These are a few of my favourite festive things ...

 

I love the warmth  of the festive colours at home - the rich golds, reds & greens are reminiscent of the colours of nature. It is welcome colour in our midwinter. 

I shared some views of the touches of tartan in the bedrooms & on the large conservatory table.  It is cosy to wrap yourself in soft warmth as the weather cools here. 

The festive touches stay up from around the start of Advent to Twelfth Night when they are all down & packed away again. I like having the days of Twelfth Night between Christmas & Epiphany to enjoy them without the faster pace of Christmas. 

Having the family home for the festive season meant that the various parts of the house were used even though we did not breakfast in the conservatory because I did not put on the heater in good time in there so it was rather chilly. The table was used the night before & has had a brighter table cloth change. 

However, the things were used off the sideboard - the cheeseboard & the little plates came through, the little hands used the small Christmas Rose bowls for their baking sprinkles & so it carried on. That is why I love having it all at hand. 

The sideboard has once again been a mixture of old & new, of various festive patterns - Spode's Christmas tree, Portmeirion Pumpernickel Strawberry Thief , Emma Bridgewater Joy etc plates & bowls, Spode's nutcracker men, vintage cranberry glasses & decanter as well as modern & vintage red forks, knives & spoons that somehow all go together even though they are decades apart. 

My tiny beaded ornaments from my friend & neighbour nestle in the dining room on the console table - they are delicate but beautiful to look at. 

The Christmas tree & the fireplace garland twinkled in the low light & it was cosy.  I'm not even sure that it was all noticed individually but collectively, it makes everything seem cosy in winter. I was not sure how many cards would drop through the letter box & if it would fill the card line, but it has & each one is a thoughtful reminder of that personal touch. 

Winter cyclamen have provided a welcome pop of colour - a pot in the conservatory has red / pink ones surrounded by uncooperative hyacinth bulbs in cream & pink that have not even poked their flowering heads up yet. 

The cyclamen on the kitchen window are doing well, perhaps they are just warmer but they will provide colour for weeks. The Christmas candle scents the house so delicately. 

I will slowly start changing over things on the weekend so it will be packed by the night of the 5th of January, but for now, I am still enjoying it. 

Do you have a tradition to keep it up & take it down. Tell all, & thank  you for stopping by. 

Dee