Happy Christmas, everyone!

Hi all, hope this post is finding everyone still in their pyjamas (mine have ice-skating penguins with Santa hats on them. Just sayin'.), relaxing nicely and enjoying the relative calm after all the fuss yesterday. I'll be honest, this is my favourite day of the Christmas holidays, no pressure, no expectations, just friends and family dropping by, much yapping and catching up, and everyone happy that the madness is over for another year. THIS is the bit where we can all relax and start to enjoy ourselves!

That said, yesterday was wonderful, and everything went according to (a very vague) plan. And no-one's come down with food-poisoning (yet), so I guess I prepped an okay Christmas dinner! Yesterday evening was spent relaxing with my dad and brother, and then I remembered... that nice Christmas set of jug and sugar-bowl on my table that highlighted the fact that the salt and pepper shakers weren't Christmassy at all? There was a reason I bought that nice Karisma in red and white...

There we go, all Christmassy! And cosy, too! And different heights, so we can tell which is salt and which is pepper without having to take their hats off unneccessarily.

Then I started with the icing of one of the cakes being delivered today...

No, not my best work, but bear in mind that this was 3am, it had been a REALLY long few days, and my stupid rolling pin had broken (so I used a bottle of red wine instead!). It'll do. It's the inside cake bit that matters anyway. But of course, this icing progress gave us left-over marzipan, at which point my brother joined the fun... (4am, plus two bottles of red wine later)...

At that point, it was decided that we should probably quit feckin about the kitchen, as other silly people in the neighbourhood might actually have been trying to sleep. And the hats? No, I do not have too much time on my hands. But I hadn't knit even a single row in FOUR WHOLE DAYS and was starting to lose my grip on sanity. All fixed now though.

So Happy Christmas everyone! Hope you get to see everyone you want to see, get plenty of relaxation in, and have an all-round good time. And, as my grandfather used to toast every year, "Go mbeirimid go leir beo ag an am seo arís." 

Happy Christmas and Merry 2012, one and all.

Photos! (if you can call them that)

Okay, a very brief post today, as I'm kinda busy, have hit that holy-crap-I-still-have-all-this-stuff-to-do-and-it's-going-to-take-me-WAAAY-longer-than-I-thought point of Christmas. Yes, I know it's on the same day every year, yet somehow it always takes me somewhat by surprise. Kinda sneaks up on you.

Anyhoo, for some light relief... as mentioned previously, I finally finished the Half Pi shawl I was working on. Piccies below, please allow for the fact that my camera skills SUCK, and that my knitting is therefore far more spectacular in real life! ;o)

That scallopy edging was a pain in the arse to block, I'd between 10 and 15 pins in each one (I used a lot of pins!), and half of them are still wonky. Worth it though, I think (in my totally unbiased opinion).

The flashes of turquoise here are other bedroom crap I couldn't quite get any further out of the way, this shawl is fairly big, and I just didn't have the room to spread it out properly for pictures! Kinda complements the purple though, I think... :o)

Bah humbug. Okay, maybe not.

It's just been one of those weeks. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. Okay, well, not quite EVERYTHING, but enough to make this a truly crappy-ass week that I'm struggling to get through.

I won't bore you with the details (hell, they bore me!), but suffice to say my health is really crappy right now, I'm absolutely wrecked, I hate the sight of hospitals at this stage, and I'm rapidly realising just how god-awful it is to try and do a proper Christmas for your family when you don't actually have a source of income. Yes, you could say I'm probably feeling a little sorry for myself right now. Screw it!

So, positives, people, let's focus on the positives! I have a family that I will be spending Christmas with. And they're quite a nice family, even if I do say so myself. Perhaps a touch on the crazy side, but then that's probably why I fit in so well here!

I finally finished my Half-Pi Shawl (had hit the point where I thought it was never going to end!), and it came out fabulously. Of course, then couldn't find new batteries for my camera anywhere to take pictures, so that'll have to wait. Soon, I promise!

The Christmas cakes have been baked (house smells beautifully of alcohol and fruit!), and I'll have the fun of icing them to look forward to next week. When I'll be doing the mince-pies with the little Christmas trees on them too. Maybe with some little snowmen, or some holly, for variety. I really love baking, especially at this time of year, nothing like it to lift the spirits (especially when several shots of spirits have made it into the recipe!).

Being so down this week has gotten me thinking though, of those who get seriously depressed this time of year. People are all incredibly busy around now, and as a result, don't always have the time a friend may be in desperate need of. (I have a list of unanswered e-mails/text messages from the past couple of weeks that kinda proves the point). However, the recently launched site, Black Dog Tribe, is definitely a place to consider for anyone you know in this predicament. This country has one of the highest rates of suicide in Europe, and it peaks at this time of year. Just because someone's smiley on the outside doesn't mean they're all warm and fuzzy on the inside too. Check. Ask. Make five minutes in your hectic lives for those who might really truly need it. Christmas is not about stuff, it's about people.

Okay, a very serious post for the day, I know, but I promise to endeavour to give a more light-hearted one next time. Maybe even with shawl pictures! Or iced Christmas cakes! ;o)