day 24.

'twas the night before christmas and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

well no stirring from mice here, but bb is baking a ham. his first, well our first really. i've never baked one either. he keeps asking me what to do, not realising i have NO IDEA!




and me? well i'm wrapping presents. i have some done but bb got some last minute shopping done while i was at work today and now there are even more to wrap!
i'm trying really hard to get them all wrapped tonight so that i can have a super relaxing morning tomorrow!



after our super relaxing morning, we're heading off to my aunt and uncles for lunch and then to bb's mums for dinner. need to make sure i go for a biiiiiiig walk between meals i think.

what are your plans for tomorrow?

day 23.

on the 23rd day of christmas, i spent a little bit of time baking.
but after a long day at work, all the baking i could muster was dipping things in melted chocolate...

chocolate coated christmas pudding. i bought a christmas pudding, rolled it up into balls and dipped it into chocolate.



and chocolate bark. i used the left over melted chocolate and threw in some macadamias and mixed berries. i have no idea how it's going to turn out :S




throw into takeaway containers with a few extra bits and pieces and, voila, instant last-minute coworker presents :D




so my christmas organisation has turned into last-minute panic. how are you going with everything?

day 22.

oops. a day behind again, lucky i'm good at playing catch-up!
yesterday, the 22nd, was a pretty massive day. we left home at 9.30 in the morning and didn't get home until after 11 at night! many drinks and many laughs helped along by some beautiful weather :D
i do have something christmassy to show though...




the stockings that i was working on on tuesday are all done (and full to the brim after some very hectic lunch break shopping on tuesday).

i'll be back tomorrow to finish catching up... i am so in denial about tomorrow being christmas eve! are you?

day 21.

On the 21st day of Christmas, I made some Christmas cards!
Well technically I actually made them last night... I took the photo this morning though, that counts right?




I've put these cards together because the large majority of gifts we've bought this year are vouchers, not handmade gift as I would've liked. This is the compromise I've made with myself due to a ridiculous lack of time (or pre-planning), gift vouchers with a homemade touch :D


How are your Christmas plans coming along?

day 20.

on the 20th day of christmas, i put the finishing touches on the christmas stockings i mentioned yesterday...



embroidering names and sewing on the hanging strings. i got the stockings cut out and sewn together last night at stitch and yarn. i mayyyyy have been there a bit later than normal...


what did you get up to today?

day 19.

on the 19th day of christmas, i received my final piece of bunting from rach's bunting swap. i thought the last piece wasn't actually coming seeing as how the swap was aaaaaages ago, but it arrived today, with a postmark of 26/10/11. seriously. step up your game australia post!

anywho, i thought i'd share this little flag with you, oh and the other two that i've received since my last bunting post. i've been soo very slack and haven't shared them yet! bad nicole!!




these one are from (from right to left) leonie, cyndy and yaga. thanks ladies! i love them :D

now that i've received them all, maybe i'll get them all sewn together and in proper bunting formation :D maybe tomorrow even... i've got plans to get my machine out to do some (very last minute) christmas sewing. i've just remembered a promise i made to my brother and bb about a project i was working on last year...

day 18 - we have a winner.

a little bit later than i was expecting, but bb surprised me by taking me out for dinner! we went to the local pub and had a yummy meal and watched the cricket. not exactly the most romantic of meals but nice all the same.
now i'd best get to announcing le winner!
because we were out for dinner, i asked bb to pick a number between 1 and 7. he picked number 6, so a big congratulations goes to the lovely pinkpatentmaryjanes!
i'll be sending her an email right away to get her address and pop it in the post.

but first, would you like to see the finished product?



it came off my knitting needles at about 4.15 this afternoon. i then sewed in all the ends and sorted through my inherited button stash for something matching.



so, ta-da! done just in the nick of time!

congratulations again to the lucky winner :D

hope you've all had a fabulous weekend!

day 17 - flea market finds.

so technically this post is from yesterday so probably shouldn't be a flea market find post, but whatever, i live by my own rules!
i also don't think that sophie is running flea market finds today, but as i said, i make my own rules. i will fly solo ha ha!

anywho, onto the find! the other day, while visiting brianna at her new house, we went in search of something yummy to eat and stumbled upon a lovely little op-shop.
i found another frame, for attempt number 2 at hanging vintage tea towel. it again was a complete failure, this time it didn't ever get to the wall. i knelt on the glass and broke it when i was trying to mount it in the frame. suuuuuuuuch a framing failure!

i did however find something lovely and cute in the opshop too!




can you see it??? don't mind my mess of a kitchen. keeping it real with this picture ;)




this little canvas print! cost me a measley $2 and will hopefully assuage my kitchen picture cravings until i can find ANOTHER frame to mount the tea towel in. keep your fingers crossed for me?


also, have you entered my giveaway yet? you could win a very nice hand-knitted cushion! all you have to do is leave a comment on that post! easy as pie!
i also extended the deadline because i mayyy have forgotten to draw it on sunday. i'm drawing it today instead! better hop to and enter because this is your last chance!

day 16.

on the 16th day of christmas, i harvested a little something from my garden!



some onions! this little onion started sprouting in my cupboard. the sprouts looked so healthy that i decided to shove it in one of my planter boxes and boyyyyyyy did it make it happy.
it started to die off a little and not knowing correct onion protocol, i yanked it up!
now i have half a dozen little baby onions :D can't wait to think up something yum to cook with them!

even though the whole advent blogging thing is supposed to be to blog about christmassy type things, i find myself more and more blogging about my gardeny type things. there's just way too much going on in my little backyard oasis to keep to myself!

what's going on in your garden?

also, have you entered my giveaway yet? you could win a very nice hand-knitted cushion! all you have to do is leave a comment on that post! easy as pie!
i also extended the deadline because i mayyy have forgotten to draw it on sunday. i'm drawing tit tomorrow instead! better hop to and enter because this is your last chance!

day 15.

on the 15th day of christmas, i, once again, didn't get up to many christmassy shenanigans...
i did however send off some hearts to open drawer.




they're raising funds for the margaret pratt foundation by yarn bombing a tree with many, many hearts! read about it here. the yarn bombing is happening today so get down there! unless of course you're stuck at work like me :(


also, have you entered my giveaway yet? you could win a very nice hand-knitted cushion! all you have to do is leave a comment on that post! easy as pie!
i also extended the deadline because i mayyy have forgotten to draw it on sunday. i'm drawing tit tomorrow instead! better hop to and enter because this is your last chance!

day 14.

on the 14th day of christmas, i received a lovely christmas gift, and my first christmas card!



i love this beautiful ceramic ring. this lady knows that i love me a peacock. i'm so lucky!


also, have you entered my giveaway yet? you could win a very nice hand-knitted cushion! all you have to do is leave a comment on that post! easy as pie!
i also extended the deadline because i mayyy have forgotten to draw it on sunday. still time to join in :D

day 13.

on the 13th day of christmas, again, not too much christmassy action happening here. work and then tutoring and then cooking dinner and getting some chores done. oh and making some more discoveries in the back yard...




i've got snowpeas growing! i think there's also some peas and one lonely bean too! all very exciting.
now i just have to make sure they get onto our plates before they are munched up by the possums. they've already gotten all but one of my passionfruits! bastards! i've put a paper bag around my sole surviving passionfruit in the hope that it'll still ripen up for me :D


also, have you entered my giveaway yet? you could win a very nice hand-knitted cushion! all you have to do is leave a comment on that post! easy as pie!
i also extended the deadline because i mayyy have forgotten to draw it on sunday. still time to join in :D

day 12.

i thought i'd share another of our christmas decorations today. or multiples of them...
bb and i bought these little tinsel trees just after we moved in together, in the post christmas sales.



i'm pretty sure we payed something ridiculous for them, like 50 cents a piece, but they're the perfect way of spreading some sparkly christmas goodness throughout our whole house!
this year they've taken up residence on the dining table, the bathroom shelf, the hallway table and our bed head.

also, have you entered my giveaway yet? you could win a very nice hand-knitted cushion! all you have to do is leave a comment on that post! easy as pie!
i also extended the deadline because i mayyy have forgotten to draw it on sunday. still time to join in :D

day 11.

after a busy day at work and reading about curlypops getting a parcel delivery on twitter ON A SUNDAY, i checked my own mail box and low and behold, a parcel for me too! posties must've been doing a special sunday delivery to deal with excess mail over christmas i guess...
but back to the parcel!
i opened it up to find my kris kringle swap! so exciting!
inside the package from maya was a beautifully handpainted box,




wrapped in some very sweet ribbon.
and inside...



some very lovely fridge magnets (they didn't stay in the box for long, they're already on the fridge!) and some equally lovely, covered hair ties.
very nice to come home to that on a sunday afternoon :D thanks maya!

i forgot to share the item that i sent too, which i can do now as i know my partner has received it safely :D
i crocheted a little frame, embroidered a circle to fit in the middle and then stitched it in. lots of different crafting mediums to keep my fingers busy!




thanks to jodie for organising the swap! i'll definitely be joining in again next year :D

also, have you entered my giveaway yet? you could win a very nice hand-knitted cushion! all you have to do is leave a comment on that post! easy as pie!
i also extended the deadline because i mayyy have forgotten to draw it on sunday. still time to join in :D

day 10.

on the 10th day of christmas, i finally downloaded instagram on my phone! i was having a good old think of things i wanted to get done while i was walking to work and figured getting onto instagram was definitely something i could do then and there!
these are a couple of pictures i've taken and posted...




feel free to follow me if you're already on instagram, or join up too if you're not! it's a bit of fun :D

also, have you entered my giveaway yet? you could win a very nice hand-knitted cushion! all you have to do is leave a comment on that post! easy as pie!
i also extended the deadline because i mayyy have forgotten to draw it on sunday. still time to join in :D

day 9 - catching up.

oh hello, goodbye weekend. wasn't it over in a flash! oh and little to no blogging on my behalf! slack, slack, slack!!
i've also been slack on the giveaway front! i was supposed to draw it last night at 6 and completely forgot!! i think i might extend it til next sunday, same time, same place ok? i'll set myself a phone reminder so i won't forget again!

anywho, the 9th day of christmas! i was recovering from my morning of pampering...
and also heading to work.
not a lot of christmassy type stuff happening so i thought i'd show you my violet!




this little beauty has moved with us on our last house move and has just gone from strength to strength.
it was flowering when i bought it, reduced to less than a dollar at k-mart if my memory serves me correctly, and since taking up residence on the kitchen table, has been in flower continuously for what seems an age!
it got some more room to grow here and seems to be loving it :D

do you have any special plants that have a story? i'd love to hear!

also, don't forget to enter my giveaway!

day 8.

today has been a pretty rad day! my lovely bb set me up for a blissful morning of luxury.
he got me a lovely bath bomb and instructed me to have a good old soak when i woke up, after he'd left for work.




he'd then booked me in for a deep tissue massage in the city. the whole getting my kit off in front of a total stranger was tres weird but i'll feel better for the rub down in the long run :D




we then met up for lunch! bb was able to take a bit of a longer lunch break than normal which was lovely. we headed to one of our favourite places to eat, cookie.

yummy pork belly in red curry and a duck salad. oh and a pimms :D




the view was pretty nice too. lunch with a view, with nice company and amazing food. best.




i then headed home while bb finished work and we spent some nice relaxing time together when he got home.
all in all a pretty great day :D

what did you get up to today?


also, have you entered my giveaway yet? you could win a very nice hand-knitted cushion! all you have to do is leave a comment on that post! easy as pie!

day 7.

everyday, i seem to be more and more surprised by just how lush my little green patch out the back is getting!
i think it may have a large amount to do with the hose that i bought for out there (filling up a watering can takes forever when the water pressure is so terrible!), but there's a lot to be said for giving yourself the time and space to get the green things done.

i discovered the first passionfruit to grown on my vine and upon inspection last night, there's actually a fair few on there!




my herb crop has also gone a bit crazy! i spent some time last night trimming the rosemary, oregano and thyme back and even took some to ncb to share! there are really only so many herbs two people can eat!



i also spent some time last night cutting back all of my coriander. it had all gone to seed so i now have a big bunch drying in my garage. when it's all dry in a couple of weeks, i'll get the coriander seeds replanted! huzzah!
i also discovered that the little lemongrass plant (that i thought had drowned over winter) is starting to green up! double huzzah!
now i think i need to go and buy myself a hose for my front yard too, it's starting to look a little barren with all this hot weather!

i'll be back later to post all about my day today, bb and i are celebrating 7 years! <3



also, have you entered my giveaway yet? you could win a very nice hand-knitted cushion! all you have to do is leave a comment on that post! easy as pie!

day 6.

today, i started on getting everything into the frames i found yesterday. i even hung this one on the wall!



unfortunately, it didn't stay on the wall for very long. gah silly sticky hooks! one day i will own a house where i can put real hooks in the wall when and where i want to! one day...



and that 'find' i mentioned earlier...



this awesome lampshade! i drove past it three times, and convinced myself i didn't need it.
that was until this lady posted this photo! then i knew i had to pick it up!
so i have big plans for this one. but not until i finish some other projects i have on the go! focus nicole, focus!



also, have you entered my giveaway yet? you could win a very nice hand-knitted cushion! all you have to do is leave a comment on that post! easy as pie!

day 5.

late again, late again! but after posting so late last night, i thought i'd wait until the morning for another post!
i thought i'd share some shopping that i got done yesterday.





these are (hopefully) the last of the frames i need to frame up everything for my much talked about hanging feature wall above bb and my bed.
if i get the picture in these frames today, they might get hung some time before the end of the year! shock and horror!
i did actually pick up something else yesterday too. and by pick up i mean pick up from the side of the road...
i think i'll share it a bit later though ;) stay tuned!

also,have you entered my giveaway yet? you could win a very nice hand-knitted cushion! all you have to do is leave a comment on that post! easy as pie!