Happy wrapping...

is my favourite activity at the moment. Picture me sitting in the middle of my loungeroom post kiddie bedtime, glass of wine perched on the coffee table between the stack of pressies and the scissors. In my hair are several bits of tangled sticky tape and some stray bits of tinsel. But, oh how chipper I am! I've decided to go the no landfill approach to wrapping and it's so much fun. I've bought lots of rolls of pretty ribbon (it's recycleable) and I've been using  bits of op-shop sourced sewing pattern instead of wrapping paper. Never fear, no super special, vintage patterns have been harmed in the wrapping of my gifts (mind you, I have several thousand laying around the place!). No, these patterns give you the know how to make things like high waisted, elastic backed 'slacks' (even the word is daggy) and one size fits all windcheaters, suitable for appliqueing on a stylish gumleaf arrangement complete with hand beading and glittery bits. I think I'm even fulfilling a sense of obligation to free the world of offensive fashion. With a couple of different hole punches and some clever scissor work, I must say they all look rather lovely. So lovely, it probably doesn't even matter whats inside! So, get ye to the local oppie and start scavenging for lovely bits of substitute gift wrap and get creative. It's very therapeutic and satisfying. Bring on Christmas morning!
I may have mentioned it six or eight times, but I'm a Christmas loving tragic. I love all of it. I never tire of Christmas carols tootling in every single shop. Jingle my bells over and over and I'll line up for more next year. I itch to get the bums of all my family members in the car to do the after dark sightseeing Christmas lights tour. The really spectacular displays have lighting worth more than the house from which they precariously dangle and large bits of inflatable festivity. Then there's the wiring I'd rather not contemplate. Housefire, did I hear you say?
Right up there at the top of my Christmas loving list, along with too many drinkies induced family arguments and frantic gift unwrapping, is the food. Oh, the food. Start me off with some cashews, smoked oysters and chips. I could inhale chips, so bad, yet so yum. Follow with a main course featuring seven varieties of dead animal roasted to golden deliciousness with accompanying vegies swathed in cream and cheese, please. After this course I'll inhale deeply, undo my top button and line up for plum pudding, DON'T hold the brandy cream. Is that trifle? Maybe just a small serve, NO! not that much...oh, ok. I'll then wash it down with a teensy bit of champers before I let it settle over some dish washing. By then I may just be able to squeeze in an after dinner mint or two and a chunkily strong coffee. Gluttony? Mmmmm, yes.
Which brings me to a fresh gripe I've been developing while reading these irritating nutrition and weight management articles. Yes, we all have a tendency to eat too much crap but maybe that's because we've lost faith in our innate ability to know when enough is enough. I've stopped reading parenting books because they undermine my confidence as a Mum and make me feel inadequate. I'm trying my hardest and I've learned to trust my gut. Eating advice has the same effect. I went through a phase where I'd buy lots of low fat products and check the back of every label. I became obsessed with eating healthily and lost sight of what that actually meant. What we seem to be doing as a society is intellectualising something very primal. Something as primal as parenting. When you start to look at your plate as several bundles of kilojoules and eat a chocolate bar as quickly as possible because you can't stand the feelings of guilt associated with what should be a pleasurable experience, something's gone wrong. I've been on a bit of a pre-Christmas diet lately, and by that I mean eating more chocolate and snacky goodies in celebration than I normally would, but I've found my body is doing an automatic adjustment. I have stopped baking nearly every day because I just don't feel like cake. I just devoured a plate of home grown lettuce with avocado and some cold meat because that's what I fancied. I have cut back to one piece of toast for breakky because I'm just not that hungry and through noticing all of these eating changes I realise I don't have to be in control of what I eat, if I allow a little trust, my body knows what's best. That's why I quietly seethe when I read articles outlining how many kilojoules and how many grams of fat each element of my Christmas dinner contains. I DON'T CARE if my roast potatoes are an artery clogging disaster or that the crackling on the pork is a nutritionists nightmare because it's Christmas and it's about enjoyment. So, I'm going to stuff myself silly with yummy things because I know if I try not to think about it too much, my metabolism will tell me to back off for a few days post Christmas to compensate. Please join me in ripping up those nasty guilt inducing articles written by Christmas fun suckers and be jolly!

Now, may I proudly introduce Paper Percival. He's still in development but I'm sure you will love him. You may have met his sister Paper Peggy, well Percy is just as beguiling and very lovely. His clothes are still in the factory being sewn and I have it on good authority that they will inspire the imaginations of lots of little boys and girls.
I'm gearing up for the Daylesford Makers Market Twilight edition to be held this Saturday from 4pm. Santa will be hanging out sucking up the festive atmosphere and may even do a bit of his own Christmas shopping on the night. And, why wouldn't you. It's definitely the perfect opportunity to get those last few special goodies. So, I shall keep on keeping on with a whole stack of new product development for the new year and I'll see you Saturday!