On the First Day of Christmas my Swap Mates sent to me.

Lots of pretty things to put around my tree.

From my Santa Sack Swap partner,

A lovely traditional stocking.

This little packet contained,

A very jolly bauble, which is upon the tree.

Ooh, fancy that, a gift for Ben.

lots of little packages, tied up with Christmas ribbon, I will be using every last inch of this.

Collected seeds for my garden.

Ribbon and buttons for my creations.

More seeds, all will find their place in my garden.  once the time is right.

A package full of home crafted cards, I may share them with you later.

An embellished note book. Perfect,I love making lists. I may just use this to record my progress with the new crafts for next year.

The ribbons all harvested, I wound them round short pieces of wooden dowelling.

Even the gift tag is crafted, and saved.

These gifts have made me even more determined to learn new skills.

I am so impressed with my cards in particular, I will undoubtedly be calling on help from the multi talented Dawn to help.

Then there is the 12 days of Christmas Swap. I opened the first one while the kettle boiled for my first cup of tea.

An intricate tree bauble and a Scandi Style hanging decoration

The bauble went directly onto the tree and I found a place for the hanging decoration.

Ben had gifts as well, this is the view we were treated to once he had the first one.

It was a ball, I use the past tense deliberately as he ripped it to shreds in about 5 minutes. The rope chew toy has now been hidden under a corner of his bed (by him)

This was in his gift from the first swap, and yes he did like them but they will be rationed.

I hope that you have all had the Christmas morning that you wished for, mine certainly exceeded my expectations. I hate to brag but I did get a Sissix Big Shot, along with some dies and a pack of felt to play with.

Some cooking ingredients, books and crafting goodies have all been unwrapped and drooled over (so to speak).

Francesca in on the sofa wrapped in her Footsie Blanket, a joke gift that she was delighted with, and Ben is snuggled down with her.

The Turkey crown has been anointed with butter and adorned with streaky bacon, The roasties are par boiled and tossed in a little oil and seasoned. Parsnips have also been par boiled but they are slathered with butter, maple syrup and wholegrain mustard.

A hybrid version of Pigs in blankets crossed with stuffing balls are also wrapped in bacon and ready for the oven.

The steamer has carrots, sprouts and broccoli florets in its layers. Finally the stock is in the fridge for the gravy, I had a whole free range turkey and took the crown off to roast. The rest went in to the slow cooker along with some aromatics and carrots and the meat was taken off the bones once cooked. Ben will have some and the remainder will be frozen.

That's all for now.

                         TTFN                                           Pam