A Toast

The last day of the year. It makes you think, doesn't it?

I was going to be flippant with this:

But can one still make resolutions when one is over forty? I live according to twenty-year-old habits (Andre Gide)

Or more reflective with this:

For last year's words belong to last years language
And next year's words await a new voice
And to make an end is to make a beginning (T.S.Eliot)

But what I really wanted to say was thank you to everyone who has visited me here over the last couple of months; to my followers (whose smiling faces make me happy every time I post); and to my comment queens who keep coming back and chatting. Thank you! You make my day. Every day. Let's raise a glass and look forward to 2010 together..

Yes we've been soda-streaming again

That 70's Show

It's all gone a bit retro here at High In The Sky today. Which is exactly what I'd hoped for. It means The Accountant likes his present! He's been waiting quite some time for one of these - I know they were still around at the end of the 80's because I do remember him idly wondering if someone might feel inspired to offer us one as a wedding present. But I'm thinking perhaps they were more of a 70's thing? Does this look familiar?

Sodastreams were popular. I know that; though we didn't own one and neither did my in-laws, apparently. I think maybe our Dads were holding on to their old soda siphons instead - battered relics of bachelordom and a nod towards dreams of becoming James Bond. But I'm losing my focus. The point is The Accountant wanted one and now he has one. I know he was pleased because he slipped away quietly and reappeared wearing his Austin Powers shirt (see below for further details). With the help of the small One (who heard the words "gas" and "cylinder" and volunteered immediately), he carefully unpacked the box and stepped back to admire.

Things got a bit sticky shortly after that. I was forced to admit that I hadn't been able to, um, buy the flavouring concentrates anywhere. Sparkling soda we could do. Flavoured sparkling soda was more of a problem. The Small One ducked into the larder to see what she could find...chocolate Crusha? or how about Cream Of Chicken? She offered brightly, brandishing a can of Campbells. We settled on Lime Cordial. And it worked. I think I'll keep looking for the official flavours though.Then we'll be Groovy, Baby.

Today I'm Loving..these wine bottle holders from simply Handmade. A stylish way to bring a bottle to a New Years party?

Busy Doing Nothing

These first few days after Christmas are some of my very favourite of the whole year. I do love that holiday rush to fit in friends and relations before the Big Day; but once it's gone, I relish the thought of the four of us closing the door and rediscovering just how much we enjoy each others company. We have plenty of food, and more than enough new entertainment, to keep us going for the rest of the week. We've been feasting and laughing and relaxing. And we hope that you have too. Later today, we'll venture out for a walk by the river. But no further than that. The Sales hold no attraction just yet, when we are still so delighted with our gifts. I'm going to finish up the final few pages of my Christmas Journal, too, and catch up on some blogs. I'm looking forward to reading about your festivities. And then, I think, I'll stretch out on the sofa and enjoy a film. Pass the remote, please, and let's open the chocolates..

From Our House To Yours

From our house to yours...

Merry Christmas.

Almost A Recipe

A couple of days ago my blogging friend Mel asked me if I had any more Christmas recipes to share. So, I had a bit of a think and I came up with this one. It's a recipe, certainly, but what you end up with isn't for eating. It doesn't need any cooking, it's very easy to do and it smells wonderful. What do you think?

It's a recipe for cinnamon scented tree decorations. I found the instructions in Country Living magazine and tried it last year..and this year they're still looking good. It's a great project for children.

• You will need 250g apple sauce; 1 teaspoon pva glue; 120g cinnamon; Christmas biscuit cutters
• Mix all the ingredients by hand to form a stiff dough adding a little water if necessary
• Roll out to 1/2 thickness and cut out with biscuit cutters
• Make a small hole at the top to thread ribbon through so you can hang your decoration on the tree
• Leave to dry. This might take a couple of days..I know we're cutting it a bit fine here; but there's always next year. They smell gorgeous so it's worth a go just for the scent alone.

When we tried them one of us got really stuck in:

and one of us wondered if there was anything else he could possibly find to do:

Which is fair enough if you are a teenage boy and your mum asks you to stick your hands in a bowl of cinnamon.

And that reminds me of what I'm Loving Today...the unexpected pleasure of slightly-grown-up kids at Christmas. I've just discovered The Small One doing some secret and special wrapping of her very own. All by herself. She bought the candy canes as a surprise when she was out with her friends and now our parcels look like this:

Hurray! My wrapping problems are over

Time For A Story

It's the last Sunday evening before Christmas. Here at High In The Sky we are looking out at the gathering clouds and drawing the curtains against the night to come. We are searching out candles to give a soft glow against the flickering of the Christmas tree, and curling up on the sofa in front of the fire. It is time for a story.

At times like this, when I was a little girl, my mother would reach for her copy of  Wind In The Willows- the one with the thick, creamy pages and the the yellow cover which always, always felt dusty - and she would turn to the chapter called "Dulce Domum", Home Sweet Home; and tell us how Mole found his way back to his old house in time for Christmas:
"this place which was all his own, these things which were so glad to see him again and could be always be counted upon for the same simple welcome."

When I was a little older, I chose to read for myself the wonderfully festive scenes in Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books. How Pa carved a beautiful shelf as a gift for Ma; how Laura and the cousins played snow angels; how very little became more than enough for Laura, snug with her family in the neat log cabin tucked away in the woods.

It was as a grown up that I discovered Shirley Hughes' wonderful Lucy and Tom's Christmas - in a tiny, shiny, little hardcover edition. It's a children's story. Traditional, nostalgic, timeless, I think, I love it just as much now as ever I could as a child. The gentle, knowing tale of Lucy and Tom's preparations for the Big Day (the paper chains, the Salvation Army Band, the nativity) is everything we want to remember and all the things we want to pass on rolled into one. Excited children, crotchety children, delighted children - the kind of story we can all recognise even if the scenery is a little different. It's been around for some years now (but then I think lots of the best Christmas books have) and Lucy and Tom are probably letting middle age catch up with them in real life. That doesn't matter because, every Christmas, just like the rest of us they can be children again. And that's magic.

Time for another one? Maybe just one more story before bed? Some of my blogging friends have suggestions for you too and they'd be happy for you to pull up a chair over at theirs. You can visit:

Abi: http://www.creatingpaperdreams.blogspot.com/

Lizzie: http://www.lizziemade.blogspot.com/

Mel: http://ispeakmelsh.blogspot.com/

Jo: http://curlyscrapbooker.blogspot.com/

Amy: http://overatourplace.blogspot.com/

Kate: http://libertycottage.blogspot.com/

And before I go I'd like to say a big hello to the incredibly talented  Sasha and to any of her blog readers who jumped over here thanks to her link. She's going to start doing blog makeovers soon so if you're looking for an expert she might just be the girl.

It Could Almost Be Christmas!

Oh, I'm getting that "we're nearly there!" feeling. Are you excited yet? I am. I had a marathon wrapping spree this morning and I think I won. It's always a bit hard to tell, because I'm really not very good. For someone who spends her every spare moment cutting pieces of paper apart and glueing them back together again, I put in a pretty poor showing in the gift wrapping department. I can make little tiny scraps do exactly what I want them to do - but big sheets? They just won't behave. And when they get together with the sticky tape? Mmm. The less said, the better. It's the thought that counts, though. Am I right?

I've got a few more December pages finished too - not in any order. I'm just going with the flow. Starting to love this 8x8 size. It's compact and bijou, as the estate agents round here would say. Cute, too. I think I'll do more in the New Year. I hope your plans are moving along nicely. Are we going to be ready in time? I think we are!

Today I'm Loving...Girls who don't keep all the good ideas to themselves. This gift pouch tutorial by Petrina McDonald is a fabulous example. Happy Week Before Christmas!

Choc and Cherry Christmas

We're all feeling a lot better here -thank you for all your good wishes- and we are ready to make a second batch of this quick fudge recipe. We've eaten one lot already: but really it's very easy to make more. I think the original recipe came from a US Country Living magazine many years ago:

• You will need 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar; 2/3 cup milk; 1/4 cup butter or margerine; 12ozs white chocolate (chopped); 3/4 cup glace cherries (coarsely chopped)
• Line an 8 inch tray with foil and grease it
• Mix sugar and milk in a heavy pan
• Over a medium heat, add the butter and stirring constantly bring to the boil
• Without stirring, boil constantly for 5 minutes
• Over a low heat add chocolate and stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth
• Stir in the cherries and pour into pan
• Refrigerate for 2 hours until firm and the remove foil and cut into 1 inch squares.

Very easy! It doesn't need boiling for ages and you don't need a sugar thermometer. It makes a nice gift too. If I can bear to give some away I present it in a bamboo steamer: I crumple some wax paper to put in the bottom, arrange the fudge, pop the lid on and secure with a big ribbon bow or length of Christmassy fabric. Here I used a piece of red toile. And that's all there is to it.

Today I'm Loving...It's A Creative World with their new contributor my friend Alexa. I think you'll like it.

Lemsip And Lassitude

On Friday morning a couple of our merry band woke up feeling Not Quite Right. School was out. Staying in bed was in. A change of plan I should have predicted the night before, really, as I sat making a careful list of places to go and people to see. But that's the way life is, especially in December. My Christmas Countdown just wouldn't be complete without a day or two of lemsipping and lasstitude. So, as we sat huddled on the sofa (one of us hoping the snooker would be on soon and one of us wishing for a major televisual incident which would prevent the snooker ever being on again), I thought about other Christmasses and the bits we look out for every year. I came up with a bit of a list, looking something like this. Call them traditions if you like. This is Christmas

• Every year my brother arrives off the LA plane and the second thing he says after "Cor, Sian, lend us another sweater, it's a bit cold here isn't it?" is "Have you made my zippies yet?" And then he watches me taking a batch of mince pies out of the oven and nods with satisfaction. "I see you have." I quite like making mince pies and I really like eating them; but I never have cracked the art of sticking them together. They unzip themselves in the oven. That's why they are zippies. Side note: I need to remember that this year he probably won't do the sweater thing. Given that he's moved to Connecticut.
• Every year I bring out the wooden nativity set we've had since our first married Christmas, and every year I set out the figures and set aside the 200 lolly sticks which make up the stable. So The Accountant (who loves Ikea possibly more than life itself) finds himself with a nice little flat pack challenge when he comes in. I like to think of it as an extra present.
• Every year one of my friends from school - a dear, good friend, Godmother to The Small One - drops by with some presents. And every year we exchange news before slipping into our well rehearsed routine. She starts with " Remember that school dance when we were in sixth form?" She follows with "But you weren't up on the stage singing the Frog Chorus, were you? Someone saw you heading out the door with a giant branch of mistletoe." And I counter with, "But you know how it was with those school dances. Sometimes you had to make your own entertainment." And then we both smile happily and know that it's Christmas

Still going with my December Album:

Misting Matters

So, misting matters then. Lots of you think so. And lots of you wondered about the difference between misting mayhem and misting magic. Truthfully? I don't think there is one. Please, go back and look very closely at mine: it's blotchy, it's splotchy, but it's still misting. Listen, (because I'm only going to humiliate myself the once here) I am really bad at art. My average school art mark was around 50; and if this D-grader can give it a go, anyone can.

There are lots of tutorials around - Kathy kindly put me onto a great one over at Studio Calico. But, really, just try it out. This is what I did to ease myself in:

• Grab a sheet of cardstock. I put it into a cardboard box from a kit. It's the perfect size. Shake the bottle really, really well and then give the nozzle a quick check - if it's slightly blocked, your splotches will get even splotchier

• Now, spray over the whole sheet. Don't worry about trying to keep a steady hand because it's virtually impossible; but spray from as far away as you dare

• My Maya mists dry fast, so already you have a sheet which looks really quite arty. But here's the thing. You are only going to pick your favourite bits. Decide which sections show off your misting prowess the best then stamp, stencil, draw around whatever. Cut those bits out and forget about the rest! I made a journaling spot with one section I liked and then picked out other smaller pieces to make accents which will be mounted on card for dimension and adhered with pop dots. So they stand out! Because all misting is magic.

Today I'm Loving...everyone who has taken time to leave me a lovely comment. I've been reading and enjoying them all. I hope I've answered your questions here; but, please, keep asking them. Lizzie told me about a misting machine. It sounds perfect. If we all lived closer we could timeshare one. If you don't have a blog for me to visit - email. We can chat.

December Continued

I'm still going with my December Album and I have three more pages to show you today. I've been asked about the misting..it's Maya Mist and I have four bottles - orange, blue, brown and green - which, handily enough, happen to be the colours I've chosen for my album. My technique might still be a bit hit-and-miss (although not so much miss since I discovered the spray-your-page-inside-a-cardboard-box trick); but what I love is the speed. It's easy to create a bit of interest on the page. Fast. And you know I like fast. I also like a bit of sewing and these are the first two canvas pages I've done. One has a rubon border and the other has proper cross stitch. It wasn't fast and I'm not sure I'd do it again; but it was fun to experiment. What do you think?

Today I'm Loving...The most unusual cross stitch kits I've come across in a long time. It's Banksy as you've never seen him before. Here

17 Revisited

Except that it's not really. Our blog train is staying in the present today. We're living in the moment! Enjoying the right now! (Although I'm still maintaining 17 was pretty great) And that means same time, same place, same questions. Which also means you'll have come from Laura's, I hope, and are ready to read some more answers from me. I have no matching layout today (it was scrapbook or shop and something had to give.) Sorry. But I'm in the zone with the daily December thing, so you never know what else I might get finished up this week. We'll see. I do have answers, though. And here they are:

• My hair colour is:  a law unto itself. But it's definitely not ginger no matter what my son might try to tell you
• My hair style is:  often to be found still harking back to the 80's. Hey, what can I say? Assymmetrical fringes have made a comeback
• My favourite brand of makeup is:  the one with the promise I'm most likely to believe
• My fashionable item is:  hmm..fashionable for mothers? or just fashionable? I do like a nice handbag
• I drive a:  Alfa Romeo. I still like fast.
• On a Saturday I go:  round in circles trying to make sure I have all the laundry done
• Mon-Fri I go:  up to the top floor. I'm High In The Sky as often as possible
• My best friends are: still around from the 80's. And that's a very good thing
• My favourite place to go out is: anywhere relaxing which offers to make you look 10 years younger
• My favourite subject is:  still history
• When I grow up I want to be:  a lot older than I am now
• My favourite drink is: black coffee
• My favourite food is :  roast potatoes
• My favourite band is:  still loving Roddy Frame ex Aztec Camera. And Morrissey. Always Morrissey.
• My favourite tv is:  BBC4. If I can gain control of the buttons
• I wish I could visit:  I got to Pompeii. I loved it. I want to go again
• My favourite sport is: Formula One. Told you I liked fast
• I am reading:  biography of the Brontes
• I recently saw:  Er, trying to think. Tend to buy dvds instead of actually going out
• One thing I want to do but can't: I never did learn to whistle

So, that's about it then. If you're following the blog train, then you need to get ready to hop on over to Beverley. She's all ready and waiting. Oh, and I've had a photo idea. For today I'll show you one of me which appeared in Scrapbook Inspirations (sort of gone but definitely not forgotten) magazine this year. That counts, doesn't it?

Playing Catch Up

I'm nearly up to date with my December album:

No Ordinary Friday

When the doorbell rang and I opened it and found this:

I knew I was in for a treat. Look carefully and you might spot a glimpse of one of my favourite visitors, just peeping round the corner. When the rest of him appeared he said hello, as always, with his own sticky, one handed salute. It was Little E! And he'd come to stay for the night!

When I was expecting The Small One, friends said, "don't worry about loving your second baby. They bring a lot of love with them." Which is right, of course. And good. But no one warns you about the stuff. All babies bring stuff. And that bit, like labour, tends to wear off as the years pass. So the luggage came as a bit of a surprise. In fact, as we hefted it into the house, my sister and I, I wondered if I'd got it all wrong. Was he here for the month? Was he being offered as some kind of early Christmas present? But no. "Don't forget," his Mum said (slightly out of breath, I thought) "We need the whole lot back tomorrow. Oh, and his car seat. You have to have that too." And she hauled it across the driveway, spraying toast crumbs and bits of apple as she went.

So, in he came. And much fun was had by all. The Small One got back from school. Still dressed in her Games Kit, still ready to play. And Little E smiled and saluted and danced his special sideways, rocking dance. Then The Tall One arrived. And I watched as my big boy flicked his great shock of hair in a casual man-to-man greeting; folded himself onto the sofa; and gently lifted his baby cousin onto his lap. And it came to me then that all those weeks and months and years of singing and rocking, listening and nodding, playing and teaching..they were all meant for a moment like this. I couldn't think of a single thing to say. So I just watched.

Today I'm Loving..This tutorial from Gigi Kennedy. Recycled wax crayons. Beautifully wrapped. Perfect for a Christmas Fair.

Out With The Old

Today: simply a page I made about starting my blog. It records my original look and my first header. It's gone now and I can feel a new page coming on already.

Oh, and the first page of my Christmas album. It's a Journal Your Christmas and a December Daily combination. We'll see how it goes.

Today I'm Loving...Christmas Tree ornaments to knit by Amy Gaines. I wonder, should I?