The Aftermath of Christmas.

Pigs of the world can breathe a collective sigh of relief. I swear I don't want to see a slice of ham again until at least April. 


Christmas is done for another year. For the Pyjama family it was a day where we ran around like hairy goats trying to see everyone to keep them happy and then it was done in the blink of an eye. I think next year I might just hibernate out at home like a bear. However, Little P (who has that curious supermodel quality of being able to knock out an engaging smile the second I say"Cheese") had a bunch of fun on the actual day despite telling Father Christmas the week before he didn't "think much of Christmas ". 

The big hit of the day was the almost life sized fire truck we bought him. Too bad it didn't come with some hunky firemen for his Bella. 

My family continue to give me gag gifts.These will join Planet Cake on my recipe book holder so it looks like I can bake worth a damn. Perhaps one day in a moment of madness I will attempt to bake a recipe from one of these books.

My love of gorgeous hair was satisfied. My old GHD died several months ago and I couldn't justify the 300 buck price tag when I had another functional hair straightener worth $220. I know I sound vacuous and like a complete airhead. For all of you muttering "A hair straightener is just a hair straightener" that's simply not true and you obviously haven't experienced the sheer bliss of a GHD. I didn't just do a happy dance people, I practically danced a whole musical. 

Mr. P almost did a wee when he got a Wii. He refused to believe it was an actual Wii until he'd opened the box and pulled everything out because Im the type of person that would cruelly stoop so low as to put a Christmas dustpan in a Wii box. The Wii was an investment in ensuring many happy hours of uninterrupted sewing for me .Worth every cent. 

Christmas night was very relaxed and full of stupidity as evidenced by these photos of my sister doing a  Popeye impersonation.

(SOP,  if you're gonna post incriminating pictures of me on Facebook you better know I'm going to get payback) 

We move on to Mother of Pyjamas doing jelly shots.

And deciding she didn't think they were all that. 

but later actually believing she could sing like Barbra Streisand (so the jelly shot had it's desired effect) 

My parents dancing after a few beverages. It was just like Dancing with the Stars but without the costumes. Or the official judges. Or the class. 

And I laughed. A lot. 

 

Boxing Day included moving slowly, a three hour nanna nap and letting my liver process several different kinds of alcohol. Thank you liver- you did an awesome job and I am eternally grateful. 

We hosted a recovery dinner on Boxing Day. Thanks to Kirsten's recipes I had plenty to feed everyone.

Mini chicken salad croissants 

These are spinach-less because my sister spat on all the spinach the night before being a cartoon character. 

And a galette which is honestly the most idiot proof dessert I have ever made.  

The day after the day after Christmas I woke with a burning desire to start my annual house clean out. That's where I pull everything from every cupboard in my whole house room by room and get rid of things that haven't seen the light of day since the last clean out. I started with my sewing room which used to look like this.

And now thanks to Ikea..looks like this

Wednesday night I tried to kill myself by eating a chocolate ball that had ground up almonds in it. I survived due to quick thinking and an epi-pen. 

I hit the post Christmas sales and bought new bed linen. I cant help myself. That makes 7 quilt sets of bed linen I own ....

Mr. P looked very dubious about all that pink but tough cookies. 

And this appeals to my minimalist nature. 

I have spent the last three days entertaining Little P and having him "help "me. This is him pulling every pin out of every pincushion I own and putting them in a basket. The basket was subsequently emptied on the floor and then he got tired of  "helping". 

I have listened to twinkle twinkle little star about 2385 times and have sung "galumph went the little green frog" (minus the sadistic verses ) at least 93 times. And I'm still trying to get the black sparkly nail polish off my cream ottoman but that's another story. 

Enjoy your New Years Celebrations! I'm off to check out what you've all been up to while I've been held hostage by a 2 year old with a pin fetish.  

PS. My Mum is so gonna kill me for those photos....

Merry Christmas

Some of you may have been wondering if I'd been kidnapped by Santa's elves and made to work in a North Pole sweatshop for the last two weeks but the reality is that work and home life in the lead up to the holidays has been kicking my sorry butt. I'm tough- I survived and as of yesterday I'm officially on almost 7 weeks holidays. That means I'm planning to annoy you all far more regularly since I'm officially a lady of leisure. Last time I was this leisurely was in 1995 when I had a 4 year old.

As I write this post it's Christmas Eve morning here. My presents are all wrapped and under the tree. The house is decorated.

My fridge and pantry are  full of good things to eat , all the grocery shopping having been done yesterday. It was a complete zoo. The shops are shut for three days here from tonight and it's like bread and milk have become the most precious commodities on earth.

I need to bake my ham today and prepare a chicken salad for my chicken croissants tomorrow night. (Thanks for the recipe and inspiration Kirsten!) 

Two remaining jobs include cleaning the house and picking up Miss P who is staying the night. We're going to do a Webber chicken for dinner and then take Little P for a walk round the neighbourhood to see the Christmas lights after dinner. Then it's home again where he can open one present which will coincidentally happen to be a picture book edition of "The Night Before Christmas" and we'll read that and then cross our fingers that he'll go to sleep before we do. Little P went into a big boy bed 10 days ago and has been coming out of bed 1275 times and falling asleep at 11pm every night since.  He told Miss P at 4.30am the other morning he was coming in to my room to play with me. I think we need to work on getting him to tell time and to clue up to the fact that anyone who wakes me at any time is really taking a risk of having their head bitten clean off. 

So, I went out and bought Little P this bedtime buddy yesterday and also on the agenda for today is to make up a photo story about the big bear that stayed in bed when it was dark outside. And then he can take the bear to bed with him at night. Wanna bet the bear starts coming out of bed 1275 times a night as well? 

I have aback up plan. If the non aversive bear idea doesn't work I'm going to super glue Little P into bed.

In my absence, I've finished a double sided baby quilt,(one side was for a boy the other for a girl because we don't know what my friend is having) 9 bibs, the Dresden cushion , and a pincushion for my mother in law. I've ignored my Christmas bunting and my Christmas quilt. Now I have a jump on my 2012 Christmas projects.

Somewhere in amongst all that crazy Miss P and I decided it would be an awesome idea to make a gingerbread house. I have discovered gingerbread house making is not among my many talents. I'm hoping this note in my 2012 diary will remind me of the agony of 2011 and save me hours of angst.

I'm still scraping icing off my bench tops. That stuff sets like concrete. And the result of all this labour? The sorriest looking gingerbread house you've ever seen...

I'm going to stick to cooking hunks of meat in future. I rarely bugger that up. Fiddly and I are not friends. 

And so, on this day before Christmas, from all of the Pyjamas clan to all of you and your families I wish you a very Merry Christmas full of wonderful food, laughter and the creation of some very special memories. 

With love, 

Favourite Things Friday

And so we come to the final Favourite Things Friday for 2011. This time next week we'll all be up to our eyeballs in last minute Christmas preparations, unless you're one of those organised types that has had their crap together since about October. If you happen to be one of those people- I hate you. I've finished my Christmas shopping but I haven't started wrapping anything yet.

Among my favourite things for this week is the fact I'm still mostly sane despite a crazy week at work (one more day until the weekend whooooo hooo!).  I'm missing hanging out with you guys and can't wait until I have time to pay you the attention you deserve again while I'm on holidays. Holidays ....I just want to keep saying that word. Who wants to bet I'm going to be writing blog posts bitching and whining about being bored by the end of week 3 ?

This week has been all about working and quilting. I realised this morning that the last time I finished a full sized quilt was in August! So my favourite this week is ultra sweet. 

The No Frills Quilt is finished ....Ta Da!

I decided on the quilting about three minutes before I did each section so we have straight line, echo quilting and some random"organic " stuff going on in the borders too. I want to keep this one for myself....I really do. I love those fabrics. 

While I was quilting this I decided I hated it. I kept repeating "It's not over until the binding is on". And once it was washed and chucked in the tumble dryer and came out in all it's crinkly glory I fell in love with it.  I think my sister in law will  too. It's very "Brooke". No frills and no fuss. 

There has been lots of other crafty activity going on around here as well but the icing on the cake is that this week "A Day At The Beach" got finished too.  I know! Two quilts in one week. I rock. 

Sharon the quilting guru did an amazing job and quilted it using a subtle variegated thread to represent waves. Thank you Oh mighty Quilting One. She always makes my quilts look amazing. 

My nephew is going to LOVE this. I love this!

That quilting is so beautiful and makes those solids look ultra special. 

And you know what ? I think I can squeeze one more quilt finish in before Christmas if I try really really hard because the Merry Go Round quilt is ready for binding. 

Finally, to  everyone who has linked up , commented and played along with the Favourite Things Friday linky party in 2011, -Thankyou. I really enjoy popping over and seeing your  favourites and appreciate you taking the time to write about some of your favourite things.  It's always one of my favourite things for the week. Favourite Things Friday will be back for 2012 on January 6th.

Link away. You know what to do !

Mail Call

I really must try to get to the post office more often but since Australia Post work actual business hours and since (mostly ) I do too , that means getting into my local PO is a real pain some days.  At the moment having the postie drop my parcels off at my front door would be a real time saver for me. As it is,  I often don't get to the post office for a week or more at a time. (The whiny , pity party part of this post is now officially over )

Monday marked about 10 days since my last PO foray and my postage dude had a plethora of parcels and mail for me. He likes to guess what's in each parcel before he forks them over. It's become a ritual.  

From the wonderful Susan at Canadian Abroad.

A closer look at her stiffy snowflakes (sorry that's an in joke ) Aren't they gorgeous ? I have coveted these from the very first second I saw them weeks ago and now I own some!

I adore hand made ornaments and these look gorgeous on my tree. 

And from the delectable Sara over at Lone Sock Productions who knows about my fondness for all things Babushka. 

My own little gym bag (that will never see the inside of a gym ) Hopefully the bag will be appeased if I drive past one occasionally. 

This is what vacuum packed selvages look like when you unpack them. A mountain of selvages. 

After these two parcels I'm officially in selvage heaven. A BIG thank you to Susan, Sara, Thea, Char, Michelle, P, and Kat  who kindly donated their selvages to my cause. I'm going to get cracking on that quilt while I'm on holidays. I cant wait !

And finally but not least -From Becks over at Sarcastic Quilter. Quilting Software so I can get creative while still sitting on my patootie. This may help me avoid future design disasters. 

Thank you ladies. You made my week. 

I now haven't officially cooked dinner for 7 days. Some one call the Guinness book of world records. I'm in the running for the title of slackest person on the planet.  Work is totally kicking my butt at the moment and I just don't have the reserves to cook when I get home. I'll be back on Friday (hopefully with my sanity intact -sort of ) for the final FTF for 2011. Hope to see you all there !