That's more like it!

We finally got the doors back for our multi-fuel stove. They'd had to be sent back to the manufacturers to be repaired, so we've had no heating in our kitchen this winter. Luckily, it's been fairly mild up until the last few weeks, when it's been perishing in there. But oh, how toasty warm it is now. At last I'll be able to sit out there, listen to the radio and stitch in the afternoons.

The trick now will be to learn how to keep it in overnight. It went out last night, but the kitchen was still warm when I went down this morning, and it only took a few minutes to light it again.

I'm sure I've made lots more little Christmas decorations, but this seems to be the only one I've photographed.

We've managed to find a new home for the Christmas quilt that I made last year, and it still looks wonderful. Well worth all the effort.

We bought our Christmas tree yesterday and put it up in a corner of the lounge; it's a larger tree than we've been able to have before which is great, and, oh, the smell of fresh pine that greeted me when I opened the lounge door this morning. I've discovered that it's impossible to photograph a Christmas tree well. I've taken about twenty shots, but without the lights on it looks dull, using the flash with the lights on it looks equally dull, not using the flash makes it look garish. And you can't seen the ornaments however you do it! Still, it looks lovely, and will look even better once the presents are around it.

Decorating the Christmas tree is a job I've always kept for myself, though I let the boys help when they were younger of course. It's a time for me to remember the past, my parents and grandparents, Christmases when I was young, and more recent Christmases when my sons were young. We've got decorations from my mother's childhood, as well as those we've bought and made each year and each one carries its own memories. Magic.