life with nelly: 'twas the week before Christmas .....and the day after xmas

Taken a while to get this post together...what with preparing for the annual festivities & no playgroups, we headed off to London for yet another Xmas party and Nelly did some big time partying - party in the morning, lunch with Nina and Molly and Molly's big brothers (much to Nelly's great joy! ) then playing and bathing with her favourite boys Kambo and Fraser - before a late night running around!

We have been builder-free this week, although there have been some local guys here finishing off the study....I also took the opportunity to get a bit festive with the decorations...with more ivy than I know what to do with on the side of the house, I decided to make a garland for the banister and intertwined it with some lights, it is staring to look a tad dessicated now but it is Boxing Day and I can always top it up for New Year!

With enough space for a tall tree I set off one lunchtime (while Nelly was sleeping) to buy a tree, amazingly enough I found a local farm that sells trees, I got there and the place was deserted except for a few long tall skinny trees! Just what I wanted and ones that nobody else did! ...with nobody around except myself and another prospective tree customer we ended up calling the mobile no. we found and negotiated a bargain price of £10 for each tree! It is a laughable tree but we love it and it has survived the festivities much better than the Norwegian non drop spruce that cost £15 more!

Although we were only four adults and Nelly for Xmas day , so far it has been hectic ...Sunday was lunch for 8 and Nelly, followed by a walk in the fog and the village Carol Service that Nelly slept through , Monday ( my birthday ! - cooked lunch for 6 adults and nelly...Boxing Day my sister and thegirlies arrived at 7 30 in the morning for full on playing again...they all played in the kitchen that Santa brought nelly ...they left today so now we are three again and no more people until new year!