Catching up...

Some of the busy things that have been filling our days here in our little neck of the woods.

 Nigella's cheese stars for Christmas.  I made heaps and they vanished very quickly once again.  These seem to be Christmas favourite and really they are so very easy to make.

Icing Christmas Biscuits from Sophie Gray's Destitute Gourmet books.  Another favourite. Spicy biscuits with lemon icing.

What happens when you go out to the movies and leave two labradors alone with a whole watermelon on the back verandah.  Those are seeds not flies and it's been put up onto the BBQ to get away from those naughty girls.

Tree Day.  I started the tradition of tree day when my first nephew and niece were infants.  Each year I give my nephews and niece a new special decoration which we open around the first weekend or December.  These  decorations are then placed on my tree.  The kids each have a box where their 'tree day' decorations from past years are stored and they put these on the tree along with my own decorations. They then tinsel bomb the house while listening to Christmassy music.  In the early years this day was a challenge with 4 little ones all decorating up as high as your knee, and needing help and lots of supervision. This year was very different with ages ranging from 8 to 11 they were so good and independent.  A great day.

 We have made marshmallow shooters and measured how far we can shoot them around the yard and then stuff them in our mouths before the 10 second rule expires - or the ants get them....

 I've supervised lots of swimming.  Cousins, friends, play dates....

 The two J's have been busy around the yard learning new skills.  First time with the chain saw.

Since we got Sophie 9 years ago we've had a problem with this garden.  It used to be lush and full of shade house type plants.  Sophie insists upon digging here if we leave the house and not amount of scolding or punishment could induce her to do otherwise.  It drove me crazy and I asked that it be torn out and replaced with pavers as my christmas present. Master J got to work upon hearing this and his Uncle had to follow along.....

 I look straight out my kitchen window at this garden all the time and it drove me crazy.  I felt so much better looking at the area even when it had reached this state.  This photo is taken looking back along the verandah towards the granny flat.

Jeff hired a brick cutter from Bunnings and got busy making a lot of noise for a very long time.  He then got the pressure cleaner out and proceeded to make even more noise during clean up. Luckily our neighbours are a reasonable distance away.

The paving project is mostly finshed and has made an incredible difference to the visual appearance of our outdoor space but the biggest difference has been unexpected.  The floor inside stays much, much cleaner - no dogs trailing dirt in after a good dig and lie in the hole....  The dust levels are also reduced noticably.

We also have  skip bin out the front and we are tossing old garden pots, junk from the shed etc and having a pretty good clean up.