Friday, December 19, 2014

GALLIVANTING


The week before Christmas...
and I have been out Gallivanting, as my mother used to say..

I received this golden angel at the Sewing Sisters Christmas party,
look at her graceful arms above her head, made from fine wire; 
they also form a halo.
She was hand-made by the talented R, who does amazing things with assorted paper, stamps and lace.



I have to show you V's beautiful necklace, which of course she made herself.
The talent of these girls is amazing...



Mr C and I lunched with colleagues at the Wild Canary..


to give thanks for a good year in our business..


The food is beautiful, organic and fresh, with herbs grown right outside the restaurant, which is located at a garden centre.



 I visited the lovely M for an iced coffee:


Look at the tiny Christmas house and tree on the tray, and beautiful hand-embroidered napkins...
Heavenly...


M gave me this beautiful lace fan, the perfect accessory for choral singing on a hot Christmas night...

I have been to lots of choir practise, singing carols for the season.
These days I prefer the lesser known, and medieval, carols for their beauty and simplicity.
The half dozen most common carols, constantly rearranged with a modern beat, pierce my hearing at the shopping malls.   
I shudder...


My sister and I went to see the Queensland Ballet performance of
The Nutcracker.  
It is performed every year at Christmas, (not that I go every time), and is a special treat for the season.
The sets and costumes were brilliant, like a Victorian Christmas card.



We loved the snow ballet at the end of Act 1, all frosty and white with snow falling on the scene.
Then the curtains came down, and snow fell down on the audience.
It disappeared when you tried to catch it, but seemed to be a type of soap suds, or bubble mix. 



We have had a few more dramatic storms this week.
There has been no steady rain, but the storms have revived our garden, and at last we have green grass once again.


The strong wind of this storm reminded me of an Australian Christmas carol,
 'The North Wind'...


Forgetting about snow, here are the words of a carol set in our own brown land:

The North-wind is tossing the leaves,
The red-dust is over the town;
The sparrows are under the eaves
And the grass in the paddock is brown;
As we lift up our voices and sing
To the Christ-Child the Heavenly King;

The tree-ferns in green gullies sway;
The cool stream flows silently by:
The joy-bells are greeting the day,
And the chimes are adrift in the sky,
As we lift up our voices and sing
To the Christ-Child, the Heavenly King.

(Words by John Sheeler, Music by William G James)


Enjoy the season,

XXXX



28 comments:

  1. Love so many things on this post Patricia - the gorgeous necklace, the flowers scattered throughout your meal and the Nutcracker ballet which is always such a lovely treat to see at this season.
    Have a wonderful Christmas - your year set off on a low note but has ended on a gloriously high note♡

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  2. Thank you Rosemary - for your good wishes, and for remembering the low note too! It is difficult to realise the year is over, when my focus was quite narrow for many months. Here's to that glorious high note on Christmas Eve!

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  3. Your gold Angel is gorgeous! As is your friends necklace. I loved everything about your post Trish and a bit of gallivanting is good for one's soul! My favourite of course is our very own carol. I have always loved it xx

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    1. Thank you Michelle, I am sure you would love that gold angel. The Australian carols are beautiful, aren't they, and just as popular as when they were written 50 years ago. Happy Christmas to you and your family. xx

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  4. So funny because when I read the word gallivanting, I thought of my mum, who always said it to me too.
    That angel is wonderful, unique hand made items are just the best. I'm going to The Nutcracker this week,
    it's such a lovely tradition.

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    1. Oh, yes, having seen pictures of your lovely mum, Tabitha, I can imagine her use of the word gallivanting, just as my mum did!
      Do enjoy The Nutcracker - I know you will - perhaps even more appropriate in a cold climate. I enjoyed the backdrops of snow-covered houses and fir trees as much as the dancing!

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  5. Thank you Valerie, The year is ending well, after a tricky beginning for me. I glad you enjoy the blog, my happy place for happy thoughts! Wishing you and your family a very Happy Christmas. xx

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  6. Hi, Trish...love your use of the gallivanting, very common when I was growing up. Thanks for sharing all the lovely crafts and pictures today. Looks Christmas at your house!

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    2. HI Linda, Another gallivanter! It is a great word.
      Just bought a copy of the American Country Sampler Christmas edition - so many decor ideas, I will be tweaking the house a bit more today. HB thinks I am a bit obsessive, he he

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  7. How wonderful to have seen The Nutcracker, I really must try and catch it one of these years. Suzy xo

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    1. Oh Suzy, you must go and see it. Apart from the general gorgeousness of it, there is a lot of inspriation for crafters! xo

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  8. Such wonderful Christmassy happy things for this special time of year. Happy Christmas! xx

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    1. Can never get enough Christmas happies, Amy.
      Merry Christmas to you, too. xx

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  9. It looks like you're having a lovely run up to Christmas. I love to see the Nutcracker performed. I just took my kids to a "highlights of the Nutcracker" program aimed at schoolchildren a couple of weeks ago. They both enjoy it a lot, my daughter especially because she takes a ballet class. I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

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    1. What a great idea, the highlights of the Nutcracker, for children. Your daughter would have loved it; I saw many little girls at the theatre too, who looked like little ballerinas. Thank you for your good wishes, and you enjoy the season too. I know you will!

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  10. What a lovely week you have had with your gallivanting around. I can't wait until I am back in a city so I can enjoy all these sorts of things too. I agree, the noise of modern Christmas is just so hideous - in fact my husband and I vacated out house yesterday because very loud "carols" - the modern, rock version, amplified to a decibel level that is damaging to the hearing (and sanity) and went up the coast to have a dinner. Unfortunately not in a place quite as quiet and atmospheric as the two places you enjoyed. I do love the tree angel, the tiny Xmas decorations and the ballet looks gorgeous. I'll take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very joyous Xmas, and a Happy and Health New Year. I appreciate your blog friendship as well.

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    1. Hello Sarah Liz, Thank you for your lovely comment. Let us hope we both hear some beautiful and soothing, traditional, carols this week. I can understand vacating the house because of noise - we took off yesterday to avoid the sound of half the neighbourhood trimming their hedges! Our mature hearing cannot tolerate all that noise... City life, however, has its compensations, as you say. Wishing you and your family are very wonderful Christmas, and a happy New Year, 2015. xx

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  11. What a wonderfully happy, Christmassy post, Patricia. I love ballet, but it's a long time since I've seen any other than on TV - too far out in the sticks for live ballet here. I particularly enjoyed the Australian carol. It does us up here in the northern hemisphere good to appreciate just how different the setting for your Christmas is.

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    1. Thank you Perpetua, it is hard to imagine 'in the sticks' in the UK, where it seems there is a village around every corner :)
      I am glad you liked the carol, which is one of a series of six which are very popular here. It is a bit cooler today, thankfully, so I can get on with some Christmas activities.

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  12. Hi Patricia, I love hearing about your summer Christmas. I know what you mean about the Christmas carols we all hear in department stores. I don't like secular carols because that's mostly what retail stores play. Now I perfer religious ones, especially rare ones.

    The food loves amazing and healthy!

    Merrry Christmas! Have a festive one.

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    1. Hi Debra, yes, rare carols are always lovely to hear; there have been some on the FM radio I listen to in the car, and they are most enjoyable. Once again today I was in the Mall, listening to a tuneless version of a classic carol - shudder. The food at the Wild Canary really is healthy, as well as great to look at !
      Merry Christmas!

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  13. Beautiful and festive images. I think my favourite might be V;s necklace. It's lovely. I wish I could do things like that.
    Have a peaceful and contented Christmas, Patricia.

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    1. Thank you Jenny, I love that necklace too, and have no idea how she made it.
      Wishing you a very special Christmas, and a wonderful new year in 2015.

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  14. You Patricia are so generous. You spoil us followers with your colorful, plentiful posts. How on earth do you manage to gather all the wonderful things ? I, with my one picture or two, actually think I have achieved a lot. But, hah, so untrue.
    Thank you once again pampering us with your " colors ".
    Wishing a Joyful Christmas time!

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    1. Thank you Mette, I think we live in a brightly coloured world here in the tropics. The fruit and flowers in the restaurant are very vivid, aren't they. Wishing you all the joys of Christmas with your lovely family, and a wonderful new year in 2015.

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  15. Fabulous post. Thankyou for showing us Christmas in Australia. I have never been and despite social media bringing us all ever closer. It really is a world away.

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    1. Thank you Katharine, one of the joys of blogging is sharing our day to day lives. One day I would like to enjoy a white Christmas in the northern hemisphere; I think that would be quite wonderful.

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