Preparing for Christmas...

The 30-day simplification project is coming to an end, and I can start looking forward to Christmas. Over the past few weeks I have culled every cupboard in my home, made two trips to our large council recycling centre, rearranged bookshelves, altered clothing that I wasn't wearing into items that are much more suitable for my wardrobe/lifestyle, finished making Christmas gifts, downloaded photoshop actions, and finally, organised all of the photo folders on my laptop. I have a couple of tasks left to do, but they will need to wait until the filing solutions I've ordered have arrived.

So, this weekend, I've been able to look forward to all things festive (...and many thanks to those of you who made such lovely comments on the little winter coat decorations -they are now wrapped in brown paper and red gingham ribbon, and are in the custody of Royal Mail on their way to Australia...). The Christmas tree has made an appearance, squeezed into a corner of my sitting room. The little lady above is my favourite decoration - a gift from my mother and sister a few years ago.

I have two lovely Carol services to look forward to...the first is work-linked. I work for a large hospital trust in London, and on one site, there has been a hospital since the late 13th century. It is located adjacent to St Bartholomew's the Great (a church made famous in Four Weddings and a Funeral, and other films...), so each year our hospital charity hosts a carol service in the church followed by mulled wine and mince pies in the great hall of the hospital - it always seems to mark the start of the Christmas festivities to me. This year I am also volunteering (by ushering and handing our programmes) for the Lord Mayor of London's charity fund-raising Carol service at St Paul's Cathedral on the 20th - so I'll also get to enjoy that service as well.

Then there are also the various Christmas parties, and catch-up with friends that seem to squeeze into each spare evening during this season. Plans for the big day itself are still up in the air but will hopefully be sorted soon.

And in terms of receiving, I was delighted to win my first blog giveaway last week - from Simone, at The Bottom of the Ironing Basket.

After reading about these products on Simone's blog, I'm so looking forward to enjoying them - a little treat for my skin, now that the cold winter weather has finally arrived. Thanks Simone!