It's certainly beginning to look like Christmas...

Yes Christmas is fast approaching. The menu seems to be finalised and the guest list is growing as family members remember people they would like to bring along to our place on Monday night. DH and I will do most of the shopping for food items on the weekend with just the ice for the esky holding the drinks to be picked up on Monday. There's a few more presents to be wrapped and some vouchers to be purchased online to be popped into greeting cards. All the Christmas cards have been posted, as have parcels to relatives  and friends interstate or even just across to the other side of our city. Becky got the little parcel of 'Australiana' that I sent her a few weeks ago as did another US friend,Claudia.

Claudia's cat, CC, sitting beside the 'kangaroo' Christmas stocking and the face washer with a cross stitched kangaroo.

The few shops that I've been into have been having big markdowns and one wonders how they manage to do this. I'm not complaining, as some of my (almost) last minute gift buying have been absolute bargains.

Yesterday a former colleague came over for lunch and of course we exchanged gifts! 

Great minds think alike...we gave each some towels as well as some other things. And Lee also gave me some very special mini Christmas puddings made by another friend of hers. They contain sugar but I'm still going to eat some! lol

And having fun pulling out all those decorations has continued...

Since this photo was taken, the tree skirt has been added and a number of wrapped gifts...

 The tall narrow set of shelves in the corner of the lounge room normally holds family photos and DH's golf trophies. I cleared out 3 of the shelves and put in some Christmas decorations....

The beaded Santa was a gift from a student in 2004. He had saved up to buy it for me...how humbling is that :-) Naturally I treasure it!

A close up of my knitted Nativity which I bought many years ago  at a craft market

A little tree covered in baubles that my SIL made me about 5 or 6 years ago...the runner on the bench was a gift from my SIL (from my first marriage)

Even the coffee table wasn't safe from my decorating fervour... in the bowl is actually an old hanging ornie which had a few scratches etc on it from its long years of service. You can't see the marks when it's surrounded by tinsel and sitting in the bowl :-) The tablecloth was on special at Spotlight about 10 years ago!

This was a fabric wreath that my SIL gave me in the early 1980s. Marlene was involved with a mothers' group that made items for the school fete where her children went. She bought this for me from their stall. It originally had some gum nuts as decoration but they had eventually disintegrated and the ribbons were a bit worse for wear. So I washed and ironed the ribbon, wiped over the dusty wreath, found some fancy gold ribbon I had bought for $1 for the roll and added a decoration that had been on a Christmas hamper that I received one year. 

 So now it's hanging up again, just like new.

Just got a text from DD1, there is someone else she would like to come for dinner on Christmas Eve :-) Hmmm another male...might have to re think how big the pieces of meat that I plan to roast  should be! lol