Mother knows best

For a while the kitchen looked the Christmassyest part of the house.
I had intended to clean, polish and hang the star candleholders...
The beautiful cloth is an Elizabeth David inspired teatowel that came with my Folio Society Diary.  Beneath it lies the bread Steve made last night - a big treat when you're no-carbs.  I suggested to Steve that we have tomatoes on toast for lunch but we nobly decided to stick with the ham and turkey.

We've been doing a sort of gift-tease - opening a present every cuppla hours.  Imagine my delight when I discovered this Bayliss Muscat Gourmet Cake from Mum.  Mum has never really got the idea of a carb-free diet, thank goodness.  You wait till you see the treat I've promised myself for tomorrow.

The white lantern is the prototype for the hundreds I was going to make to festoon the tree outside our house for the street party last night...  You can also see I managed to crochet one more Christmas Tree.  When I saw the wool I thought it would make a delightful forest of trees in the colours of the Northern Lights.  I'm more of an ideas person.

My poorly straightened and cropped photo does not do justice to the calendar Tamasin made.  The photos are beautiful, capturing exquisite decorative and design details.  The text is a joy to read.