Happy Christmas

The top picture shows Julia in her spotty skirt and waistcoat- both made by me!
Then you can see Lydia and her ukele- a christmas present.
Then the four of us on Christmas Eve before going to bed!
Phil is still not quite well but we have had a lovely time so far- although we haven't played Classical Top Trumps yet! But I'm sure we will!!!

Ready for Christmas!

This is our Christmas tree,rather taller than we've had before!
I marzipanned the cake this morning and will ice it later today or tomorrow( should have done this last week!)
I finished sewing Julia's spotty skirt ready to wear on Christmas day, now I can make the curtains for Phoebus and start knitting Phil's jumper.
Phil is in bed with flu-it must be bad for him to not get up, poor thing. I'm off to Sainsburys in a mo to get last bits of food.
Looking forward to Thursday.
Happy Christmas to you all.

Joy has dawned upon the world,
Promised from creation—
God's salvation now unfurled,
Hope for ev'ry nation.
Not with fanfares from above,
Not with scenes of glory,
But a humble gift of love—
Jesus born of Mary.

Sounds of wonder fill the sky
With the songs of angels
As the mighty Prince of Life
Shelters in a stable.
Hands that set each star in place,
Shaped the earth in darkness,
Cling now to a mother's breast,
Vuln'rable and helpless.

Shepherds bow before the Lamb,
Gazing at the glory;
Gifts of men from distant lands
Prophesy the story.
Gold—a King is born today,
Incense—God is with us,
Myrrh—His death will make a way,
And by His blood He'll win us.

Son of Adam, Son of heaven,
Given as a ransom;
Reconciling God and man,
Christ, our mighty champion!
What a Savior! What a Friend!
What a glorious myst'ry!
Once a babe in Bethlehem,
Now the Lord of hist'ry.

Here is a picture of my lovely man on the beach at Bantham, overlooking Burgh Island.
This was our first outing in Phoebus and the first time we cooked!
On the way home we bought a Christmas tree that turned out to be way too big for our lounge! It doesn't look too bad now we have trimmed it a bit, and moved the furniture around.
This is our last week of school before the Christmas festivities. Just the four of us this year, I don't think that has happened before, but Hannah is working up until Christmas Eve and Daniel will be moving away from Portsmouth in February, so is spending the holiday with Crystal, but at least they will be in the same town this year.

Maths!

I am sitting at the computer next to Julia's desk where she is doing maths. Maths is a bit of an issue with Julia and she has moved from leaving it till last in her schedule to wanting to do it first to get it out of the way!Having said that I think the only problem is in her head, and once she concentrates is perfectly able!
She has settled into quite a nice programme of study and the only change I am making for the new year is her history book. I want to whizz through British history this year as I am keen to study Australia before we get stuck in exam work(in a few years time I know).
Lydia continues with History,Biology,English Literature and Music history/theory with Phil.She is still considering her future and we wait for an appropriate time to discuss it with her!!

Trip to Portsmouth

We have just returned from a lovely weekend in Portsmouth.
We travelled up on Friday in our newly converted Phoebus- very comfy!
Phil attended a retirement lunch whilst the girls and I shopped and waited for Hannah to get off work. We then lost Lydia to her St.Edmunds friends and helped Hannah with Tesco shopping. That evening Daniel and Crystal came to tea,it was lovely to be all together.
Saturday saw us visiting friends,seeing Daniel, more shopping and a lovely Thanksgiving Dinner with our friends in Chichester-Ian and Cindy.
Sunday we were at Eastney and Becky and Abigail came to lunch- well done Hannah on a delicious roast.
Monday took Phil and Lydia to the School of Music for a visit.Then back to Dartmouth!