We have been enjoying som lazy days here recently, kind of stopping to smell the roses. It is about time

Christmas cakes have been made
Dods have been snoozing

And beautiful walks have been taken. We have had the most stunning weather this last couple of days. It has been so very cold and icy but once you have wrapped up it is just so nice to be outside. The water here is frozen solid, it is so quiet that if you drop something on the ice you hear the strangest of noises.
The air smells of cold and fires, I love the smell of fires.

I have finally started with some christmas shopping. It is going to be a fairly modest affair this year but as long as time is spent together it really doesnt matter to us. I am not going to list gifts on here just yet as I know that family read this blog.

Another idea I wanted to share with you ( I cant claim this to be my own idea, borrowed it from another blog)

My children have got a chocolate advent calendar which was bought for them and also one of those fabric ones that you put a gift inside the pockets (which was made for them). Rather than use the fabric one for chocolates I will put a little note into each pocket with an activity on it, it could be making popcorn, baking, watching a movie or anything. I think that this is a wonderful idea as my children wont remember the chocolate they had but will the time spent with their family. I will blog mre about it in the next few days.