Merry Christmas, Midsummer, Yule & Festivus

I know I've been slack about updating. Truth is, I've been panicking; we had a family gathering with 14 people last weekend, for my dad's family, we spent the day itself with my in-laws, and then we're going to Canberra to see my mother and siblings, tomorrow. Plus, all 3 of us are ill (We must have been on the very top of Santa's naughty list!).

My grand plans of a wholly handmade Christmas gift pile have fallen by the wayside. Apart from a bunch of baking for my cousins, the best I could manage was this no-sew polar fleece blanket for my aunt & uncle.

Wait, I guess that's not strictly true - I did manage to make yet another of Two Little Banshees's hippo stuffies, this time in green, a Midsummer gift for my son. I'm hoping it will be the first of a collection of "handmade stuffies by Mummy", not to mention beginning a tradition of one handmade gift opened on the equinox (I'd like to make something for my partner next year too, and encourage him and our boy to make presents for me and each other as well).

At least it's now mostly over. We just have to get over these colds!

Hot+Not

Another Sunday, another Hot & not. To play, post your own to your blog and link to Loobylu.
Claire's been blogging for ten years now! This blew me away until I realised I've been dabbling with the internet since 1994 myself. (Which makes it fifteen years since I taught myself HTML with a clunky book and a text editor, back in the spring holiday break of my first highschool year. Scary!)

Hot:
Figuring it out
I've got this doily my great-great grandmother made. I was named after her, and she died when I was very small. It's the only thing I have of hers. I've been trying to figure out a cool thing to do with it that won't trash it and that doesn't amount to "little old lady-esque decor with doilies under stuff" because that's just not my style.

I think I know what I'm going to do, courtesy of Amy at Grey Grid Paper.

Christmas baking
Mmm, Gingerbread. Mmm, sweet things. Mmm, baked goods generally.

Christmas carols
I can't help it, I love them. Even the super-cheesy ones about snowmen and reindeer.


Midsummer
I love swimming at the beach, thunderstorms, floaty summer dresses, long daylight hours and cicadas singing. Midsummer makes me happy - and it's coming up so soon!

Not:
Crowds at the shops
Ugh. Push, shove, rushrushrush.


Unfinished gift shopping
Every year I swear I'll get organised, and there's always somebody(s) I forget. This year I got my own little family sorted out... and now I have to shop for my siblings, parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, in-laws, friends...

Christmas baking
ACK! in the summer heat!

Hot + Not

It's been a slow craft week, as I've been prepping for the bellydance hafla I had last night. But its Sunday, so time for Loobylu's Hot & Not again.

Hot:
Christmas trees!

We finally got ours put up today.
I love Christmas decorations. Christmas was always a favourite time of the year, when I was growing up. One of the things I most looked forward to during my pregnancy was making it special for my child, too.

Bellydancing

It's been all about the hip wiggling this week.
I won't lie, I've been loving it. Bellydancing remains probably my strongest passion - SO good for body, mind and soul!

Getting gifts together
I LURVE giving gifts. I love shopping for and making the perfect thing for each person. Even the tricky ones - in some things I really relish a challenge.

Not:
Christmas crowds
I hate how crowded every public place seems to be, at this time of year, and how it's all rush, rush, rush.

Feeling flustered
The rushing going on everywhere gets into my blood. I tend to be fret-catching anyway, but everyone being fretful makes it so much worse. It makes me want to hibernate for the whole month.

Summer sniffles

Is there anything worse than a runny nose in hot weather? (brought on by the fact it constantly goes from almost forty to cold and late teens from day to day, sometimes) Yuck.