Send Us Christmas Swap - what did everyone receive?

Hello everyone,
It is the last few hours of 2014. I am sitting here knitting, writing , drinking tea. Not much partying going on here - I doubt I will get to midnight and the boys can take themselves to bed! We did have a fun family meal at Barilla Dumplings on Dominion Road a few hours ago - ordered far too much food.
 
How did everyoen get on with the Send us Christmas Swap?  October seems like a long time ago to me! I partnered with the lovely Penny over in Scotland. We e-mailed quite a bit and it is lovely to find another new blog too. This is what i sent Penny - (i cannot believe how hard it was to find NZ Christmas decorations this year - I didn't! And i forgot to put in one of my dishcloths too...) -
I sent Typo, Kikki K and Phoenix Trading Company stationery, cookie cutters, wooden stamps, washi tape, candy canes, fabric and candy canes. it is amazing how much you can fit in a little container!
The recipe was for almond cresents, which we normally make every year, but not this year.

 Penny's gorgoeus package arrived last week - perfect timing!

lots and lots and lots of my favourite things - tea, confetti, soap, a cute notepad, hand cream (perfect for all my knitting) and adorable raindeer decoration plus tissues. But the most fabulous thing of all - Penny crocheted this stunning tea cosie! It is FAB! The teapot now sits on display permanently with its new tea cosie. (and boy am I drinking a lot of tea these hols - easy sitting at home day after day).
Thank you so muhc Penny for being a fab swaping partner!

Check out what these bloggers below recieved/sent as part of the swap -

 Tracy at http://madaboutbagsuk.blogspot.co.nz/2014/12/send-us-christmas-swap.html

Joy at Daisy Row  http://joyknitt.blogspot.co.nz/2014/12/happy-days-350365-and-advent-calendar.html

Ange swapping with Michell  http://tallshortandtiny.wordpress.com/

Jayne  http://jaynesstitchingtales.blogspot.co.nz/
http://jaynesstitchingtales.blogspot.co.nz/2014/12/christmas-exchange.html

the five day cardigan

I have been working on my next university essay I promise. I have really been working very hard on a cardigan. So hard that it was started and finished in 5 days (and not knitting all day long either).
I think it might be my most favourite thing I have ever knitted. An easy pattern, using wool in my stash. And it only took 300 grams which is fab and at $3 a ball from a Knit World sale a couple of years back, came in at the grand total of $18.00 which is amazing! I have started another one too in a different colour... I used an 8 ply and dropped half a needle size too.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/practically

Bit mortified at the grey hair and my tummy but anyhow... (I do like my $33.63 dress bought from Esprit the other day).

Miss Vicky Viola Snail Mail Trade/Swap

Before Christmas I took part in a couple of stationery swaps. Stationery is probably one of my biggest obsessions. (I cannot wait to do the boys' school stationery shopping in a couple of weeks - I love it!)

Vicky Viola held a snail mail trade and she kindly let me take part too. I sent my package to Kim -
items from Kikki K and Phoenix Stationery  and Typo. I am hoping it did arrive before Christmas, but have not heard from Kim yet.

And this morning the courier knocked on the door at 7am (yawn!) and delivered this package from
Lacey in Arlington, VA, USA. A box of goodies. The most sweetest stitiched hand towel and some DMC cross stitch threads (always love getting these - doing a lot of stitiching this summer); a wooden hello stamp (fab for all my snail mail) and 2 ink pads (yay - were on my shopping list!), a pen and some gorgeous notecards.

Thanks to Vicky for the cool trade and to Lacey for all the gorgoeus items you sent.
On the hunt for any new swaps, so if anyone comes across any, let me know!

Lazy summer days

We are being very lazy here. Glorious warm sunny days. Day after day. I like staying home day after day. Teens are sleeping for hours (if not disappering to mates houses, Waiheke island day trips, movies with mates, wandering around shopping centres with mates...). The parents are reading, writing, studying, sorting out the house, piling up stuff to go by the front door, a tiny bit of Boxing Day shopping (much needed sun safe rash tops, some sweet Kikki K Christmas bargains, books - always books - for school at very very cheap prices).
Loving it. Slow long lunches with home made bread rolls and left over ham, home made chutneys. BBQs for dinner. A ton of washing hung out side every day. One full on veg garden which is booming with the hot weather and wet humid weather we had just before Christmas.
And then sweet, sweet Christmas gifts - a good pile of books (every kiwi should own "Tangata Whenua" - it is a GEM and brilliant for my next essay), a divine Karen Walker daisy necklace,
T2 Auckland tea (loving with a hint of kiwifruit), gorgeous stationery, pillowcases which I adore (dashes from Cotton On Kids, oooh - Kia Ora Sunshine which I LOVE, and an Orla Kiely pair from Collected ). I am ga-ga over the huge canvas of the geology of NZ too - we bought for the teenager who is a geography/map fanatic BUT it had to go in the lounge, as i kinda like, no LOVE, it too...
And there has been A LOT of knitting. (there really should have been A LOT more study done - I am weeks behind...). This knitting was supposed to be started for our summer road trip, but in 4 days, I have nearly finished it....  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/practically   ....
I will knit another one but in a different colour on the road trip I think, as it is a fab pattern and something I will wear a lot.
Hoping everyone is having relaxing, stress free days between Christmas and the New Year (no parties or invitiations here - we are old and boring!).

A New Zealand Christmas

Firstly you have to wait HOURS for the teenagers to wake up... this DID NOT go down well with the 11 year old. Teens in this house are a bit past Christmas... Santa is long gone too - really we do very little Christmas related things beforehand. The 11 year old still insisted on santa stockings full of junk food... Santa arrived with the 2 teens still awake - hence on the floor outside one bedroom and on the door handle of the other... A great relaxed day. Still eating leftovers.

 Quite impressed with the number of real Christmas cards this year and several I know still to come (and packages - mail hass been very slow this year)

 Cross stitch I did years ago at school in London...

 The pohutukawa trees are stunning this year....

 empty road - the only day of the year this happens! Usually it is full of the local shopping centre worker's cars. Auckland City Council did a roaring trade in partking tickets over the last week too.. They need to money  guess.

 Turkey, ham, glazed carrots, Oamaru benny jersey potatoes and salads were on the menu.. Prawns and dips and foccacia on the deck as nibbles beforehand.. The groovy cracker sent as part of a swap was our centrepiece - loved it!Pohutukawa flowers.

 Loved the Tom Smith crackers - they had been in the cupbaord for 2 years as I kept on forgetting about them...

 cousins...