My lovely friend, Jan, bought me a beautiful present for my birthday. We were in a second hand/charity shop one day and I spied a small wooden box with a flower embossed metal lid. It had 'MM" in one corner, which happens to be my initials. I commented on how sweet it was. Well, she went back and bought it for me, what a nice friend! She also presented it beautifully in a gold glittery box...
which I can now use for something else.
Can you see the 'MM' in the bottom right hand corner?
She put some delicious mint chocolates from Hotel Chocolat inside, also with an 'M' on.... but I've eaten them all now! What a thoughtful present, thank you Jan.
My family gave me this card -
the pale red sections on the rose are embroidered, very pretty.
Of course I also got my new, all singing, all dancing DSLR camera, but it's been wrapped up for Christmas Day, so that I have something to open. I'm dying to play with it now... but I can't... I must be patient! I'm looking forward to having some decent photos on this blog, but you will have to give me a few days to learn how to use it. I will still continue to use my iPhone for 'spur of the moment' opportunities, but it does have very limited capabilities and quality. I notice it most when I zoom in on my pictures on the computer and see how pixellated they are. Also, there isn't a zoom on the camera, which means close up photos look very out of focus. Nor does it have a flash, which has obvious problems.
Another birthday treat, we went to see Jools Holland with his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington. He was wonderful, of course. His guests included Dave Edmonds and Ruby Turner, equally wonderful.
Such an impressive theatre.
Hmm, you can easily see the limitations of my iPhone here! Mind you, flash photography wasn't allowed.
Beforehand, we ate at the Chicago Rib Shack in Knightsbridge -
and I took my girls to see Harrods and the Christmas displays.
This was as close as I could comfortably get to take photos of Harrods.
I wanted to take some photos of their amazing window display, but there were just TOO MANY PEOPLE around to even attempt it! This year their theme was The Wizard of Oz, so you'll just have to imagine how good it was. Of course all the major stores have interesting window dressing at Christmas.
Now, my procrastination really is getting the better of me just now. I should be in town buying presents, but, oh, the crowds, and the difficulty parking... So, at the very least I should be online buying presents, sounds more hopeful. Instead, I'm writing this post!
After not writing anything for a week, I now have verbal diarrhoea, and must stop myself from going on. I have yet another school concert tonight, my girls are playing flute and saxophone. I'm looking forward to seeing them, but it all comes at once in this final school week doesn't it? So I need to cook something nutritious which is warming in this cold weather, but which can be consumed quickly so we can get out. Soup, maybe? Lots of crusty bread? Either way, I need to get to the supermarket first. As for the Christmas cards.....
