Still here!

Things have busy round these parts, but now we've nearly finished everything for Christmas and I'm feeling that I'll be able to breathe a big sigh and relax after tomorrow.  It's A's last day at work tomorrow and my choir Christmas social.  We've still got a bit more to do before we're ready for Christmas, but apart from a few foodie things and wrapping presents, nothing that would be disastrous if it weren't to happen.  I really should practise playing carols though, having agreed to play the organ for the children's mass on Christmas even though!

Last week was ludicrously busy.  There was a Christmas party at the Old Dalby home ed group on Monday, to which M took her French horn and played Little Donkey, which made up a bit for having missed doing so at Fun Club when we was poorly.  Tuesday, the girls went to play with friends in the morning before gymnastics in the afternoon and korfball in the evening.  On Wednesday, after M's French horn lesson first thing, we headed over to Derby to spend the day with our friends C, S, G & F, and go to the HE climbing session at Alter Rock.  Thursday was the girls' last piano lesson of the year first thing and then their Scout Christmas party in the evening (more on that in a moment).  Friday was much less busy with just a Christmas party of friends who live across the road, which the girls chose to go to rather than the last gymnastics of the year.

To get back to Scouts, they had a secret Santa for which they had to buy a present for the person whose name they had pulled out of a hat a couple of weeks earlier.  They had both put a lot of effort into their presents, for which there was a limit of £2.  M had picked the Scout leader and she crocheted her a brooch and bought a nice notebook from a charity shop and had enough to get a couple of coloured biros to go with it.  K had heard that her recipient liked meerkats, so spend money on a small cardboard box and got quilling.  This is the result.

She has also made some stunning Christmas cards for various people; here are a few of them.  She has also quilled a present for M, but I haven't yet got a photo of it and can't say what in case she sees.