers),
• chinese cooking
• watercolour painting (i am so totally untalented in this area)
• mosaics,
• italian,
• writing a memoir,
• sewing with lycra (this was a long, long, long, time ago)
• flower arranging,
• rowing,
• beading,
• oil painting (my watercolour teacher suggested I try painting in oils)
• french polishing,
• decoupage,
• coffee making
• paper making
  

Haven't decided yet what this year's 'skill' is going to be.

Will do a barista course (again) as I got a coffee machine for my birhday.

Also will be buying a sewing machine soon (got sewing machine money for birthday also) so may well be something in the sewing line.

In the meantime I'll keep collecting short course brochures until the decision is made.

#blog12daysxmas Day 12.

This photo was taken on Christmas Day 2004. There are a lot of memories associated with this photo.

This was our last Christmas with dad. The previous day (Christmas Eve) he'd been diagnosed with (3 different types of) cancer.

When this photo was taken we had no idea that this would be his last Christmas.

The family Christmas photo has become a tradition - mainly at my sister's insistence..

.

And here endeth the #blog12daysxmas

It's been fun.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

#blog12daysxmas Day 11.

Christmas Presents o' mine.

• Lincraft vouchers
• Spotlight vouchers
• dvd stand
• wireless charging station for my gadgets
• 'quit my job' money box
• ben 10 christmas ornament
• Wooden Jewellery box in the shape of an F
• fahrenheit 451 t shirt
• ganache (chocolate) vouchers
• chokolait vouchers
• lindt vouchers
• koko black vouchers
• quo vadis diary
• kikki k vouchers
• typo voucher

Apparently people who know me think I like sewing, chocolate, & stationery!

Once I buy my birthday sewing machine I will be sewing in an organised fashion whilst eating chocolate (having put enough money in my money box to quit my job) - sounds pretty good actually.

#blog12daysxmas Day 10.

My Christmas Gifts to my family

Mum

Christchurch cathedral has an 'artist in residence' (who is a quilter) so at the cathedral shop I bought mum some fat quarters designed by the artist. They are the most gorgeous colours (my mum is head honcho of the craft club at her retirement village, and a mad keen quilter). I also gave her a necklace that she'd admired elsewhere.

Sister

Even tho the family has moved to a Kris Kringle for the adults, my sister & I decided we'd still exchange presents (this year mum decided to join us).

So I gave my sister a 2011 diary, a Paris journal & a silver articulated charm (she collects articulated silver charms -with moveable arms and legs). It's a cat with attitude.

13 year old nephew.

my sister, my brother & I joined together to buy nephew this big (huge) cricket bag he wanted. Cos it was so big we didn't wrap it. Instead, under the tree we put a giftwrapped cd box. Inside the cd box we bubblewrapped the tag from the bag. The emotions crossing his face as he unwrapped what obviously wasn't a cricket bag (he had been convinced we were giving him the bag) were priceless. Once he'd unwrapped the tag we sent him out to the car where the bag was hiding in the boot.

10 year old niece

She desperately wanted make up and jewelry so I gave her a sample set of glitter eyeliners, and another sample set of lip glosses. Also a silver bracelet from a local craft market (she always admired mine so I got her one of her own)

5 year old nephew

T shirt from New Zealand (with a pic of a kiwi made from lego on the front)

Denim shorts (he's a clothes horse)

An amp for his paper jam guitar.

3 year old nephew

T shirt from New Zealand (with a pirate and a surfboard on the front))

Board shorts

Dinosaurs (he's going through a dinosaur phase atm)

My Kris Kringle.

In the kris kringle i drew my sister-in-law. I gave her a lululemon yoga mat strap and a lululemon gift voucher.

****************

Tomorrow I'll post the gifts I received.

#blog12daysxmas Day 9.

Christmas Songs

I blame my calisthenic upbringing for my preference for christmas songs (as opposed to christmas carols)

My favourite christmas song is "I want a hippopotamus for christmas"

My christmas playlist on my ipod (the christmas songs come off on the 5th January) includes such classics as

• Nuthin for christmas,
• All i want for christmas is my two front teeth,
• The fairy on the christmas tree,
• Are my ears on straight,
• When Santa got stuck in the chimney,
• I saw mummy kissing santa claus,
• Grandma got run over by a reindeer,
• Rockin around the christmas tree
• Little Saint Nick
• Jingle Bell rock

I think as a calisthene (competitor, coach, or audience) I've been involved in staging all the above songs.

There's also a few christmas carols on the ipod.( i have a multi disk best of Carols by Candlelight set) so a lot of Marina Prior, Denis Walter & Michael Cormack.

It's funny what sounds and songs mean christmas to people.

And many, many, many versions of Oh come all ye faithful

#blog12daysxmas Day 8.

Street Party

For the last few years Hamilton Street, Mont Albert, has held a Christmas street party in mid December each year.

They put one long one table along the middle of the street for the christmas dinner portion of the street party.

The first year we were all seated, introducing ourselves to our table neighbours when a fire engine, siren blaring, inched its way along the street.

"Oh" we exclaimed "what a good idea to have Santa arrive on a fire engine for the kiddies" (the childrens play area - bouncy castle, handball competition, basketball competition, petting zoo - was at the far end of the street past the dinner tables)

We continued with similar exclamations as the children raced up to the fire engine only to find out that Santa wassn't on board.

Yep, you guessed it - the fire engine was responding to a real fire.

A fire had broken out in the back room of the op shop so instead of seeing Santa arrive on the fire engine we got to watch firemen fighting a fire.

After the flire was extinguished the fireys were offered coffee and cake before they went back to the fire station, and we went back to our Christmas meal.

That was the only street party (so far) that the fireys have been at...