Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree

Well today I felt very Christmassy. I put the tree decorations on and all the fairy lights. Trimmed the windows and got out the Christmas nativity. It's very old and battered these days but to me it's a part of my Christmas. I have had the figures since I was a little girl so who cares if Baby Jesus is missing a hand and that the other figures are chipped. I love Christmas. The glittery the better. Buster started off being interested in what I was doing but retired to his chair with his monkey and ball after a while as you can see.

I call it Christmas. To me it's the spirit of families, the remembrance of what it is all about, The Nativity, Baby Jesus, Midnight Mass, Father Christmas and the giving of gifts. I make no apologies for loving Christmas. I don't want to call it winter holiday, winter solstice or whatever the PC brigade want us to call it. I don't get offended when the Jews celebrate Hanukkah, the Muslims celebrate Eid, the Indians with Diwali so why should I be made to feel that it's wrong to have a Happy Christmas, sing carols and worship in the way I want? I am not offended in the least by anyone who follows their own religion. It's a free country and it would be an awful thought if we were not free to worship (or not) in our own way. I am not overly religious, I don't press my thoughts onto anyone so why should I be made to feel uncomfortable and worried in case I offend people. I have many friends in the Jewish and Asian community who all wish me a Happy Christmas and some send me cards so who started all this PC business anyway?

With all the house trimming and dog walking there hasn't been any knit or crochet done today. I didn't even finish off the hat last night as my hands were feeling the strain and my wrist ached badly. I will try to get some speed up tonight after I have cooked Sunday dinner, Another tradition even though I live alone these days. Got to have my roasted potatoes, chicken and veggies with gravy. Yes sir, I am an old fashioned girl when it comes to Sundays. Bacon and eggs to start the day and a roast dinner to finish it. You can't beat it.

True colour of blue crochet

I managed to sneak up on my web cam for this photo of Caroline's crochet cardigan. If I try to focus the camera then the colour goes greyer and greyer the longer the camera stays pointed at the subject so I apologise for the fuzziness I just captured the colour before it went!

Kevin's aran continues to haunt me. I have managed 64 rows of the pattern on the 2nd sleeve now and have calculated that I need a further 96 rows to finish. How sad it is that I have to force myself to count rows? Thankfully it is a raglan so once I start the decreases then the rows will go faster. I picked up a cream aran cardigan that I had knitted one front of a few weeks ago (for a friend) and sailed through another front last night so obviously I haven't lost my knitting mojo. Admittedly she is size 8/10 so not as much knitting as for my size 18. Now that should be an incentive for me to diet - less stitches and much less wool = more garments!

I have now organised my yarn stash into my spare bedroom. Well apart from the messy clutter (sorry craft corner!) that is lurking in my front room and not counting the patterns, boxes and bags in the pantry. I have now got some hanging files for the filing cabinet I gleaned from Freecycle but I am reluctant to take time from my knitting/crochet schedule to organise my patterns (thousands) from storage boxes into categories for filing. My friend Caroline is always trying to organise me so if I get a visit from her before Christmas perhaps she will motivate me.

She normally comes and prods me into putting up the Christmas tree and lights etc. I do love Christmas with all it's glitter just not so good these days with hauling the tree etc down from the loft. My tree is looking very shabby these days but once it is trimmed up not much of it shows. I look on it as a rather worn well loved teddy bear and am loathe to part with it for sentimental reasons. Anyway it is good for the planet using up old things and not buying new. I am not a person who changes the colour scheme of the baubles every year I prefer the old favourites. My nativity scene figures have been with me since I was a little girl although I do have a replacement Baby Jesus as it's original was made of wax and straw and got melted when I put the candles too close to the scene and set the stable on fire as a child. My Baby Jesus is out of scale and looks like a full grown toddler compared with Mary. I have also lost a couple of lambs along the way. One day I will make another stable as my little figures look a bit pathetic sitting there on the window sill.

The dog is looking rather forlorn as we had a bit of a lie in this morning and he hasn't yet had his breakfast or walk. I am such a bad mummy today. I think I will skip the morning walk and take him for a longer one at lunchtime. I should go up and get my flu jab as well. They only do them between 1 - 2 pm at my surgery so maybe Buster will have to wait until later for his walk. He is still limping so I think missing one walk will help rest it a little.