Hello 2017

Well, that's Christmas firmly packed away and in the loft for another year! I had hoped to get some posts done in December but life, the earth and the universe did its best to stop me. 

Christmas itself is a mixed bag for me - my hubby works in retail so I never really see much of him in December (in his more humbug moments he complains that Christmas is merely a day off between the two busiest days of the year for him) so we've been ships passing in the night. Missy also hates all things to do with Christmas. We know she was originally abandoned at this time of year and the whole tree-going-up debacle triggers off her anxiety. This year was quite bad as she had a bit of a melt down over a paper snowflake decoration (I will not be buying those again!) which she barked at and then hid in the spare room from. Despite the temptation to just not bother with the tree etc, its something we hope she'll just get used to over time, so we do our best to make the whole thing fun and treat-filled for her.

Are you positive this Christmas malarkey is necessary?

On the plus side - my family managed to congregate together (I shall spare you all the family politics, but the fact that everyone (my siblings significant others included) was able to sit in the one room and play nice is a big deal) and the day itself went great. Typically we all overate and Missy was spoiled absolutely rotten as everyone insisted she get one of the treats they'd brought for her! All the bits I'd sewn went down very well (I'm happy to report my eldest niece adored the dresses for her and the doll) and I managed a few other crafty bits that went down well too:

An apron for my Brother-In-Law

And a matching mini-apron for my niece!

A kimono styled dressing gown for my sister

Family "sigils"

The little shields was a last minute addition to the Christmas pile - like a lot of families, we have a group chat that's usually pinging away with utter nonsense, but occasionally some fun useful bits pop up. I wont into details, but we decided to make up our own Games of Thrones-esque family crests and mottos. I used the ideas everyone came up with, made them a bit more interesting/practical and handed them out. With two of my three siblings buying houses this year, they went down much better than I had expected. For those interested, mine is the one with the three grey dogs - no surprises there!

New Year was spent at the in-laws (we try our best to rotate the two families) and we danced in the bells at the village ceilidh. They live in very-rural Aberdeenshire, so Missy enjoyed lots of walks in the woodland and fields, whilst I did my best at bird spotting (I had a few firsts - a partridge (aptly festive) and a handful of long tail tits).

Like many, I'm quite looking forward to 2017 and what it will bring. Last year was very much a mixed bag of a year. There were too many lows - I had to say the final goodbye to my grandfather, and my last surviving grandparent has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, so we have ticking away slowly in the back of our minds. There has been some great highs too - Japan (back in May before I picked this up again) was the holiday of a lifetime, bridges are finally being built and mended between family members I thought would never speak again, and I have the wonderful news that I have not one, but two new members of the family joining us in the big wide world at some point next year (one niece and one nephew respectively, providing the scans are right!)

So, to all those reading, I raise a mug of tea (well, I am terribly British after all) and wish you all the best for the year to come!