Crimbo Decorations - Im A Bad Internet Ornament Swapper...And The Most Beautiful Surprise Pressie..

Ok..... so the tree was up in its new cast iron stand and it stood like that for 3 days before I had time to do anything with it, all the minded nippers thought it was funny, cos I told them that we didnt have any decorations or fairy lights for it so that we was just gonna have a naked tree this year LOL



But in actual fact I have boxes and boxes of stuff...... some of it is very precious to me... some of it going back to our first crimbo in this house....



This is just one of the boxes of bits and bobs....

I told me maties over the school about how our tree decorations are well old and mostly wooden or glass and all hold a special meaning for me - but ya see, me maties all have these fake trees all done up like something out of House and Garden magazines, each year they change all the baubles to a different colour and have everything matching and designer LOL - well call me ungrateful, and maybe I am, but ya see..... me matie Anne turned up in the week with an armful of boxes of baubles.... PLASTIC BAUBLES.... bloody plastic - now, this is when I say as much as I love me maties, they really truely dont know me..... Anne says, ya know you was saying all your tree stuff is old, well Ive bought you some new stuff..... you cant have old junk on ya tree and she handed me over 4 boxes of what basically I call CRAP lol....see, how ungrateful I am....

She just didnt get it..... I treasure each and everyone of our OLD ornaments... and every year I hunt out and find a wooden one, usually a father christmas and I write on the back the year and all our names and ages.... its like a record of who was here on crimbo day on that year.... all the actual baubles we have are glass NOT plastic and Ive had them since the first crimbo in this house.... I love that they are old and faded and have seen so many christmas's here....





Like these two, these must be 27 years old, and even the little wax holly on the silver glass is still intact....

The most precious little ornament I have is tiny and is two little glass sort of stickmen.....ya see, I remember these on me parents tree when I was a kid, but more importantly I remember them on me dear nanny's little tree she use to have in her little flat.... ya remember the nanny that loved me.... well, I rescued these little glass ornaments when me parents got divorced and me mother threw loads of stuff in the bin.... I rumaged through the bin like some bloody hobo looking for a pasty crust.... and I found these, to me, the most precious item I actually have in my home.... cos its my only connection I have with that nanny that loved me, and each year when I hang them on my tree, it not only makes me smile but it makes me cry with such a rush of emotions that I just cant explain it to anyone......



Here they are, old and faded and almost now faceless, but they were my nannies before they were my mothers, and now they are MINE cos I rescued them, and also rescued a precious memory of me nanny at the same time..... how dare me matie call it old tat... see, they just dont get it....

I wanted me lads to have special little glass people to remember when they are old like me.... so about 8 years ago I found these......



They to are glass with dangly wire legs with names upon their hats.... there are 4 of them but we had not yet found our Bens in the box until after I took this photo....

I have stuff on our tree that me lads have made over their growing up years at school and even as far back as preschool LOL..... my friends think Im crazy to put them on our tree year in and year out.... but then, I dont do plastic very well either LOL... each to their own...



My Ben made me this 21 years ago LOL and each year I get it out the box and it looses a little more glitter and it gets a little more curled, and I gently hang it on our tree and it makes me smile.... cos on the back it says TO MUM - I LOVE YOU - lov Ben..

Oh and a few years back I made 4 of these....guess what they are made out of...



Its an egg that I carefully made a hole in each end and blew out the insides then hand painted the faces upon them..... alas we only have 2 of these left now, cos they are quite fragile, maybe I should make somemore out of Janets eggs come the spring :) - aint they good - I aint just an ugly face ya know lol

When Jacob was a baby, so that would be 15 years ago now lol I also made each of me lads a moose head out of salt dough... never in a million years did I expect them to last all this time.... we do pack them up carefully every year and hope that they dont break in between crimbos...



Aint they cute LOL...

These will all in turn be upon the trees of my lads when they have families of their own, and I hope they will remember them upon our tree all through their growing up years and have such wonderful crimbo memories of our time together...

I can tell you where each of the hundreds of little ornaments came from and when we got them and if they were gifts, from whom they came lol....

I so love the little wooden bits and bobs.... here are a few of me favourites..



Date on back 2001..



Date on back 2003

Even though I dont do 'god' as such...... I LOVE little wooden angels LOL..



She has little tin wings..



Glass chicken from my dear doodle matie JBelle - 2008



A little handmade beaded elephant that my Indian friend Shimla made me a few years back, cos I let her child come to my pre-school for over 6 months without her paying a single penny, cos she was going through a rough spot and she had no money to pay for it... I LOVE this little beaded elephant cos it was made with pure love....



This little china and tin fairy thingie that I found a few years back which I absolutely fell in love with and is NEVER packed away, but lives constantly hanging on a hook from me dresser.... I LOVE this little magical fairy, I think its me favourite one... besides me nanny's stickmen that is..

This one Ive had for just 19 years and it to is one of me favourites lol..



Sam, ya bloody twit, get out of there LOL

We dont have that tinsel stuff on our tree, but strings of red beads and stings of silver musical instruments and a few years back I found some strings of wooden moose/reindeers and red tin bells all joined with twine.... I LOVE em....

Ok way way to many to show them all LMFAO..

I have had a white tin norwegian star hanging in me window at christmas for about 20 years, me sister sent me it when she was living in Norway and it lights up our window each and every year as a welcoming light to friends and me lads who will always be able to find our little house down our dark lane at night...... it even has the same orginal bulb in it from after 20 years lol





A bit fuzzy but oh well, tough tittie LOL

And one of the most important last on the tree things of all........ our little 3 inch angel LOL...... no posh huge angel on the top of our tree, this little angel has been on my tree since my first christmas in this house..... it is only 3 inches tall and is sorta made of felty stuff.... it will ALWAYS be our tree topper, and each year we take it in turns as to who puts it on the top, which we do when we have finished decorating the tree.... this year it was MY turn LOL



My maties would die if they saw me little angel, Anne has a new tree topper every year, and sharon has some electrical thingie LOL.... me matie Wendy is a little more like me with traditions and things, she approves of me tree LOL, black Michelle just loves plastic so shes out the bloody door.... yep Im the only one that has a tree full of pure love and tradition and memories by the score....



A wooden little CHRISTMAS strung thingie that hangs over me fireplace :) yep wooden and handpainted LMFAO



ok OK so I love wooden father christmas's LOL.....

Still on the Ornament theme..... I found a blob a few months back that seemed like fun, it was someone co-ordinating a doodle ornament swap.... I had never heard of such a thing before so like a fool I put me name down LMFAO..... omg.. to dam funny.... the idea was when all the names of who wanted to participate were in, the co-ordinating woman would send everyone someone elses name and address and the idea was that you go out and buy an ornament and sent it to the person whose name you were sent..... it would NOT be the same person that would be sending you an ornament......

Well, I DONT think I quite have the hang of it lmfao....... Im laffing now as I type..... well, I made a special trip the week before last to the huge crimbo display at our favourite garden centre cos I wanted to pick out a couple of what I thought would be nice ornaments from England...... I carefully wrapped them and sent them off to the person I had been given the address for...... she turned out to be such a super lovely lady...... and the idea is that when you receive your ornament you put up a blob post about it......

HERE

This is the stuff I sent, and theresa's post about it lmfao.....



This is what I sent to Theresa, see how lovely she displayed it LOL a little british phone box a gingerbread man, a glass heart and some chocolate mice LOL - look at her lovely photo and see how grateful and appreciative she is.....

All well and good, but you see, my ornaments came from a lovely lady a few days ago, and today I thought I had better take a photo, just like teresa had of what I had sent her..... well...... YOU KNOW what a scatter brain I am, well first off I couldnt find the crimbo card that came with the ornaments, which has her blob details on (so I cant even send a fank you note lol) cos its amongst the 50 or so cards I have in a pile on the side...and as many times as I go through them, I cant find THE ONE lol.. and second, I heard the cat munching something and upon closer inspection I found she was munching on a father christmas ornament from my swap that I had left on the side, I shouted at her and she ran with the father christmas out the cat flap and into the garden, we have never found the stolen father christmas....RIP father christmas...... also my Sam was sitting on the computer yesterday and he has a habit of chewing things, like pens left next to the keyboard, only yesterday I found him chewing the antlers off a bloody moose ornament that was also from my swapper box LMFAO..... so, that left me only able to take a photo of what was left.....



A lovely tin engraved (with date ornament)...... a lovely pretend horny wreath thing... and a plastic *gulp* see through ball thingie with a father christmas inside LOL.... there should of also been a card (lost) and a father christmas (the cat stole) and a moose (sam chewed) in the photo....

So you can see me predicament LOL........ what do I do, someone suggest something - THERESA help ME lol - do I consider THIS twaddle post as me ornament swap post or what LOL...... I cant for the life of me bloody remember who sent me the bits and bobs LOL..... so if you read this ornament swapping lady, please receive my fanks for all the bits LOL even though I didnt look after them enough to stop me cat and sam destroying 2 of them LOL

Im a failure at this ornament swap thing :( they will think, dam bloody Brit, we wont let her join in next year, she lets her cat and kid eat and steal the things that are sent her LMFAO......

It was fun whilst it lasted LOL

LAST BIT lol I doubt anyone has read down this far LOL

On Friday, just as I was dashing out the door with a car load of nippers a white van man pulled up outside and delivered a HUGE box with my name on it......

Here is the said box....



I didnt have a chance to see what it was or whom it was from or even if it was for me, before I had to dash out with the nippers....

Well imagine my surprise a few hours latter when I got in and inspected the box ......

Jacob and Sam both said, just open the dam thing for gawds sake LOL....



This is what was inside, when I opened the lid of the HUGE box a snowman balloon flew out :) and as I peered inside there was the most gorgeous HUGE bunch of sunflowers that I have ever ever seen, and I truely mean that......

They were sent to me by my friend IntenseGuy as a crimbo pressie.... oh my, I am so not deserving of such a beautiful gift.... but I feel honoured that Iggy thought to send me, me of all people, such a gift of frienship....(((((Iggy))))) thank you dear friend....

Sighhhhhhhhh this dam blob world is always full of surprises......

Ok, now you have all fallen asleep, I'll love ya and leave ya....... and if I dont catch ya this side of crimbo, have the most wonderful of holidays with your family and friends or just family or just friends..... it will just be me and me lads, I tend of late to keep meself to meself over the holidays.... I get many invites to different parties and nights out.... but I tend to just disappear from the world for a few weeks, and just sometimes I dont feel worthy enough without me soul (which is still lost btw lol) to go to the many invites that I have pinned upon me fridge.... not anymore.... not since..... since..... oh it dont matter LOL....

HAPPY CRIMBO TO YOU ALL..... be safe.... laff until you sides ache... enjoy what you have..... enjoy who you are with...... and remember, I will be thinking of you all with love and smiles.....

X

ADDITION... This is the cat that stole father christmas.... this is a photo of her also trying to steal the sting of musical instruments lol..... I LOVES me my cat, she has not tail and is now about 13.... and she follows me everywhere and loves Janet our chicken and can often be found in the garden sitting next to her LOL

Timberrrrrrrr.... And The Spirit Of Crimbo...

Ok, I cant believe its been almost a fortnight since last I blobbed....... I'd like to say its because Ive been busy with crimbo preparations, but its cos Ive been poorly LOL.... Ive had/have tonsillitis.....so just aint felt up to blobbing, its been hard enough having to work LOL.... thank goodness the worst of it was the 48 hours over the weekend....

Anyways enough of that.......

Except for sending some bits and bobs off to doodleland I aint actually done nuffin here about crimbo......

A couple of reasons....... day in and day out I see me handful of best maties talking at school, moaning and groaning about how long their lists are of what they HAVE to buy for everyone for crimbo...and constantly studying and ticking off endless things off their own kids long long lists, and spending at least 3 days a week trawling around the shops crimbo shopping..... WTF is that all about.... its well doing me head in...... wheres the crimbo spirit of buying a special gift for someone you choose with love and special thoughts instead of something off of someones WANTS list...

I hope I have always bought the few odd maties that I choose to buy a gift for, things from my heart and not just something rushed and grabbed off the shelf amongst greedy grabbing shoppers lol.......

I do write a tiny list of names of those I wish to buy for..... over here I only buy for my lads and me one special matie Wendy (you know, me nut nurse best matie, Sleddies mum).... and she always buys a little something for me, and her pressie is the only other pressie I have ever gotten a gift from besides me lads..... oh and of course I always find something little and special for me minded nippers.....

But I do love finding special heart thought gifts for a few doodle maties, my special maties.... those are already winging their way across the ocean as I type....

After crimbo me other maties talk about all the expensive and huge amount of pressies they have received..... and often they say things like 'I told my husband that he had better buy me this that and the other'.... like its a right to have a gift and not a privilidge (that so aint spelt right lol)....

Ive never allowed me lads to write lists, I have always felt that as their mum, it is my choice as to what I would like to buy them as a gift from me, instead of something off a greedy WANT LIST..... I do know I am the only one out of all me maties that does this...... and I always have, not just now since they are child/men, but when they was younger to........ I find it inconceivable to think of someone telling me what I should buy them for crimbo....lol....

And I will say, I think I know me lads well enough to know what they would like, and as yet they have never been disappointed...

Dont get me wrong....... I would love a new yellow Renault Megaine Soft Top Car sat out the front with a big ribbon tied around it on crimbo day.... but I DONT need it.....

I would like a huge bunch of flowers delivered with my name upon the tag... but I DONT need them.....

I would love some pretty jewellery and a wardrobe full of beautiful clothes all wrapped with care and love... but I DONT need them LOL.....

And I would love beyond measure a sewing machine so that I can start doing something Ive wanted to do most of me life and never had the opportunity to do before, and thats quilting lol - I was gonna buy myself a sewing machine last month BUT my Tom needed to borrow $2000 for court fines and solicitors and other stuff (nuffin bad - I'll explain at another time) so I lent it to him without telling him that it was me sewing machine money that I had saved for months and the money to gut the bathroom....but that can wait right lol.. but he will start paying me back after crimbo.....so maybe during the year I will get me sewing machine lol

Maybe how I deal with crimbo stems from my growing up years........ I never got pressies, my brothers and sister did, I was always told I had not been good enough, but I would never react, I knew from a young age that THAT is what was wanted, for me to rant and rave and cry, so I would sit quietly and watch me brothers open gifts and gifts..... I remember me Aunti Freda giving me a present one year and my mum taking it from me and giving it to Bella's daugther that lived around the corner LOL...... but ya see, non of this really bothered me..... yes, of course I would of loved a pressie bought with love and kindness and just for me, cos someone had wanted to take time to choose something for me.... but thats not how it was.... so maybe thats why I am like I am at crimbo now LOL....

I know Im different from me maties and their greed and wants and must haves.... my life is so very different in every aspect from theirs and sometimes I wonder in amazement just as to how these friends are actually friends of mine LOL

Actually, I do remember one year getting a crimbo pressie, I was about 12 and the old woman down the road gave my mum an old bike for me to have...... it was when over here the newest bestest thing in the world to have was a Raleigh Chopper bike and all the kids in our close did get one for crimbo...... the Fewing brothers did and their parents were well poor, and Kenny Marsh also got one and his parents were quite comfortably off..... and even me brother got one (even though I thought he was a bit old for one lol) but I was given this old ladys WAY WAY to big for me rusty bike..... inside I died cos I so really for the first time in me life WANTED a chopper bike LOL..... I remember going into a competition at school to try and win one, we had to draw a picture of our dream bike.... it took me weeks to draw and colour and my dad put his tea cup on me picture the morning I had to take it into school and left a huge tea ring mark right over the picture LOL.........so it was not to be....... but you know what...... I loved this old rusty bike.... loved it, cos instead of having to walk 6 miles to the woods at Rowlings Castle with me book on the days I bunked off school, it meant that I could sneak me bike out and ride to the woods and spend longer up me reading tree LOL..... it meant a little more freedom.....



This was the dream bike when I was a kid.... I know to a doodle it will be just the run of the mill bike, but to a British kid this was HEAVEN and the likes of which we had never seen before..... it had a long saddle and had gears on the frame like gears in a car LOL....

Anyways....... enough of that boring old stuff LMFAO

On Sunday afternoon I mentioned to Sam and Jacob that we aint even got a tree and did they fancy coming to Southwick Estate to cut a tree down........ as we had all been stuck in most of the weekend for various reasons they both jumped at the chance to get out for an hour......

Southwick is only 3 miles from me (remember I did that post on Southwick back months ago)..... Ive cut and bought me tree from the Estate for a few years now..... and last year I went with me matie Sharon and the old bloke that hands out the saws was having a laff with us.....

So we jumped in the car, and headed towards Southwick down the dead badger lane.... I knew it wouldnt be long before it got dark so it was now or never lol.... we pulled up in the little track and the same old man from last year was standing there with a saw in his hand, and he gave me the BIGGEST SMILE and said.... oh my goodness, its you from last year LMFAO..... I had to laff...... so I says..... oh my goodness, tis you from last year, I thought you might of been well dead by now..... to which he threw back his head and laffed and laffed LOL - Sam and Jacob just scared first at me then at the old old man and then at each other LOL.....

Most of the trees in this meadow have gone this year and they will not be opening the other meadow until next year, so the pickings were slim.... but hunt we did..... I had to be oh so careful cos of all the old stumps that would of tripped me over with me dodgy knee and I would of ended up on me arse in agony.....



Always best to wear stout walking boots :) - these are the boots I will be buried in when the time comes....



Dont be mistaken by Jacobs miserable face LOL that was his 'Im Kewl Look' LMFAO....

My boys were just gagging to cut things down, maybe its a boy thing LOL - I heard Sam shout 'mum mum Ive found a good one' so I hobbled over to be confronted by this........



That boy is such a twit sometimes....

The trees were very thin on the ground and Jacob and Sam disappeared into the edge of the meadow where I could hear frantic sawing........ but I couldnt see them, I could hear giggles though.... and then TIMBERRRRRRRRRRR.........



And them these two came scurrying out of the trees LOL.... can you see that tree sort of at an angle above and to the left of my Sams head lol.... they thought it would be fun to but it down, even though it was about 20 foot tall and we only wanted a 6-7 foot tree......... oh jebus I said, if the bloke sees us he will charge us for a 20 foot tree LOL.....

I tried to explain to me lads that you choose a tree and cut down ONE just the ONE you want, not 2 or 3 or half a dozen but ONE........ talk about falling on deaf ears, these boys had a saw and jebus help any tree that stood in their way....



What about this one mum........ NO SAM lol..



Mum, this one?.... NO JACOB lol....

We did infact after they almost cut down a whole forest of trees........ someone else will be grateful they are already cut down right? - we decided on this skanky looking specimen LOL



I know, I KNOW it aint the best tree in the word, but the choice was right proper limited and we think we found the best of the forest.... well, the meadow....

And the bloke said we could have it for only £12 quid which is wellabit cheap thats just like $20.... he said I had bought a smile to his cold face and it was worth it....

Ya know when ya out in a meadow and you find a tree and you think, yep thats just the right size....... and then you drag it back to the car.....and ya realise ya forgot to unload the 4 baby car seats and the 3 booster seats and the huge 3 wheeler off road buggy and the other shopping buggy AND the 3 crates of lagers from the car, and ya wonder how ya gonna get a tree in with all that load and the 3 of us.....



Well, these problems are sent to try out our imagination and creativity LOL......

We gave the saw back to the bloke who was by now laffing and laffing at our tree sticking out the back of the car with all the carseats left on the side of the carpark LOL...... he said...... see ya next year Mel, thats if I survive the winter and make it through til next year, and he wandered off chuckling.....

Us well, ya just get on with the situation and juggle and jump things around and shove and push and eventually you can work almost anything out......



Hey, are you alright back there Jacob..... LMFAO.......

We did laff and laff all the way home..... and tonight we will drag the tree in and place it in the new tree stand I had to buy yesterday, cos after 20 years we couldnt find the old one.......

Ok........ enough boring way to long Twaddle for a Tuesday lunchtime......

x

Laff Me Red Stripey Socks Off...

Ok....... this is probably the shortest post Ive ever done LMFAO....... Im busier then a flea on a rats arse..... but I just had to share this.....

You remember Mike who was/is still very very poorly and who took a peep into deaths door a few weeks back ....... you remember, me matie Shelley and Bob's brother....

Well.....I rang a florist's shop over in Seattle a couple of weeks ago..... and spoke to this right proper nice bloke on the phone, cos I wanted to send Mike a little something to make him smile and so that he knows that someone thousands of miles away was thinking of him and wishing him well...... so after much chat with this bloke on the phone, and after him keeping on and bloody on about how no one had ever rang from England before and how much he loved me accent, and I would be the first to ring from England and place an order, and him asking about the Queen and our Prime Minister *as if I bloody know them*.... we got down to things...... so I ordered and sent to Mike in hospital a display of bright cheery flowers in a chicken mug.... yep a chicken mug LMFAO...... and attached to the flowers was a gas filled chicken balloon LMFAO how could I not....... it was to me PERFECT :) and I hope it put a smile on his face.......

Anyways, when I was in town during the week, I went into me favourite little individual shop that I hang around in when Im in Southsea.... just picking up bits and pieces of unusual things with certain people in mind...... I hate the normal run of the mill shops and when pressie hunting I tend to find the tiny original shops......

So, I wanted to get Mike a get well card.... but I didnt want just a normal card cos that wouldn't be me LOL.... ya know, with the GET WELL SOON and a little teddy bear on it or some such thing lol...... I knew if and when I saw 'the card' then that would be the one, Im not one of those people that can just run in a shop grab the first card in sight and rush out..... so, Im in this 'different' shop just browsing through cards....

To me, when you see a card and it actually makes you Laff ya red stripey socks off and you laff and laff out loud in the shop, then you HAVE to buy it, you KNOW its the one.....

So this is the card that I will post today to Mike...... Im hoping it will make him smile...... Im hoping he will know it was picked (I drove 13 miles to the shop JUST to buy a special card for Mike) with love, and Im hoping that Mike will know that even though people can not be there in person, that he is thought of.....




I was really laffing and the woman that was standing next to me turned and looked at me like I was an alien, so I showed her the card and said it was for a poorly friend in America, she said 'I dont think that is appropriate for someone that is ill' so I says, he might be really poorly but he still has the strength to get his willy out and fiddle if he wants, or I suppose a nurse could do it for him....... she gave me 'the look' and walked off....... daft cow, no sense of humour some people lol

Go on, the card made you laff didnt it? LOL

Can you see me new spotted ironing board cover LOL.... what you cant see is about 7 piles of this what is awaiting someones attention...



Hey, just cos I have a new cover DONT mean I have to use it, right? lol

Enough quick Twaddle for a Wednesday morning.... I have to hobble to our village post office and post Mikes card.......

Slater maties.....

x