Christmas is Coming!

On Tuesday the new Christmas stamps go on sale - and as it is an 'odd' numbered year, they will have a biblical theme.

So I shall make sure I buy mine in good time! I usually buy more than I need so I can keep on using them into the New Year!

I have been beavering away with making and wrapping gifts in my odd moments these last few weeks. Bob is very patient, but I know that sometimes he wishes I would just stop and simply watch a TV programme, instead of leaping up in every advert break to get something else to knit/sew/wrap!

Here's a teaser picture of some of the gifts I have been putting together. The pretty red and white string cost but a few pence [well, cents to be precise] and came from a little shop in Amsterdam when we had a brief 'city break' there back in April 2006. I think it looks very Christmassy

The crinkly cellophane bags are "Roasting Bags" which I picked up very cheaply in Aldi - but most supermarkets have them. They are a quick and easy way to give a professional looking finish to gifts.

I know that some people feel that you should not start thinking about Christmas until Advent begins or even later - and I respect the view that things have got too commercial. But on the other hand, I like to have all the practical stuff out of the way so I can spend Advent focusing on the spiritual side of the season. Furthermore I have never been the sort of person who dashes to M&S during the third week of December with a list of names and just buys all the gifts in one go. Partly because I cannot afford to operate in that fashion, and having more time than money, I prefer make gifts from scratch - and also because this way I can think more carefully about who gets what.

I know that my system means a number of people get 'variations on a theme' so in 2008 there were a lot of handmade bracelets and tins of jigsaw biscuits - but I have observed that people who buy all their gifts in M&S tend to buy multiples of the same item as well [often cos they are on 3-for-2]

My gift list is all sorted now - apart from three people - and that's the 3 who are most important to me. I have no idea at all what to give Bob, Liz and Steph! I can think of lots of things - but they are either way too costly or cheap and trivial. All suggestions gratefully received.