Virtually Coffee Tuesday - Coffee Before Christmas...

Every day i get an inspirational quote from values.com, and this was yesterday's:

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand, and for talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.

Dame Edith Sitwell

and i add 'virtual coffee with friends' :)

So how are the festive preparations going? Are you managing to keep sane? To get a few moments to yourself? To enjoy the moment...

I am in a much better place than last week :) 
Most of the gifts are wrapped and what needed to be mailed has been, and we have gifts under the tree...

And i have had an early xmas gift...

i managed to get into the only clinic this month in our area for botox treatment, and yesterday i had the injections in my arm. Usually it takes several days to kick in and give me some relief...

this was my hand last week...

... painfully cramped and tight...

and this is it already today

... i've never known it to relieve my hand and arm so quickly, and i am sooooo grateful! The release from pain is truly wonderful :) And it means i'll be able to wash it properly and get my nails cut...

Truly i am grateful for living in the 21st century and in a western country with access to medical care!!!

So i will wish you a very merry christmas, happy times spent with those you love, and above all good health and, if illness or accident do strike, good medical care...

With much love xxx


Enjoy the coffee chat over at Amy's...

Virtually Coffee Tuesday - This 'n' That...

Can you believe in two weeks' time, the whole Christmas shin-dig will be over and folks will be back at work??
And I've still got gifts to buy and then wrap and mail... *help*

But there's always time for coffee and chat :) Especially on a cold, blustery day...

Molly has the right idea...

... curled up on her bed in front of the fire...

... and the candles are already lit as it's so gloomy...

This is an after-lunch chat - the morning evaporated in buying last-minute gifts online and trying to remember where I've put/hidden gifts already bought...

This is what I had for lunch - pure comfort food...

... a mushed banana sarnie and a mug of tea :)

This was always my favourite Saturday tea-time snack as a kid watching Dr Who with my Grandad :) Rounded off with a slice of whatever cake Grandma had made earlier in the day...

But nowadays it's more fruit instead of cake, but I was spoilt for choice...

... I chose a pear :) What do you fancy??

I must show a new addition to my new-found teddy obsession...

His name's Pip, and nobody else bid on him on ebay - poor little guy - just because he's lost some mohair on his chest and arm...

Well, I couldn't resist that little face, and he was an absolute steal!! He and Henry have been eyeing up my sandwiches... I confess, they are rather teddy-bear-picnic food!

And, I received this beauty in the post yesterday...

My friend Poppy M always sends plants to brighten the dark yule season. This is a campanula - it still looks a tad shell-shocked from the journey, but hopefully it'll like the kitchen window sill...

Well, my coffee's now cold, and the present-wrapping/card-writing beckons...

I hope you're managing to keep on top of Christmas preparations, and more importantly, managing to find a few quiet moments each day to remember what it's really all for... light and warmth and love in a sometimes cold and hard place...

Amy hasn't put the VC list up yet, but she does has tea and berries from yesterday :)

Update 7.40pm (GMT) - The VC list is up :)

Virtually Coffee Tuesday - Beary Happy...

... First, I want to say a big thank you to those who left comments and sent emails re. my last post...
Thank you so much - all your words mean such a lot...

I am feeling much brighter this week...

E decorated the tree on Saturday, so the house feels cosy and festive :)

The kids' initials decorate the tree every year...

E made this little guy about 10 years ago - she loved her Hama beads!

... and she's never liked the angel topper I use, so this little chap has pride of place this year :)

I am in a very beary mood, since I was given this gorgeous young man the other day...

I think our relative meant for him to go to the kids... but they weren't interested...

His name is Henry, and he's settled right in...

... and today he got his very own bear...

He arrived this morning and is beautifully handknitted by the lovely Rowan at BearBovis... I think he'll help Henry feel right at home :)

As a child, I never had a bear...

I did receive a huge, orange Merrythought bear for my first birthday - I've seen pictures - but he stood over 3 feet high and growled, and I was terrified, so he was banished to the attic...

I retrieved him years later, thinking our kids may like him... but they were terrified too, so he went to the charity shop... :(

But now I have Henry, another Merrythought bear, but he's the perfect size (about 18 inches), the perfect colour (golden), the perfect weight (he's beautifully solid), and now at the ripe old age of ??, I have my very own bear - and I couldn't be happier :)

Do join us over at Amy's for more coffee chat...