An Afternoon of Tena Moments and Homemade Christmas Gifts

Thats right, Tena Moments.  It was an expression used frequently on Saturday afternoon at Gav and Kim's house.  Imagine a scrummy lunch of homemade goodness made with the freshest of homegrown ingredients (including my first crop of tomatoes for the season) and homemade cheese from the cheese master himself. It does not get better but wait, it does.  I cannot remember laughing as much for so long. We practically wet ourselves which is not hard for those of us that are fast approaching the big 50. Gav, usually the card in the pack, sat back quietly contributing his one liners that would set us off again and again. Shhhhh.... he's quite naughty in person you know.   He must have thought he was in a hen house.  Really, three grown women giggling like school girls over the silliest of things.  Oh, the third wheel on this carousel of laughter was Jessie from rabidlittlehippy who is always good value and capable of finding the ridiculous in any situation. She told me tonight her stomach muscles hurt.

Jess was fairly rocking her Catniss plait.  How cool are these and she did them herself.  No end to this woman's talents.

The laughter began with private preview of Gav's soon to be Christmas Pod Cast on Greening of Gavin .  That's all I'm saying. I'm sworn to secrecy but let me tell you its worth waiting for. And when you do get to hear it, imagine Jess and I sitting there with the pair of them.  We had the pleasure of watching them while we listened.  Too Too Funny.

There was an exchange of gifts for all.  Being on the run at the moment i dibbed out and gave both a bale of pea straw.  What else does one give a gardener that's about to go through a hot summer?  I'd already given Jess my worm wee on her last visit.  I was well and truly outdone by these talented ladies.   On Tanya's post Suburban Jubilee - Gardeners Soap I "suggested" to Jess that i would be very happy to receive something similar for Christmas.

Jess commented back that she didn't crochet so instead she knitted me one.  How cool is this?.  That's a block of Kim's homemade soap  inside.  Perfect for the laundry trough where i wash off after gardening.  I'm not your glove kinda girl so my hands are usually very grubby after playing in the soil.

Jess's gift to Gav was some much appreciated purple broccoli pods filled with seeds and for Kim some hand painted candle holders.  These were made out of simple jars, wire and paint.  Very creative and very effective.

Kim gifted me a lovely soy candle that was fragrance free.  Its nice that she remembered my guys don't like strong scents.  For my own enjoyment i received some scented soy melts that go into an oil burner.  The pine smell is divine. I'm planning some Me-Time Glamping soon and these will be going with me.

Learning to make candles and soap are only two of the workshops that you can do with Gav & Kim.  There is a whole bunch of courses scheduled for next year so check them out here.

It was while we were discussing these workshop that we suggested that Kim run a workshop in November next year for homemade Christmas Decorations.  She is so clever.  A true but very humble artist.

The following were on their table.  Simple Moccona Coffee jars with little dioramas in them.

The beauty of these is that they can be on display and then stored and with a simple wipe over of the jar they are as new.  No dust.  Start collecting little minature Christmas items now as they are usually cheap after Christmas.

Now this is when things started getting silly and a bit naughty.  See that poor little elf in the last jar.  You just knew that if he was sitting in front of three hysterical women that sooner or later he was going to become part of the entertainment.  It didn't take long before a certain buxom Irish lass with the loveliest but also comical Irish accent started fooling around.  Jess and I were cacking ourselves.  

Interesting to note that there was not a drop of alcohol consumed by any of us women.  I might be a wowser but Ive never understood the need to drink to excess to have a good time.

On a more serious note i have received other beautiful home made gifts.   These are always very special and very much appreciated.

Veronica not only comes in to help with accounts a couple times a week but she is also my bosses mother.  Its a family business and as such i feel very much a part of their family.  She made me the following baked goods for Christmas as well as a couple of new books and a $100 gift voucher.  The books are "our thing" and we gift them to each other and pass them back and forwards all year.

Shortbread

Fruit Mince Tarts

Rich Dark Fruit Cake

 
I also received the following handmade card from Kym, the wife of one of the Engineers, along with some lovely hand cream and a scarf.  I can always trust her to give me something lovely and feminine.  Its can be tough working in a factory of men.

Thank you to my friends, for making the effort to bring me Christmas cheer. I vow to make the effort next year to create something hand made as gifts for you.

Thanks for Visiting Living In The Land of Oz