Deck the halls and trim the trees

My Christmas tree garlands are flying out the door faster than I can make them.

If you would like some of your own, you can find them in my Etsy store, or for Australian residents in my MadeIt store.  

They will also be available at the Moonlight Market at Sacred Heart Primary School, Pymble, on Saturday 26 November.  Once the final market for the year is behind us, Mr Fudge and I will bravely search through all the boxes in our storage locker for our Christmas decorations.

This was our tree last year, and in fact for many years before that.  It has been a good tree and many happy Christmases have been spent gathered around it.  However, this year we will be investing in a much slimmer tree, a necessity if we wish to have any sort of human movement in the living room during the festive season.  It will be our first Christmas in an apartment and although the living room is not large, the ceiling is quite high, so we will be on the lookout for a tall, thin tree.

Maybe something like this ...

  Oooo ... yes, this is more like it.

My First Century

I've just turned 100 - Etsy sales, that is.  I realise it's not Crack Open the Champagne stuff, but it's a milestone, something to tick off the 1,000 things I must do before I die list.

100th Etsy Sale

 
And where is global warming when you need it?  Brisbane is experiencing a winter worthy of our southern cousins Sydney and Melbourne.  In subtropical Brisbane we expect our winters to be civilised, with the nights a little chilly, but with mild, sunny days.  Not this winter - we have had temperatures plummeting to the coldest June temperatures on record.  So we ran away to Sydney for a few days.

We don't have many deciduous trees in  Brisbane, so it was something of a novelty to walk under large trees which allow the sky to peep through.

Gloriously coloured leaves ...

... make walking such a pleasure.

After a brisk walk, it's time to do a little reading.  Of course, I realise that when Grandad is around, this little four-year-old has eyes for no one else.  They are soul mates and have been from the day they first laid eyes on each other.  It's so heartening to see in this modern age that grandchildren and grandparents still have this amazing bond that no electronic games can replace.

All too soon we flew back to Brisbane where we have spent the last few days vying for heater space.  Today we had been looking forward so much to catching up with our Brisbane grandchildren and their parents, but poor Mr Fudge came down with a particularly nasty bout of 'flu and we reluctantly postponed the lunch until next week.

I had made two chicken and corn pies (fresh corn - none of your frozen or canned variety), enough to feed an army.  I was able to freeze one while we two frozen ice blocks made a reasonable attempt to polish off the other.

Lemon Meringue Cakes

   
As a special treat for the children, I made these muffin-sized cup cakes.  The middle is hollowed out and filled with lemon curd (yes, freshly home-made) and topped with meringue.  There were 12.  There are now 8.  What a shame.  Sorry kids.  Promise I'll make some more for next weekend!