December: Colombians join us for Sunday lunch, we visit Saffron Walden, friends and family, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Studd household at Christmas and a wedding in Hexam.

How others see us: this "Letter to Mike" was read
out during our Christmas Service - there is more
than a pinch of truth in it!

Then, while the homemade bread was rising, I found some moulds and made some dishes (exactly the same shade of pink) to use for breakfast. I made them from Hungarian clay, which you can get in almost any neighbourhood Hungarian craft shop.

Well, I must run. I need to finish off the hem and buttonholes on the dress I'm wearing for breakfast. I'll get out the sledge and drive this note to the post box as soon as the glue dries on the envelope I've just made. Hope my breakfast guests don't stay too long. I have 40,000 cranberries with bay leaves to string before my speaking engagement at noon.

Have a restful Christmas, lots of love from John & Liz

P.S. When I made the ribbon for this typewriter, I used 1/8-inch gold gauze. I soaked the gauze in a mixture of white grapes and blackberries which I grew, picked and crushed last week just for fun.

Christmas at the Studd household

This perfectly delightful note is being written on paper I
made myself to tell you what I have been up to leading
up to Christmas. Since it snowed last night, I got up early
and made a sledge with old barn wood and a glue gun. I
hand-painted it in gold leaf, got out my loom, and made a blanket in peach and mauve's. It was gorgeous even though
I say so myself.

By then, it was time to start making the place mats and napkins for my 20 breakfast guests. I'm serving the old standard twelve-course breakfast, but I'll let you in on a
little secret: I didn't have time to make the table and
chairs this morning, so I used the ones we have already.

Before I moved the table into the dining room, I decided
to add just a touch of Christmas. So, I repainted the room
in pink and reds and stencilled gold stars on the ceiling.