Friday Five: Christmas Tree Ornaments

 

As we now have kittens in our lives, I managed to persuade Him Outdoors that we needed a tree for their first Christmas. Cats of any age love Christmas trees; all those shiny things to play with and pull off: such fun! I was a little concerned that they might hurt themselves or cut their paws if they broke anything, so I only decorated the tree with robust and non-shatter items. There are still many precious memories among the branches.

7 Christmas Tree Decorations:

1. A football - of course 

2. A fantail - given to us by The Weevil and a reminder of New Zealand

3. A tui - a gift from another Kiwi friend

4. A magpie - we've also got a couple of doves nestling among the branches - I love to see birds in the trees

5. A rocking horse - my mother decided this one was for me - you can tell because she wrote my name on it

6. A collage Christmas tree on a Christmas tree - very post modern from Nephew Aidan


7. Pom poms - as you do (if you're Niece Niamh)

Friday Five: Charades

On my recent trip to South Australia with my family, we entertained ourselves in the evenings with rudimentary games of charades. Each person would put five suggestions into the special vessel and we took it in turns to act them out. 

Nephew Aidan and Niece Niamh enjoyed the game so much that they extended it by pretending not to guess the title of the film/ book/ song and so forcing the poor actor to suffer endlessly through the interpretation. It was a lot of fun, and apparently one of the highlights of the holiday.

5 Titles of charades acted out on our holiday:

1. The Curse of the Were-Rabbit 
2. The Mystery of Cherry Tree Lane
3. Far for the Madding Crowd
4. How to Betray a Dragon's Hero
5. There is a Light that Never Goes Out (as demonstrated by Hoggy, above)

Friday Five: Holiday Beaches

City Beach in the morning

Nothing says holiday to me like sun, sea and sand - beaches are blissful; being able to walk/ run on squeaky sand listening to the birds calling and the waves crashing is simply a delight. Our recent visit to family in Perth led to a fair sample of local beaches. Here are my favourite:

5 Great Western Australia Beaches:

1. City Beach - my brother lives here and can walk down every morning. Lucky or what? Niece Niamh also reckons it's a good spot to practice gymnastics.






2. Aidan's birthday beach - I don't know its real name but this beach in Margaret River has got good waves for body-boarding and sand dunes for fitness training, is gentle enough to take out a kayak, and has ample beach space for playing cricket.





3. Surfers' Point - also in Margaret River. I wouldn't surf here, as our hosts kindly indicate the spot where a surfer was taken by a shark, but I'm told it has 'gnarly breaks' -apparently that's a good thing.








4. Gnarabup - a gently sloping beach provides a prime spot for swimming and sandcastle-building.





5. Yallingup Beach - it means the place of love and is the home of surfing in WA.